From the website of the Federal Election Commission -
Republican Watkins, the (alleged) "Q" in "QAnon" has been discussed already. He's just finally formed a committee.
Republican Cooper has formed a committee for a run for the CD9 seat currently held by Democrat Greg Stanton.
Does Pinnacle West pay its water carriers via check or brown paper bag?
From Jeremy Duda at the AZMirror -
Lawmaker takes aim at Corp Comm policy on campaign contributions by utilities
Legislative attorneys believe a Corporation Commission policy intended to restrict campaign contributions by regulated utilities violates the Arizona Constitution, and the lawmaker who requested that opinion is hoping it will persuade the commission to change course for next year’s election.
Sen. Rick Gray, R-Sun City, asked Legislative Council to review the commission’s 2019 code of ethics. Specifically, he wanted the council’s opinion on whether a policy that prohibits commissioners from taking campaign contributions from regulated utilities, their employees and their lobbyists violates either the Arizona or U.S. constitutions.
The ACC's code of ethics is here.
According to the article, the lawyers for the Republicans in the state legislature have already determined that the ACC's code of ethics is in violation of the AZ Constitution, US Constitution, and decisions rendered by the US Supreme Court.
APS is a subsidiary of Pinnacle West, is regulated by the ACC, and, at least seven times since 2018, Pinnacle West has given money to Gray.
Openly; Gray has been known to take money from entities that take money from Pinnacle West, like the Arizona Leadership Fund.
From Gray's 5th Report (2018) -
From ALF's 6th Report (earlier in 2018) -
From the website of the Federal Election Commission -
Republican Pozzolo has formed a committee for a run at the CD 3 seat currently held by Democrat Raul Grijalva.
Democrat Metzendorf has formed a committee for a run at the CD 6 seat currently held by Republican David Schweikert.
Biggs won't admit that the election led to his election was valid.
From Yahoo! -
Arizona Republicans testified before Congress that Biden won 'free, fair, and accurate elections' in Maricopa County
GOP officials from Arizona's Maricopa County testified before Congress on Oct. 7, telling the House that the elections in the county were "free, fair, and accurate" and prove that President Joe Biden won there.
Three Republicans appeared before the House Oversight Committee to talk about the results of the Cyber Ninjas audit in Maricopa County: Jack Sellers, chairman of the Maricopa County board of supervisors, Bill Gates, the board's vice-chairman, and Ken Bennett, a former Arizona secretary of state who liaised directly with the Cyber Ninjas.
Turns out that a corruption case in DC has some serious AZ ties.
From Politico -
Longtime GOP operatives charged with funneling Russian national’s money to Trump, RNC
Two veteran Republican campaign operatives — including one who got a pardon from then-President Donald Trump one month before he left office — are charged in a new federal indictment with funneling $25,000 from a Russian national into the Trump campaign in 2016.
Jesse Benton, 43, and Doug Wead, 75, made brief appearances Monday at a video hearing in U.S. District Court in Washington, pleading not guilty to six felony charges including facilitating a campaign contribution by a foreign national, acting as a straw donor and causing the filing of false campaign finance reports.
[snip]
For example, the indictment’s reference to a $25,000 donation on Oct. 27, 2016, to a political committee by Benton — allegedly to cover up the foreign source of the money — lines up with a donation of the same size and date to Trump’s political committee attributed to a “Jesse Bentor,” which prosecutors said is a garbling of Benton’s name.
While I didn't find any contributions to current GOP members of the AZ delegation to Congress, the penchant of electeds to seek and accept "bundled" contributions, I expect most of them are hoping that none of the money that they received came from foreign nationals.
From the website of the FEC (the blacked out name is that of someone with a similar name who donated to a GOPer, but is someone who doesn't seem to be part of this scheme) -
Mr. Wead may be someone who tends to back the winners of horse races after they've won one, but he doesn't always pick winners -
The donation by Bentor...errrr..."Benton", referenced in the story.
I didn't find anything else under their names on the FEC's website, and I did search some others, but the website of the AZSOS kept crashing when I attempted to look up individual contributors, plus the campaign finance websites of Maricopa County and the City of Scottsdale do not sort but individual contributions. If a user knows the candidate receiving a contribution, and approximately when it was made, one can look up the report. If not, the user is SOL.
Plus, the habit of using aliases makes searching problematical, no matter the campaign finance website in question.
From Dennis Welch of AZFamily.com (note: I usually quote the first two paragraphs of a story here, but since this only a three paragraph story [actually, it's a four sentence story], so I'll quote the entire story) -
Finchem calls for statewide door-to-door voter verification
State Rep. Mark Finchem, who is a strong supporter of the partisan election review of the 2020 election, is calling for a "statewide door- to-door voter verification."
Finchem, who is also running for the Republican nomination for Secretary of State, made the announcement in a fundraising letter sent out this week. He is running in a crowded republican primary where former president Donald Trump's endorsement could play a key role in who wins.
There are more than 4.3 million registered voters in Arizona and it's unknown how he intends to carry out such a massive project because he did not return requests for comment.
