Election update!
David Lujan conceded to Felecia Rotellini in the Democratic primary for AG.
Rotellini will face either Andrew Thomas or Tom Horne in November, after the votes are counted on the GOP side, which was even closer than the Dems'.
From the Republic:
Lujan, leader of the Democratic minority in the state House, conceded to Rotellini on Twitter.
“It was a good fight,” Lujan wrote on his Twitter account. “Now, I am going to work as hard as I can to elect Felecia Rotellini as our next attorney general! Congrats Felecia!”
On the GOP side, the news is relatively promising. As Stephen Lemons puts it:
It’s not looking good for former Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas. As of the end of today’s count of the remaining ballots, state Schools Superintendent Tom Horne had expanded his lead of about 400 votes from yesterday to 1,073.
The margin needs to be much narrower—only 200 votes—to warrant a recount.
There are conflicting accounts of how many ballots are outstanding—one paper said 40,000, another more than 50,000—but there are more than enough to swing the election ether way.
7:24 AM
Rick Romley: Unleash the documents!
Maricopa County prosecutor Rick Romley released a ton of documents about the crazy investigations Joe Arpaio’s office and Romley’s predecessor, Andrew Thomas, waged against their political enemies.
The pair kept pursuing the investigation, even though each venue they took it to—independent prosecutor, grand jury, and then prosecutor in another county—all rejected the pair’s claims.
The Republic lays out just how pathetic the case was, and how to this day Thomas fudges the truth:
After weeks of meeting, the [grand] jury decided to end the inquiry.
Both Thomas' prosecutor and officials in Romley’s office described an “end the inquiry” as rare.
On Thursday, Thomas said … [h]is office asked the grand jury to end the investigation.
Had the grand jury wanted to exonerate those under investigation, Thomas said, it could have issued a “no bill,” which means there was not enough evidence to indict.
However, one of Thomas' own prosecutors had explained to the jury during orientation that to “end the inquiry” meant “the case is so bad, there’s no further evidence that could be brought to you folks,” according to the transcripts.
“Frankly, I have been doing this a long time, and I have had three in my whole career,” deputy county attorney William Moore had said.
Robert Robb piles on here.
The paper’s editorial page is scathing:
It reflects most harshly on Thomas, who now is running for the Republican nomination for attorney general.
Thomas told The Republic’s Craig Harris on Thursday that Romley “has falsely claimed the grand jury found no evidence of wrongdoing” and that the release “vindicates” his office and proves his claims of county corruption.
Against the stark contrast of the grand jurors' own words, Thomas' arguments seem strikingly self-serving.
Citizens who supposedly could be persuaded by Thomas' prosecutors to indict a ham sandwich instead have eaten his lunch.
Despite it all, Sheriff Arpaio clings tenaciously to these now-thoroughly discredited charges. It is time he paid attention to the people and ended this contemptible inquiry once and for all.
8:11 AM
Espresso Pundit: Andrew Thomas is unfit to serve
Greg Patterson, a hard-right Republican, starts with a cheap-shot campaign sign the Thomas forces put up against Tom Horne and then runs through a litany of Thomas' greatest hits as an abuser of his office’s power as Maricopa County’s AG.
Thomas hand picked a fellow Republican prosecutor—Yavapai County prosecutor Sheila Polk—to look into his [contentious cases against other political figures in town]. Here’s what she concluded.
I am conservative and passionately believe in limited government, not the totalitarianism that is spreading before my eyes.
Totalitarian? Wow that’s a little harsh. It’s not like he’s been indicting his political enemies, publicly humiliating them and forcing them to go through show trials that cost them millions of dollars and ruin their careers…oh, well, never mind.
Naturally, none of the trials came to anything. All the charges against Jones, Stapley and Wilcox have been dismissed and the ridiculous “case” against the judges has fallen apart. Most of the victims have filed suits for malicious prosecution…and Thomas has said that as Attorney General he would consider using his authority to prosecute his previous victims if they receive compensation for his previous acts. So the madness continues.
6:38 AM
Fear & Loathing in Maricopa County
The Republic yesterday had a depressing story about how what it calls the “rank and file” in Maricopa County government have been coping with the tensions induced by Joe Arpaio. With the grand jury investigating Arpaio, some employees are talking.
