Treason may not be enough for Mark Finchem. Just follow the money.

 From Rick Hasen at Election Law Blog -

“GOP lawmakers are pushing high-tech ‘fraud-proof’ ballots. A Texas company could be the only supplier.”

WaPo:

Holographic foil. Special ink designed to be sensitive to temperature changes. Nearly invisible “stealth numbers” that can be located only using special ultraviolet or infrared lights.

Those are among the high-tech security features that would be required to be embedded on ballots under measures proposed in at least four states by Republican lawmakers — all promoters of false claims that the 2020 election was marred by mass fraud — in an attempt to make the ballots as hard to counterfeit as passports or currency.

But the specialized inks and watermarks also would limit the number of companies capable of selling ballot paper — potentially to just one Texas firm with no previous experience in elections that consulted with the lawmakers proposing the measures.

Mark Finchem, an Arizona state representative spearheading the , said in an interview that he developed ideas for the proposals after discussions with executives of Authentix, a company in Addison, Tex. The firm has since hosted other GOP lawmakers at its office and given presentations about the idea to legislators in two states, according to participants and social media posts.

Finchem is a cosponsor of two of the bills floating through the Arizona with this language

legislature - HB2041 (held in committee) and SB1120 (amended to include an appropriation of $12,000,000).

House Appropriations is scheduled to consider a striker (with this language) to HB2726 with an appropriation of $6,000,000 in it.  Offered by Rep. Regina Cobb.

A similar bill, SB1028, sponsored by state Sen. Wendy Rogers, but without any appropriations language, was held in committee in January.

Ducey being indecisive gets Brnovich burned

From Politico, dated 2/17/2022 (emphasis added by me) -

Ducey looms as last big question on 2022 Senate map

Arizona Statehood Day came and went on Monday. Those hoping GOP Gov. Doug Ducey might use the opportunity to announce he’s running for the Senate — as then-Rep. Jeff Flake did in 2011 — were disappointed when Ducey instead appeared at an event in Los Angeles.

The weekend before, at the Phoenix Open — a massive annual golf tournament where Ducey has announced major initiatives in previous years — the governor had also dashed the hopes of supporters. Ducey gave a brief, generic talk — disheartening some in the audience of big donors and tech executives who had heard word of a possible big reveal.

[snip]

The GOP’s chances of flipping the seat held by Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly — a key contest in the party’s fight for the Senate majority — are viewed by many in both parties as even better with Ducey, who has been elected statewide three times, than the current cast of MAGA Republicans in the race.

Being lumped with the crowd?

That's gotta sting...Mark Brnovich.  

He's actually won a (relatively) high profile statewide race as Attorney General (so has Justin Olson, but that was for a seat on the Arizona Corporation Commission, and I'm betting that most R primary voters can't name even one member).  Not a particularly good AG, IMO, but he's still in office.

The Rs who have filed statements of interest in running for the seat -

Brnovich, Lamon, Olson, Masters, Paveza and McGuire have formed committees with the FEC.

Also forming a committee but not on the list of statements of intent:

Frank Bertone.

Legislative schedule - week starting 2/20/2022

 Note: HHR refers to a hearing room in the House building; SHR refers to one in the Senate building.

Note2: Generally, I'll only specify bills that look to propagate propaganda.  Other bills may be more conventionally bad (think: corrupt or other misuses of public monies and/or authority.  My recommendation is that if an agenda covers an area of interest to you, read the entire agenda.

Note3: Each chamber's respective Rules Committee meets on Monday, the House's in HHR4 at 1 p.m. and the Senate's in Senate Caucus Room 1, also at 1 p.m.  Both committees serve as rubber stamps for bills leadership wants to be advanced and gatekeepers for measures that leadership wants stopped.

Note4: Meeting start times may be listed, but are flexible.  Before journeying to the Capitol or viewing the meeting online, verify the start time.

Note5: Watch for strikers, or strike everything amendments.  Those involve inserting language into the entirety of a bill.  Those can be introduced at any time and can make a previously harmless bill into a very bad one.

