HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) 鈥� Following in the footsteps of Arizona's Senate Republicans, Pennsylvania's Republican-controlled Senate is considering an investigation into how last year's presidential election was conducted, a quest fueled by former President Donald Trump's baseless claims that fraud was behind his loss in the battleground state.
Any Senate-issued subpoenas for an Arizona-style 鈥渆lection audit鈥� will face strident opposition from Democrats, legal questions and almost certainly challenges in Pennsylvania's courts, as battles over election laws rage through swing states and Congress, spurred on by Trump's falsehoods.
Senate Republicans have been mostly silent about their internal deliberations.
Sen. Doug Mastriano, a rising force in Pennsylvania鈥檚 ultra-conservative circles who has talked of his desire to bring to Pennsylvania, led a private briefing Wednesday for Republican senators on his plan.
In Arizona, the state Senate used its subpoena power to take possession of more than 2 million ballots and the machines that counted them, along with computer data.
Mastriano also solicited legal advice from a Philadelphia-based law firm about the Senate Republican caucus using private money to finance consultants and lawyers. The law firm鈥檚 response letter, dated Tuesday, was obtained by The Associated Press.
In the letter, the law firm discussed the legality of using money from a private, nonprofit organization 鈥渢o pay expenses for vendors, including a consultant and counsel鈥� as part of an 鈥渙versight investigation" of the 2020 election led by the low-profile committee that Mastriano chairs.
鈥淲hile we cannot predict how the Pennsylvania Supreme Court would decide the issue, in our opinion, to a reasonable degree of legal certainty, Pennsylvania law does not prohibit the Caucus or Committee from accepting or benefiting from such financial support," lawyer Bruce S. Marks wrote.
The letter said 鈥渢he purpose of the investigation is to develop legislation which will enhance voter participation and election integrity.鈥�
Mastriano did not return phone calls. In a phone call Friday, Marks 鈥� who did legal work for the Trump campaign after the 2020 election 鈥� confirmed he wrote the letter, but otherwise declined comment.
Mastriano, who chairs the Senate Intergovernmental Operations Committee, could theoretically issue subpoenas to counties with a majority vote of his committee. The Democratic bastions of Philadelphia and Allegheny County, home to Pittsburgh, could be prime targets.
Voting machines, ballots and other election records could be demanded. The process could cost millions of dollars.
Mastriano, who has helped spread Trump's about widespread fraud in the election, to see the audit there firsthand.
鈥淲e鈥檒l bring the information back to the Senate leadership, we鈥檒l back-brief them on the way ahead and then hopefully we can come up with an approach here to make sure every person in Pennsylvania can rest assured they have one vote and it counts,鈥� Mastriano told a radio host from WEEO-FM last month.
Spurred on by Trump鈥檚 baseless claims about fraud, Republican consideration of an election audit in Pennsylvania comes as Trump supporters have pushed for of ballots in political battlegrounds in a bid to turn up evidence that Biden's victory was illegitimate.
No county election board, prosecutor or state official has raised a concern over any sort of widespread election fraud in November鈥檚 election in Pennsylvania, a crucial state that Democrat Joe Biden , or just over 1 percentage point.
Trump鈥檚 efforts to overturn Biden鈥檚 victory has been by courts at every level, including by judges appointed by the former president. Trump鈥檚 attorney general has also said there was no widespread fraud in the U.S. that would have changed the results of the election.
Sen. Camera Bartolotta, R-Washington, said she tuned in for part of Mastriano's presentation Wednesday.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know the ins and outs. I don鈥檛 know who鈥檚 going to pay for an audit. I don鈥檛 know how extensive it might be,鈥� Bartolotta said. 鈥淚 do know that there are millions of Pennsylvanians who have questions and concerns and there is a lack of trust.鈥�
She said she was not sure what the next step might be. But, she said, she wanted to ensure the cost is not borne by state taxpayers.
鈥淚 want to be absolutely certain that anything we鈥檙e doing 鈥� if anything gets done 鈥� is done in a legal way and is constitutional,鈥� Bartolotta said.
Critics say an election audit is duplicative, given the legal requirements for each county and the state to review election results for accuracy and investigate any discrepancies. Democrats, meanwhile, blame Trump and Republicans for spreading lies about the election that have sown distrust among voters.
The official rules of Pennsylvania's Senate grants its committees broad authority to issue subpoenas to 鈥渁ny public agency鈥� in the state.
Senate Minority Leader Jay Costa, D-Allegheny, said he was unaware of a Senate Republican plan, but questioned whether Mastriano's committee had authority over the subject matter of elections to legally issue such subpoenas. Traditionally, a different Senate committee has handled election issues.
Senate Democrats can challenge the subpoenas in the state Senate and in court, Costa said.
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Follow Marc Levy on Twitter at www.twitter.com/timelywriter and Mark Scolforo at www.twitter.com/houseofbuddy
Marc Levy And Mark Scolforo, The Associated Press
