Appeals court rejects Arizona Senate’s privilege argument

PHOENIX (AP) — A state appeals court says legislative privilege does not broadly protect the Arizona Senate from having to release hundreds of public records related to the review of the 2020 election. The Court of Appeals on Friday upheld a lower court’s narrow view of the legislative privilege, rejecting arguments by lawyers for the Republican-controlled Senate. The Senate has been battling for months over two public records lawsuits. It has disclosed more than 20,000 records but is withholding about 1,000 documents citing legislative privilege. But the Appeals Court ruled the legislative privilege applies onto to discussions related to the process of passing legislation. Senate attorney Kory Langhofer says his clients are deciding how to proceed.