I was going to call this week "strikers gone wild", but I'm pretty sure it'll get worse before the lege ends its session.

Far worse.

From the website of the Arizona Legislature:

On Monday, 2/21 -

House Appropriations meets at 8:30 a.m. in HHR1.  23 bills on the agenda, including 7 strikers.  There's one for HB2001 that seeks to override local ordinances/rules concerning worker productivity.  Most safety precautions affect employee productivity.  This one looks like it was written by an industry lobbyist.

There's also one for HB2552 to take $20 million from the state's general fund to build a prison in Cochise County.  There's already a prison in Douglas that looks to be at well below capacity.

Lastly, there's also a striker being offered for HB2726, related to "ballot fraud countermeasures; ink; paper".  This anti-democracy language has been floating around the lege for a while now.  The original House bill, HB2041, was held in committee.

Senate Health and Human Services will meet at 9:30a.m. in SHR1.  Same agenda as last Wednesday, where I wrote " 30 bills on the agenda, including strikers for 6 of them where the language of the proposed amendment isn't yet available.  A couple of bad bills here, and a few of the strikers look bad, plus one that looks "sneaky bad". "

A partial hearing was already held and some of the bills were already considered; I'm not sure where they left off..

On Tuesday, 2/22 -

Senate Appropriations meets at 9 a.m. in SHR109. 37 bills on the agenda, including 20 strikers.

There's one for SB1001 that would make it extortion for someone to threaten to expose a secret in a social media message or in "any other manner".

There's another for SB1003 that would compel counties and municipalities to reduce their property taxes by the amount of money they receive under the American Rescue Plan.

There's yet another for SB1180, imposing reporting requirement for certain expenditures related to the American Rescue Plan.

There's one for SB1458, barring the counting of early ballots until election day.

Lastly, there's one for SCR1018 that's confusing.  The agenda says one thing -

However, the striker, when opened, seems more innocuous -

Given that the author of both the bill and the striker is someone who despises Arizona and its people, like other GQPers, don't be shocked if this one ends up being really bad.

The House is scheduled to enter COW, or Committee of the Whole, 3 non-controversial bills on Monday. COW sessions are where bills are officially amended, though committee meetings are the place to support/criticize proposed amendments.  Once bills are amended in committee, COW consideration is usually a pro-forma thing.

COW calendars can and will pop up on no/short notice and future calendars will probably be more controversial.

Arizona's Paul Gosar: renaissance man?

Of course, him being a nut, bigot, and hypocrite may be his idea of "multitasking."

While the nuttiness and bigotry is well-documented with him, the hypocrisy part has not been.  Yet.

From Havasu News -

Preserving freedom, ‘red wave’ hot topics at Lincoln Day Dinner

Mohave County Republicans gathered for the 75th annual Lincoln Day Dinner to hear speeches from Hillsdale College Graduate Dean and Professor Ronald J. Pestritto, U.S. Rep. Paul Gosar, DDS (R-Prescott), and a variety of candidates and elected officials.

The Saturday event at Beale Celebrations at 201 N. 4th St. was “Freedom” themed and echoed messages of the 2022 “Red Wave” to turn the state fully Republican and preserve freedom-based party standards, specifically in education. The message of Janis Joplin’s “Me and Bobby McGee” lyric “Freedom’s just another word for nothin’ left to lose” was also sung.

Pretty sure that Gosar isn't the best one to speak at an event to commemorate someone who famously dealt with a civil war.

He believes that insurrectionists should be coddled.

Federal Committee update

From the website of the Federal Elections Commission -

Republican Bertone is running for a seat in the U.S. Senate.

Cheeto's bad week gets worse: judge orders him to testify...under oath

First, his accounting firm fired him.

From CNN -

Trump Organization's accounting firm says 10 years of financial statements are unreliable

Former President Donald Trump's long-time accounting firm informed the Trump Organization last week that it should no longer rely on nearly 10 years' worth of financial statements and that they would no longer be their accountants, citing a conflict of interest.