From the website of the Arizona Secretary of State -
Quezada is a current state legislator and the first Democrat to form a committee in the race for state treasurer.
There are no new federal committees in AZ to document.
From the website of the FEC -
She appears to be a district person for one of the Pima County supervisors -
From the website of the Arizona Secretary of State -
Grove is lawyer who is best known as an executive for her family's golf club manufacturing company.
From the AZ Mirror, written by Jerod MacDonald-Evoy -
A GOP lawmaker’s nonprofit was billed $400K for ‘audit’ security
Newly released documents show that the Arizona “audit” has spent more than $400,000 to hire off-duty police officers to provide security for the ballot review that concluded last month at the state fairgrounds.
Not much has been previously known about how much money is flowing in and the agreements between the Senate and Peoria-based Law Enforcement Specialists except that the Senate entered into an agreement with the group on April 26.
According to the website of the Arizona Corporation Commission, one Bonnie Lucas is the statutory agent and a director of Law Enforcement Specialists -
According to the website of the Arizona Secretary of State, one Bonnie Lucas gave a donation to Anthony Kern in 2019 -
Which is significant because Kern is a party to a lawsuit over his and Finchem's presence on January 6th at the U.S. Capitol. From Capitol Media Services, written by Howard Fischer, and published by the Arizona Capitol Times -
Fernandez fights Finchem, Kern lawsuit against her
A Yuma Democratic lawmaker is asking a judge to toss a defamation lawsuit filed against her by two Republican legislators and a member of Congress.
Rep. Charlene Fernandez contends she did nothing wrong in signing a letter asking the U.S. Department of Justice and the FBI to investigate the activities of Rep. Mark Finchem of Oro Valley and now-former Rep. Anthony Kern of Glendale during the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Both state lawmakers were there but have denied taking part in any disturbance.
Lawsuit status, from the website of the Arizona Supreme Court -
Interesting aside:
One of the attorneys, Alexander Kolodin, ran for a seat in the AZ Senate in 2020.
He lost in the R primary by more than 8000 votes to eventual winner and current AZSOS candidate, Michelle Ugenti-Rita -
Congressman Steve Cohen doesn't though.
From Congressman Cohen's press release -
Congressman Cohen Disagrees with Colleague’s Description of the United States as a “Banana Republic”
During a Committee on Natural Resources mark up of elements of major infrastructure legislation today, Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) asked his fellow Committee member, Congressman Paul Gosar (AZ-04), to retract his verbal description of the United States as a “banana republic.” Congressman Gosar declined the polite and civil request and insisted “we might be even worse.”
In his remarks, Congressman Cohen said in part:
“If you would call back your referring to our country as a ‘banana republic,’ I’d appreciate it… ‘Banana republic’ is over the top. We’re not a banana republic. That has more to do with how you elect your leaders and not with legislation. There’s an old saying in Tennessee: ‘You don’t talk about rope in a house where a man’s been hung.’ I would just hope that you’d take back your reference to our country as a banana republic.”
He wasn't talking about Gosar's characterization (Gosar hadn't yet gone there), but loyal Trumpkin Mike Pompeo disagrees, too, From The Hill -
Pompeo says US not a 'banana republic' amid fallout from attack on Capitol
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo used his personal Twitter account on Thursday to criticize journalists and politicians for likening the U.S. to a "banana republic" following the violent attacks that occurred on the Capitol building Wednesday.
The push back from Pompeo came amid the fallout from an attack on the U.S. Capitol by a mob of President Trump's supporters Wednesday, in which five people, including a Capitol Police officer, were killed.
Even Gosar doesn't really believe the U.S. is a banana republic. From December 7, 2020 -
While I don't believe that the U.S. is a banana republic, Gosar is sort of correct - as far as Arizona, home of the fraudit, is concerned.
When the losing side of an election claims that loss is evidence of a fraudulent election and holds democracy itself as a hostage until they get their way definitely seems "banana-ish".
At least it's not for the fraudit this time.
From The Hill -
Arizona father threatens to zip tie principal after son told to quarantine
An Arizona father threatened his son's elementary school principal with a citizen's arrest while wielding zip ties after he received news that his child would be required to quarantine after coming in contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19.
Vail Unified School District officials told a local NBC News station that the man, who was not named, arrived at Mesquite Elementary School on Thursday morning along with his child and two other men to protest the quarantine policy.
The story from KVOA, the "local NBC News station" referenced in The Hill's story -
Police on-scene at Vail elementary school after group threatens to zip-tie principal over COVID-19 protocols
A conflict over the COVID-19 quarantine policy at a Vail Unified School District elementary school has been resolved shortly after protesters threatened to make a citizen's arrest on the principal Thursday morning.
According to VUSD officials, a student at Mesquite Elementary School was asked to quarantine after he reportedly was in close contact with an individual who tested positive for COVID-19.