Now, as they wait to see what will happen, a cross-section of county employees spoke with The Arizona Republic, talking publicly for the first time about life inside the county offices during the political battles, lawsuits and arrests going on above them at the highest levels of county government.
Among the details:
Others worried that even minor infractions – a chipped windshield, having a beer before driving home after work – would be an excuse for deputies to pull them over or arrest them.
One Superior Court judge moved meetings with her staff and other judges to the chamber restroom, believing it would be a less likely spot for a listening device.
7:05 PM
Joe Arpaio's popularity takes a dive
From an unbylined Republic political blog:
The new Rocky Mountain Poll from Behavior Research Center showed support from Arpaio has dropped to 39 percent of those polled who thought the sheriff was doing an “excellent/good” job from a high rating of 64 in March 2007.
The pollsters noted that Arpaio’s job approval was dropping most precipitously among Independent voters and has “softened” among Republicans while remaining low among Democrats.
An editorial in tomorrow’s paper rubs it in:
It isn’t just Arpaio who should worry about these stunning poll numbers. The political fortunes of County Attorney Andrew Thomas and as-yet-unannounced Senate candidate J.D. Hayworth, both Republicans, ride largely on the sheriff’s coattails. Without a popular Arpaio preening as America’s Toughest Sheriff by their sides, their prospects may diminish.
It has been a while since Arpaio has been viewed purely as a nails-tough lawman. For two years, he has been a politician first. And this is the price politicians pay.
5:52 AM
The Arizona Republic lays into Andrew Thomas
After a new round of indictments of Andrew Thomas’ political enemies on the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, the paper editorializes against the Dimmer Twins:
Even if it were possible for these elected officials to erect a wall between their politics and their crime fighting, Arpaio and Thomas already have botched that job hopelessly.
They have investigated as a criminal enterprise the construction of a new county courthouse they oppose. They have followed low-level county employees to their homes to conduct intimidating interviews. Indications strongly suggest they bugged, or attempted to bug, the county administration offices.
These are not the actions of justice seekers. They are the acts of venal, retribution-minded political actors with badges and guns.
7:25 PM
The Adam Stoddard case gets crazier
As someone who recently returned to Arizona after some years in those parts of the country that supposedly looks down their noses at rubes in the desert, I can say with some authority Arizona’s reputation is not as bad as it might be.
Joe Arpaio isn’t doing the state any favors, of course, and, yes, the Daily Show has taken a couple of shots at various goings-on.
But it’s not like most folks in DC or the Bay Area can, off the top of their head, recite Arizona’s place in the hierarchy of most markers of social advancement. (For the record, they are generally just a few hairs above those in the Deep South.)
However, if Andrew Thomas and Joe Arpaio keep it up, the rest of the country is going to take a closer look at how backwards and comical the state’s political system has become.
Back to the Adam Stoddard affair. After a couple of days of sickouts by sheriff’s deputies assigned to the courts, Arpaio is now apparently refusing to supply inmates to the judge’s courtroom. Heat City has the story:
The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office has apparently stopped delivering inmates to the courtroom where a one of its detention officers was caught in an uproar that landed him in jail.
In a statement released late today, Superior Court Judge Lisa Flores said the sheriff’s office has flat-out stopped bringing inmates to her courtroom for their scheduled appearances.
The cutoff comes in the context of …
Since [Stoddard’s] jailing, Maricopa County’s justice system – one of the largest in the nation – has been thrown into a state of chaos, plagued by protests and a likely sickout by Stoddard’s coworkers, as well as bomb threats from a still-unknown source.
Stoddard’s boss, Sheriff Joe Arpaio, has described the detention officer as a “political prisoner” in his own jail. Arpaio’s supporters call Stoddard a victim of the ongoing disputes between the sheriff and other county leaders, including some judges.
Meanwhile, Stephen Lemons notes that the Goldwater Institute, in the form of director Clint Bolick, is slamming Arpaio’s handling of the case:
“Sworn law-enforcement officers take an oath to uphold the law. By effectively shutting down the very justice system they are employed to protect, the sheriff’s officers displayed contempt toward the rule of law. Taxpayers should hold them accountable for abrogating their essential duties.”