"We have come to this conclusion based, in part, upon the filings made by the New York Attorney General on January 18, 2022, our own investigation, and information received from internal and external sources," Mazars wrote in a letter to the Trump Organization chief legal officer, advising them to no longer rely on financial statements ending June 2011 through June 2020.

Then, a judge in NY ordered him, Junior, and Vanky to comply with a subpoena (Fredo is probably torn about not being included).

From AP via Yahoo! News -

Trump must testify in New York investigation, judge rules

Former President Donald Trump must answer questions under oath in New York state’s civil investigation into his business practices, a judge ruled Thursday.

Judge Arthur Engoron ordered Trump and his two eldest children, Ivanka and Donald Trump Jr., to comply with subpoenas issued in December by New York Attorney General Letitia James.

Cheeto responded as Cheeto does to anything he doesn't like.  With bile and anger.  And finger-pointing and all CAPS.

From the same piece -

In a statement, Trump said, “THERE IS NO CASE!” and accused James’ office of “doing everything within their corrupt discretion to interfere with my business relationships, and with the political process.”

Trump called the ruling “a continuation of the greatest Witch Hunt in history — and remember, I can’t get a fair hearing in New York because of the hatred of me by Judges and the judiciary. It is not possible.”

Apparently, in today's GQP, being prone to violence and betraying the public trust means one is qualified for higher office

First, the "higher office" part.

From Colorado Public Radio -

Mesa Clerk Tina Peters says she’s running for Secretary of State

Mesa County’s embattled Republican Clerk and Recorder Tina Peters is entering the race for Colorado Secretary of State. 

Peters made the announcement on Steve Bannon’s War Room, a podcast hosted by the rightwing political strategist. 

Then the "violence" part.

From The Daily Beast -

‘Don’t Kick!’: Video Shows MAGA Election Clerk Freaking Out During Arrest

The notorious pro-Trump Mesa County elections clerk Tina Peters was detained at a bagel shop on Tuesday—and a video of the incident shows her resisting arrest and apparently attempting to kick a cop. Peters became one of Colorado’s most renowned elections officials last year after she was accused of aiding a QAnon-linked leak of voting-machine logins. The Denver Post reported that Tuesday’s arrest wasn’t linked to investigations of that possible election-security breach, but was related to Peters allegedly filming court proceedings on her iPad. Investigators were reportedly looking for that iPad when they detained Peters. In a video shared by 9News, Peters can be seen jostling with a cop and yelling “Let go of me!” She appears to attempt to kick an officer, who shouts: “Don’t kick!” Peters’ legal defense fund said she complied by handing over the iPad, but resisted when officers started trying to seize other items.

Lastly, the "betraying the public trust" part.

From CNN -

Colorado secretary of state accuses county clerk's office of assisting QAnon-affiliated leak of voting machine logins

In announcing the revoking of some Mesa County voting machines -- their logins appeared in a video by an individual affiliated with QAnon -- Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold on Thursday also accused the county's clerk, Tina Peters, of assisting in the election system security breach.

During a news conference detailing her order, Griswold said her staff had inspected the county's voting machines and video surveillance system on Tuesday, but could not "establish a verifiable chain of custody for any of the voting systems components in Mesa County and cannot establish confidence in the integrity or security of those components."

Griswold went further and accused Peters of having a hand in facilitating the leak.

With those as qualifications, how long before Paul Gosar and/or Andy Biggs seek higher office?

Cheeto update: even his accountants are jumping ship at this point

From CNN -

Trump Organization's accounting firm says 10 years of financial statements are unreliable

Former President Donald Trump's long-time accounting firm informed the Trump Organization last week that it should no longer rely on nearly 10 years' worth of financial statements and that they would no longer be their accountants, citing a conflict of interest.