VUSD said this decision was made per state policy, citing that when a school in Arizona experiences a positive case of COVID-19, it is required to report the case to its county health department - in Vail's case, Pima County Health Department. Then, the county decides which individuals need to quarantine in order to prevent a potential outbreak in the community.
AP picked it up, too -
1 arrest after clash over Arizona school’s COVID mandates
The father of an Arizona elementary school student was arrested after he and two other men showed up to the campus with zip ties, threatening to make a “citizen’s arrest” on the school principal over a COVID-19 quarantine, school officials said Friday.
Diane Vargo, principal of Mesquite Elementary School in Tucson, said the parent came to her office Thursday with his son in tow. The father was upset the child would have to isolate and miss a school field trip because of possible exposure to someone with COVID-19. She said two other men also “barged in.”
So far, I haven't found the arrested man's name, but I fully expect Dougie has it and will pardon the man, if it gets that far. Dougie may just make a call and have Markie force/influence the Pima County Attorney's Office to drop the case.
1. Wear a damn mask.
2. Get vaccinated.
3. Don't commit or even threaten violence.
Turns out that GQP members of Congress *love* it when tech companies are subpoenaed...by GQP members of Congress.
Picture coming soon to a BOLO near you...
From Yahoo! -
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy took aim at members of Democratic leadership on Tuesday, saying they are coercing telecommunications companies into assisting in their investigation of the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol.
The California Republican accused members of the Democratic-led House Select Committee on Jan. 6 of pursuing a "surveillance state" and threatened any companies who accede to possible subpoenas for access to the communications of Republican lawmakers.
A story published Monday reported that the Jan 6 committee asked telecommunications companies to preserve records from several Republican lawmakers involved in the “Stop the Steal” rally ahead of the Capitol riot.
These lawmakers include Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Jim Jordan of Ohio, Andy Biggs of Arizona, Paul Gosar of Arizona, Mo Brooks of Alabama, Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina, Matt Gaetz of Florida, Louie Gohmert of Texas, Jody Hice of Georgia, and Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, according to CNN.
It's not just him, either.
From BusinessInsider -
Marjorie Taylor Greene threatened to 'shut down' telecoms companies if they hand over Republicans' phone records to the January 6 commission
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene claimed on Tuesday that any telecommunications company that complies with a request to hand over Republicans' messages to the January 6 commission would be "shut down."
The House committee is investigating the circumstances surrounding the Capitol riot.
Serious question: Are threats issued to protect criminals criminal acts in and of themselves?
Trump infamously said that if there were fewer Covid tests, there'd be fewer cases of Covid.
Turn out it doesn't work that way for Covid, or for other things.
Ignoring the truth doesn't change it.
From NPR -
Hate Crimes Reach The Highest Level In More Than A Decade
There were 7,759 reported hate crimes in the U.S. last year — the most in 12 years, the FBI reported this week. But some experts and advocacy groups say the true number is probably even higher.
The number of recorded bias incidents reported by the FBI was the highest since 2008, when 7,783 hate crimes were reported to the agency, federal data shows.
From the website of the FBI -
In 2020, 81 of 125 law enforcement agencies in AZ reported hate crime data.
In 2019, 92 of 125 LE agencies did so.
Yet, there was an increase in hate crimes reported.
In 2019, there were 209 reported, or 2.2717 per reporting agency -
In 2020, there were 282 reported, or 3.4815 per agency -
That's a 65% increase per reporting agency.
Not a good thing.
No new federal committees to report on for AZ, but there was one relevant filing with the IRS. As it's for a state race, it will be included here.
From the website of the Arizona Secretary of State -
One person has formed a committee with the IRS to run for governor (but no state-level committee as yet). From the website of the IRS -
Rivas is a full-on Trumpkin.
Damn, I'm cynical today. :)
Information on the bamboo reference is here.
Full ‘audit’ report delayed after Cyber Ninjas head, others get COVID-19
The team that has worked since April reviewing the 2020 general election in Maricopa County submitted a partial draft report to the Arizona Senate on Monday, but the full report will be delayed because several members of the team — including Cyber Ninjas head Doug Logan — have tested positive for COVID-19.
Senate President Karen Fann, R-Prescott, announced that Logan and two other members of the five-person audit team have COVID “and are quite sick.” One of the three — not Logan — is hospitalized with pneumonia, Fann told the Arizona Mirror.
Just a guess: Logan et. al. aren't vaccinated.
1. Wear a damn mask.
2. Get vaccinated.
From AP, via KJZZ -
Appeals Court Orders Arizona Senate Audit Records Released
An appeals court on Thursday rejected an effort by the Arizona Senate to keep secret records of its ongoing review of the 2020 election in Maricopa County that are in the possession of the contractors conducting the recount.
The Arizona Court of Appeals ruled that the documents sought by the watchdog group American Oversight detailing how the recount and audit are being conducted are public and must be turned over.
The decision of the Arizona Court of Appeals is here.
Prediction: Fann, Petersen, et. al. ignore this decision, like they've ignored reality in all matters related to this.
They despise the public and public oversight of elected officials.
