Sarasota-based Cyber Ninjas dissolves

Sarasota's Cyber Ninjas, the inexperienced firm that drew national attention after being picked to audit presidential ballots in Arizona, has dissolved after a disastrous week, its CEO told the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.

What's new: Doug Logan said he and remaining employees had been let go due to cash flow issues unrelated to a $50,000-a-day fine levied by a judge last Thursday to compel the firm to fill a public records request from The Arizona Republic.

• The fine came on the same day the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors in Phoenix delivered a 93-page report showing 76 of 77 claims were either mistaken, misleading or false.
• The one valid claim found just 50 votes had been counted twice.

How it happened: The $5.6 million review of the more than 2 million votes cast in Maricopa, Arizona's largest county, came after supporters of former President Trump insisted his loss in the state was the result of fraud.

• Cyber Ninjas' review then concluded that President Biden actually won by a greater margin than tallies showed.

Yes, but: The politically-driven effort to challenge the integrity of the election may still have served its purpose.

What they’re saying: "Many people in positions of power, they fed into this, for they simply turned a blind eye," said the board of supervisors chairman, Bill Gates, a Republican, per the New York Times. "They've listened to the loud few and told them what they want to hear, and that's the easy thing to do. But here, we don't do what's easy. We do what's right."

What's next: The judge in the public records case warned he would fine individuals if the company was defunct.