"We have come to this conclusion based, in part, upon the filings made by the New York Attorney General on January 18, 2022, our own investigation, and information received from internal and external sources," Mazars wrote in a letter to the Trump Organization chief legal officer, advising them to no longer rely on financial statements ending June 2011 through June 2020.

Paul Gosar does AZ proud. Again.

The folks who witnessed, dealt with, or are investigating the January 6th insurrection may have a different opinion.

Catherine Miranda is back. Sort of.

I went to E-Qual to see if there were any new candidate petitions for me to sign, and, lo and behold, there were some new ones, and one of those has a familiar name.

I didn't actually sign any of them - it may have shown up on my list. but while I haven't moved, since redistricting, I no longer live in LD27.

Having said that, Miranda is an infamous name in AZ Democratic politics.

She endorses Republicans.

She's anti-choice.

When she has run for office, it seemed like most of her money came from PACs, lobbyists, CEO/executive types, and lawyers.

{edit on 2/14 to add (I'm not sure what happened here, but I DID type/upload this stuff originally)] -

I couldn't find an open committee for her, but she tends to file her reports late anyway:

[/end edit]

There WAS a pattern to the lateness - the reports that filed on time tended to have few, if any, individual contributions.

Of course, she hasn't been completely out of politics since 2017 - she was thoroughly trounced in the 2018 Congressional primary by Ruben Gallego.

More on her from Planned Parenthood AZ here.

In case you missed it: AZ GOPer fined $125,000 for misusing campaign funds

From The Daily Beast -

GOP Congressman Fined $125,000 For Financial Violations

The other shoe has dropped for Rep. David Schweikert (R-AZ).

His campaign committee has agreed to pay a $125,000 federal fine for misusing donor money and associated reporting violations, according to new Federal Election Commission disclosures.

The investigation, which found “reason to believe” that the violations were “knowing and willful,” was the FEC twin of a separate congressional ethics probe that fined the Arizona Republican $50,000 in 2020 for nearly a dozen violations. The inquiries centered around Schweikert’s dealings with his former chief of staff, political consultant Oliver Schwab, specifically payments to Schwab’s personal credit card and firm.

The agreement was signed on Jan. 12, and the FEC released the documents almost a month later on Friday. As part of the agreement, the Schweikert campaign admitted to breaking three federal laws—all related to expenses.

Sounds like a Friday newsdump to me.

Schwab, mentioned in the third paragraph, has a long history of ethical issues.  He also has a history of supporting some R extremists in their primaries -

I have little doubt that Schweikert will face a primary challenge from the right.

So far as I can see from the allegations against him and this fine, he's only conventionally corrupt and not treasonous enough for today's GQP.

Of course, the result of the R primary in his district will be irrelevant; in the general election, support Jevin Hodge for Congress.

Legislative schedule - week starting 2/13/2022

Note: HHR refers to a hearing room in the House building; SHR refers to one in the Senate building.

Note2: Generally, I'll only specify bills that look to propagate propaganda.  Other bills may be more conventionally bad (think: corrupt or other misuses of public monies and/or authority.  My recommendation is that if an agenda covers an area of interest to you, read the entire agenda.

Note3: Each chamber's respective Rules Committee meets on Monday, the House's in HHR4 at 1 p.m. and the Senate's in Senate Caucus Room 1, also at 1 p.m.  Both committees serve as rubber stamps for bills leadership wants to be advanced and gatekeepers for measures that leadership wants stopped.

Note4: Meeting start times may be listed, but are flexible.  Before journeying to the Capitol or viewing the meeting online, verify the start time.

Note5: Watch for strikers, or strike everything amendments.  Those involve inserting language into the entirety of a bill.  Those can be introduced at any time and can make a previously harmless bill into a very bad one.

This should be the last week for bills to be heard in committee in their originating chamber.  Next week should be quieter, but activity will pick up next month.

From the legislative timeline -

From the website of the Arizona Legislature:

On Monday, 2/14 -

House Health & Human Services meets at 2 p.m. in HHR4.  12 bills on the agenda.

