Press Releases
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June 26, 2025

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today that it filed a lawsuit against Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes for her communications with former Special Counsel Jack Smith (Judicial Watch v. Kristin Mayes and Arizona Department of Law (CV 2025-020674).
Judicial Watch alleges:
On January 13, 2025 several media outlets reported that Attorney General Mayes had formally requested case documents from U.S. Department of Justice special counsel Jack Smith’s criminal investigation into President Donald Trump regarding the 2020 presidential election.
12News reported that “Mayes said the documents could ensure defendants in Arizona’s fake electors case would be held accountable.” https://www.12news.com/article/news/local/arizona/arizona-attomey-general-requests-jack-smiths-case-documents-on-trump/75-0d415bb9-42a2-4e55-86c4-086db68ecd75
Judicial Watch filed the Arizona Public Records Law complaint in the Superior Court of Arizona after the attorney general failed to respond to a January 13, 2025, request for:
Any communications and/or documents with Jack Smith and/or the DOJ Special Counsel group/team from January 1, 2022, to the completion of this request.
“Collusion against President Trump by Democratic politicians with Jack Smith and the weaponized Biden Justice Department are of great public interest,” Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said. “Attorney General Mayes is acting as if she has something to hide.”
In April Judicial Watch filed a lawsuit against Mayes, who seemed to have used her office for political purposes in threatening a prosecution of President Trump on the eve of the 2024 presidential election Only one document was found (and kept secret) relating to a criminal investigation, while dozens of media-related documents were revealed (Judicial Watch Inc. v. Kris Mayes et al (No. CV 2025 00675)).
In March Judicial Watch sued the Justice Department for details of any investigations, inquiries, or referrals concerning potential misconduct of any person working for Special Counsel Jack Smith (Judicial Watch Inc. v U.S. Department of Justice (No. 1:25-cv-00801)).
In March Georgia District Attorney Fani Willis was ordered to turn over 212 pages of records to a state court judge. The court also ordered Willis to detail how the records were found and the reason for withholding them from the public. The records were belatedly disclosed in response to a Judicial Watch request and lawsuit for communications with Special Counsel Jack Smith and the House January 6 Committee. In January Judicial Watch was awarded $21,578 for “attorney’s fees and costs” incurred in the case. The court previously found Willis in default and stated: “The Court finds Defendant [Willis, in her official capacity] is in default and has been since 11 April 2024” (Judicial Watch Inc. v. Fani Willis et al. (No. 24-CV-002805)).
In January, a federal court ordered the Justice Department to provide Judicial Watch information on communications between Special Counsel Jack Smith and Georgia District Attorney Fani Willis regarding the prosecution of then-former President Donald Trump. In May, the Justice Department was directed to search text messages from the Special Counsel’s Office for responsive records (Judicial Watch v U.S. Department of Justice (No. 23-cv-03110).
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