Cyber Ninjas, the data company hired to audit the 2020 election results in Maricopa County, Ariz., suffered a major legal setback on Thursday after a judge ordered the company to produce documents related to the audit or face a fine of $50,000 per day:
"Maricopa County Superior Court Judge John Hannah said he would impose a $50,000 fine against Cyber Ninjas every day until it hands over documents related to the so-called audit…" https://t.co/FUHbWZGZnG via @nbcnews
— WilliamThornton (@billineastala) January 7, 2022
A lawyer for Cyber Ninjas said after the hearing that the firm is no longer a going concern and they’ve let all of the employees go, including CEO Doug Logan:
New: Spox for Cyber Ninjas, firm that led widely criticized Arizona ballot review, says the company is shutting down. “Doug Logan and the rest of the employees have been let go and Cyber Ninjas is being shut down.”
— Sam Levine (@srl) January 7, 2022
Shut down comes as the company remains mired in legal disputes over public records and was sanctioned with $50,000 fine today for each day it doesn’t turn over records. Abrupt fall for a company that led a high profile effort celebrated by Trump and GOP months ago
— Sam Levine (@srl) January 7, 2022
Logan said the company lost $2.1 million conducting the audit and owes almost that much to subcontractors:
You should definitely subscribe to read, but here's one nugget:
Logan said the audit produced a $2.1 million loss on Cyber Ninjas' books and that the company still owes $1.9 million to subcontractors.
— Jen Fifield (@JenAFifield) January 7, 2022
Logan also said the Arizona Senate still owes him $50,000:
He also blames the Arizona Senate for his financial troubles because he said he didn't get fully paid by them.
They owe him $50,000. Not $2.1M.
— Jen Fifield (@JenAFifield) January 7, 2022
The judge did warn that simply shutting down the company would not make the fines or the demand for records just go away:
Judge: "The court is not going to accept the assertion that Cyber Ninjas is an empty shell and that nobody is responsible for seeing that it complies"
— Jen Fifield (@JenAFifield) January 6, 2022
And the judge refused to let Cyber Ninjas’ lawyer off of the case even though he wasn’t being paid:
Cyber Ninjas' own lawyer has tried to bail because he says he's not being paid. A judge in Maricopa County is suspicious that Ninjas is dissolving in order to evade a court order.
Thank you to The Arizona Republic for pursuing its records in court: https://t.co/S9JB1pPmp3 https://t.co/FeQYGL2jRW
— Dan Zak (@MrDanZak) January 6, 2022
Yeah, the judge is going to take a look at this:
Doug Logan told the state Senate president he’s starting a new company with some of the same employees as Cyber Ninjas, the old firm he’s closing as it faces massive court fines for refusing to release public records.https://t.co/5rANbreF0V
— KTAR News 92.3 (@KTAR923) January 7, 2022
Oof:
Today is actually getting worse for Wilenchik. He asked to be released from defending the Ninjas in the case from @weareoversight and the judge in that case similarly says he has to keep working until the records are released and Logan is deposed.
— Ryan Randazzo (@utilityreporter) January 6, 2022
And Cyber Ninjas has already lost an appeal to the state Supreme Court:
How many Ls can a lawyer take in one day? Wilenchik asked the Arizona Supreme Court today to stay Hannah's order for sanctions. Supreme Court denied motion within hours.
— Ryan Randazzo (@utilityreporter) January 7, 2022
Exit question: What happened to all the money that was raised?
My question: What the heck happened to the $5.7 million Doug Logan claims he received from pro-Trump fund-raisers as of last July? And did the money train stop there? https://t.co/y9EPCGoIz0
FIN— Brahm Resnik (@brahmresnik) January 8, 2022
Logan is now attempting to raise funds to pay off at least one of the vendors:
Cyber Ninjas CEO Doug Logan (ex-CEO, I suppose, as the company is defunct now) says he owes $760,000 to StratTech and is helping them crowdfund to reduce what is owed. pic.twitter.com/BW6bI1fBw6
— Jim Small (@JimSmall) January 7, 2022
To be continued. . .
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