House Land, Agriculture, & Rural Affairs meets at 2 p.m. in HHR3.  7 bills on the agenda, including a striker for HB2181.

House Military Affairs & Public Safety meets at 2 p.m. in HHR1. 16 bills on that agenda.  It meets again afterward, with 5 more bills on that agenda.   The first agenda includes a striker for HB2624, which is tied to HCR2028, both of which pertain to requiring municipalities and counties to spend a certain amount of money on law enforcement.  I wonder if the legislature will ignore this requirement as blithely as they ignore the state constitution when it comes to funding schools.

From Article 11, Section 6 of the state's constitution -

Nah, they won't ignore funding for law enforcement, and for two reasons - 1. it wouldn't apply to education, which they hate; and 2. it would apply to others.

There are other bad bills on the agendas (mostly the first one), but these are the most hypocritical.

Senate Government meets at 2 p.m. in SHR1.  32 bills on a long and ugly agenda.

Senate Transportation and Technology meets at 2 p.m. in SHR109.  9 bills on the agenda, including strikers for SB1134 and SB1596.  The striker for SB1134 is about mostly banning the use of photo radar.

On Tuesday, 2/15 -

House Commerce meets at 2 p.m. in HHR3.  30 bills on the agenda, including strikers for HB2203 and HB2391.  Many bad, and "sneaky bad", bills on this agenda.

House Education meets at 2 p.m. in HHR4.  13 bills on the agenda, including HB2086, barring schools from requiring immunizations against HPV and Covid-19; HB2314, an anti-LGBTQ+ bill masquerading as a bathroom accommodations bill; this one really looks like Cathi Herrod crooked her little finger; and HB2739, imposing AZ government open meeting requirements on a private organization.  There are other bad bills on this agenda.

House Natural Resources, Energy & Water meets at 2 p.m. in HHR1.  13 bills on the agenda, including HB2128, putting limits on the Arizona Corporation Commission, and HB2410, making a multitude of changes to environmental laws.

Senate Appropriations meets at 2 p.m. in SHR109.  13 bills on the agenda, including 2 that would appropriate a LOT of public money for anti-immigrant efforts, and a couple of anti-democracy bills.

Senate Education meets at 2 p.m. in SHR1.  13 bills on the agenda.

On Wednesday, 2/16 -

House Government & Elections meets at 8 a.m. in HHR1.  29 bills on a VERY ugly agenda, including HB2787, a scheme to divide Maricopa County into 4 distinct counties.

House Judiciary meets at 8 a.m. in HHR4.  31 bills on the agenda, including some bad ones.  It probably isn't a coincidence that this meeting is at the same time as House Government & Elections - members of the public can't be in two places at once.

House Ways & Means meets at 9 a.m. in HHR3.  5 bills on the agenda, in HB2166, making guns and "firearms safety equipment" exempt from sale taxes and HB2803, a massive expansion of school vouchers.

Senate Finance meets at 9 a.m. in SHR109.  12 bills on the agenda.

Senate Health and Human Services meets at 8:30 a.m. in SHR1.  30 bills on the agenda, including strikers for 6 of them where the language of the proposed amendment isn't yet available.  A couple of bad bills here, and a few of the strikers look bad, plus one that looks "sneaky bad".

House Appropriations meets at 1:30 p.m. or upon adjournment of the floor session in HHR1.  9 bills on the agenda.

House Transportation meets at 2 p.m. in HHR3 (the website lists the time as "1:30 p.m. or upon adjournment of the floor session" but the published agenda says "2 p.m."  I'll go with the published agenda here, but pay attention to this one and call ahead if this is an area of interest).  8 bills on the agenda.

