Cyber Ninjas CEO Doug Logan Answers Questions in American Oversight, Phoenix Newspapers Lawsuit for ‘Audit’ Records

On Thursday, lawyers from American Oversight and Phoenix Newspapers Inc. (PNI) questioned Cyber Ninjas CEO Doug Logan regarding the company’s record-keeping in the Arizona Senate’s partisan election “audit,” for which Cyber Ninjas was the lead contractor.

During the deposition, Logan said he would not be turning over documents from the “audit” — which several court rulings have found to be public records subject to release — anytime soon, claiming that he had not been given a “clear” ruling and maintaining that the records in his company’s possession were not public. 

Multiple court rulings have determined that these documents are subject to public release, and the state Supreme Court declined to review the case. The state Senate is legally obligated to preserve public records from the “audit,” including those held by Cyber Ninjas, but Cyber Ninjas has refused to turn over documents.

In early January, shortly before a judge in PNI’s original case imposed a fine of $50,000 a day for Cyber Ninjas’ failure to release records, Logan said that Cyber Ninjas had closed down and laid off its employees. During Thursday’s questioning, Logan said the company was liquidating its assets and transferring materials to a new entity he’s heading called Akolytos. He also said that he has not deleted any records and that Cyber Ninjas’ documents are backed up, but that he had no plans to release them.

Logan testified that he did most of the “audit” work himself, with the help of an employee and subcontractors, and said that despite raising millions from pro-Trump and “stop the steal” groups, Cyber Ninjas lost $200,000 conducting the review. 

On Jan. 18, the Superior Court of Maricopa County had ordered Logan to appear for the deposition or face arrest after he failed to appear for a previously scheduled deposition earlier this month. The next day, the court consolidated American Oversight’s lawsuit for “audit” records with a similar lawsuit brought by Phoenix Newspapers, the parent company of the Arizona Republic, so attorneys for both groups were able to participate in Thursday’s deposition.

At issue are records held by Cyber Ninjas and its subcontractors related to the election review’s methods, finances, and origins. Cyber Ninjas has failed to turn over “audit”-related records to the Senate, despite multiple court orders.