After GOP Feud: Arizona Auditors Backtrack Claim, Say No Voter Data Compromised
Ballots are pulled aside for a hand audit by Maricopa County Elections Department staff ahead of Tuesdays election on October 31, 2020 in Phoenix, Arizona. Early voting lasted from October 7th through the 30th in Arizona, which had a record number of early voters. Courtney Pedroza/Getty Images

Arizona auditors had retracted their claims that key voter data has been deleted from Maricopa County's election servers. They admitted in a Senate Republican hearing on Tuesday that the data is intact and that they had been looking the wrong way.

The claim of deleted databases was earlier enlarged by former U.S. President Donald Trump and his supporters, believing conspiracy theories about election malpractice, according to an ABC News Go report.

Founder of a computer forensics firm overseeing the audit, Ben Cotton, told the key senators that he had recovered all data.

The admission was only revealed a day after Maricopa County officials released a letter saying the auditors could not retrieve data because they did not know where to look.

Cotton, founder of CyFIR LLC., said that he has the information he needs from the recovery efforts of the voters' data.

State Senate President Karen Fann and the Republicans had sought the audit.

Maricopa County officials had explained that those conducting the audit had made a technical mistake, and the database was never deleted.

Cotton did not directly note that the auditors had made a mistake and that stating that the files were deleted was false, according to a CNN report.

Cotton spoke at a livestreamed hearing called by Republican Senate President Fann.

Meanwhile, the GOP-controlled county Board of Supervisors refused to show up and has held a meeting of their own to refute allegations.

They called the audit a "sham" and dubbed Fann's auditors as incompetent.

Fann had hired Cyber Ninjas to do the investigation. The said firm is led by a Trump supporter who has promoted conspiracy theory about the election.

U.S. Election 2020 Results

Trump had complained that his loss during the presidential election in Arizona was marked with fraud.

Fann had used the Senate's subpoena power to take control of the 2.1 million ballots, counting machines, as well as hard drives full of voters' data from Maricopa County.

The Senate has agreed to pay Cyber Ninjas $150,000 for the said audit of the votes in Arizona, according to an Associated Press report.

Cyber Ninjas founder Doug Logan has acknowledged that it was not enough to cover his costs. However, he refused to state how much the audit is costing or who is funding it.

Fann said she is not looking to overturn or decertify the election results. Instead, she wants to find ways to improve the election process in the future.

Fann's statement had sparked fears among Democrats, citing that the GOP might push for legislation that might suppress Democratic votes.

Judiciary Committee Chairman Warren Petersen said that the Maricopa County audit will be a model for lawmakers in the future.

Petersen noted that it will be a completely smooth process from start to finish when the next forensic audit is done.

Board Chairman Jack Sellers said that the state Senate is running a grift masked as an audit.

Sellers said that it is time to be done with the said "craziness" of the situation.

WATCH: Shambolic Arizona Ballot Spectacle Becomes Embarrassment For State Republicans - from MSNBC