“Newly released records relating to the Arizona GOP’s partisan audit of the 2020 election results reveal that an anti-vaccine election conspiracy theorist and failed U.S. Senate candidate known as ‘Dr. Shiva’ was brought in on the operation. The state’s Republican Senate and its ballot-recount contractor Cyber Ninjas separately hired Shiva Ayyadurai – or ‘Dr. Shiva’ as he is known to his far-right fans – to help evaluate presidential ballots in Maricopa County, which backed Joe Biden, according to records released Aug. 31, The Arizona Republic and Vice reported. Ayyadurai baselessly ranted back in November 2020 that the election was stolen from Donald Trump. He also accused National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci last year of being a ‘deep state’ operative, has baselessly promoted vitamin C as a treatment for COVID-19, and says he invented email. Ayyadurai is not a medical doctor.”

“Cyber Ninjas CEO and QAnon acolyte Doug Logan has similarly repeated the same election lie, and claimed that any Arizona audit would inevitably turn up ‘hundreds of thousands’ of hidden votes for Trump. The 2.1 million Maricopa County votes have been checked and rechecked by actual election officials in the state, headed by GOP Gov. Doug Ducey, and were deemed completely legitimate. The Cyber Ninjas audit, popularly known as a ‘fraudit,’ was supposed to be completed in mid-May. The company has yet to issue any report on what it came up with. Audit spokesperson and former Arizona GOP Chair Randy Pullen defended the state Senate’s decision to hire Ayyadurai in an interview with the Arizona Republic on Friday. ‘Everybody has controversies. Is he knowledgeable and experienced enough to do the work?’ Pullen asked. ‘I’ve talked to him. I’m confident he knows what he is doing and he is trustworthy.’ He claimed Ayyadura has conducted signature reviews for banks” – Huffington Post.