7:00 AM
Another legal salvo from Andrew Thomas against the county supervisors
The Arizona Republic says he’s indicting Don Stapley and Mary Rose Wilcox on separate charges:
A grand jury indicted Wilcox on allegations that include perjury, forgery and conflict of interest related to votes she made as a supervisor to fund the Hispanic non-profit group Chicanos Por La Causa, Thomas said.
Stapley’s counts include fraud, theft, perjury and forgery largely related to the use of funds Stapley received in his effort to become president of the National Association of Counties. Stapley also obtained mortgage loans under false pretenses, Thomas said.
[…]
Thomas said the counts were based on Wilcox obtaining five different loans through Prestamos, the lending arm of Chicanos Por La Causa, and continuing to approve funds for the organization in her role as supervisor without filing any type of conflict notice.
Farther down, the paper notes:
The indictments from a Maricopa County grand jury are the latest allegations Thomas and Sheriff Joe Arpaio have leveled against county elected officials and administrators, many of which have been dismissed. Despite the history of Thomas and Arpaio’s allegations against other county officials petering out as they work through the justice system, the sheriff maintained confidence in his investigations.
“Let’s wait to see what the criminal justice system does before you start criticizing my investigations,” Arpaio said.
7:00 AM
Two more compromising Arpaio stories
The Republic fired two shots across the bow of Joe Arpaio over the weekend.
The first contains the incredible contention that the country sheriff’s office leases cars to get to and from work for more than fifty deputies, including Arpaio himself. Maricopa is a large county and perks for the top officials might be warranted, but fifty seems extreme. The charges seem to average close to $800 a month per vehicle:
The office will lease 53 vehicles – mostly expensive new sedans, trucks and sport-utility vehicles – at a cost of more than $500,000 this fiscal year, which began July 1. During this time, more than 1,000 deputies and civilian employees are being forced to take seven unpaid furlough days to help balance the department’s budget.
The story doesn’t really dwell on the inappropriateness of so many people getting the perk. The reporters, Craig Harris and JJ Hensley, focus on where Arpaio gets the $500K from:
The money comes from cash and assets seized primarily during drug investigations. Under the state and federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO, police agencies and prosecutors can keep confiscated cash and sell assets for money to be used for gang prevention, substance-abuse education and fighting numerous crimes.
Although there are guidelines, law-enforcement agencies have wide discretion in spending the money, and there is little oversight.
The second story detailed how an exec at the car-leasing company Arpaio uses has been a donor to his campaigns, as have members of her family:
Shirley Garner, in charge of leasing vehicles to the Sheriff’s Office, donated $390, the maximum amount, to his re-election campaign last year, records show. Through one of her other companies, $1,500 was donated to a political-action committee that supported Arpaio but is now under criminal investigation.
The story says her husband has donated to Arpaio as well.
6:00 AM
Did the Dimmer Twins (accidentally) hit pay dirt with Wilcox?
Reading the two Republic stories on the matter today—here and here—one feels that the charges filed against Maricopa County Supervisor Mary Anne Wilcox aren’t entirely spurious.
That isn’t often the feeling one gets when reading about most of Joe Arpaio and Andrew Thomas’s brutal use of their police powers.
Wilcox hasn’t as yet given her side of the story, and there are I’m sure all sorts of ways the acts could be benign. But here’s a precis from the paper:
Elected county officials must file the financial-disclosure forms with the clerk’s office by Jan. 31 each year, said Fran McCarroll, clerk of the board. The forms are required by law to help avoid a conflict of interest or the appearance of one.
A Republic review showed that Wilcox did not disclose the loans from Chicanos Por La Causa. A spokeswoman with the non-profit said Wilcox and her husband, Earl, received a $7,500 loan in November 2000, a $50,000 loan in July 2005 and $120,000 in October 2008.
According to Thomas—and the paper—she didn’t file conflict-of-interest disclosures either.
9:58 PM
"I have been framed," he said, using a turn of phrase that equates a wooden adornment around a picture with a manufactured criminal charge.
From a 12 News report on the AZ Central web site:
One day after his arrest, Maricopa County Supervisor Don Stapley tells 12 News he is the victim of an “inquisition” by the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, making a reference to a medieval tactic to scrutinize an individual without regard to his rights.
6:00 AM