Senate Commerce meets at 2 p.m. in SHR1.  7 bills on the agenda, including strikers for 2 of them.  SB1053 makes it a class 2 misdemeanor for an employer who doesn't accommodate an employee's claim of requiring a religious exemption for a Covid vaccination; SB1241, reducing the time limit for bringing actions for violations of the state constitution's gift clause; SB1342, barring the Chinese Communist Party from owning any real property in AZ (yes, this one in a Wendy Rogers' special)

Senate Natural Resources, Energy and Water meets at 2 p.m. in SHR109.  8 bills on the agenda.

On Thursday, 2/17 -

Senate Judiciary meets at 9 a.m. in SHR1.  18 bills on a bad agenda, at least 2 of which will see strikers offered.  And at least 1 of those will be bad.

Senate Government meets at 2 p.m. in SHR1.  32 bills on a very bad agenda,  at least 2 of which will see strikers offered.  Same agenda as on Monday.

State Committee update

From the website of the Arizona Secretary of State -

I couldn't find out much about Ectman in a quick search.  He appears to be head of an NGO.

Rep. Mark Finchem may tell and believe "The Big Lie" but have no doubt - most of all, he wants to win the R primary that he's part of.

Yes, he was part of the January 6th insurrection, and yes, he thoroughly hates (see the proposals he has sponsored and cosponsored) citizens, immigrants, LGBTQ+ people, Covid mitigation measures and, of course, voters (which is interesting, because the office that he's running for, Arizona Secretary of State, oversees the state's elections.  So I guess that means he only hates voters who don't agree with him.)

He's running in the R primary for AZSOS against "Beau" Lane and fellow legislators Shawna Bolick and Michelle Ugenti-Rita.  The winner of the D primary, Adrian Fontes or Reginald Bolding, waits in the general.

The culmination of his hate is his sponsorship of HCR2033, wherein he seeks to overturns the 2020 presidential election, but only in Maricopa, Pima, and Yuma counties.  Biden won Maricopa and Pima, and Trump barely won Yuma, and, if they're overturned, combined, the margins in those places would be more than the margin of Biden's victory in AZ.

Finchem is doing his level best to help...Democrats win in 2022, even though they are widely expected to lose control of both chambers of Congress in the midterm elections.

From Politico's Playbook on 2/7 -

[snip]

DOUG SOSNIK of Brunswick Group argues that “there would need to be a series of developments in order for the Democrats to defy history”:

1. The virus needs to be contained with the country returning to a new normal.
2. Inflation needs to start going down by summer.
3. The economy and the stock market need to maintain steady growth, particularly as interest rates begin to rise.
4. The supply chain needs to return to normal.
5. There is not a global crisis.
6. Biden’s job approval rating needs to be in the high 40s by summer.
7. Republicans need to nominate unelectable general-election candidates and run lousy campaigns. They are capable of this and have done this in recent past cycles, choosing far-right candidates such as TODD AKIN or CHRISTINE O’DONNELL who ended up losing in the general election.
8. Trump and Republicans need to keep talking about the 2020 election.

1 seems to be happening already; 2 will happen (I hope); 3 and 4 are already happening and, I expect, will mirror 1; 5 could be a problem, especially if Putin invades Ukraine; 6 will follow 1, 2, 3, and 4; and 7 and 8 are where Finchem comes in.

I don't know if he's "unelectable" in the general, but, while whining about the election in 2020 and treason may show well in an R primary, it doesn't look good in a general election.

In and of itself, the events of January 6th, and Finchem's part in both it and continuing the "Big Lie" don't make him eligible for the coveted Legislative Loon Award..

Nope, like the Darwin Awards, there are rules for the Legislative Loon Award, and the events of that day caused the deaths of others during and after the events.

It's nice to see that AZ isn't the only place with idiots in elected office...

...though we do seem to have a LOT of them here.

From WOIO (Cleveland) -

Hudson mayor suggests that ice fishing could lead to prostitution

The mayor of Hudson suggested during a city council discussion on ice fishing safety that the winter activity could lead to prostitution.

Hudson Mayor Craig Shubert made the remarks during a Tuesday evening city council meeting.

Council members were discussing whether ice fishing should be allowed at Hudson Springs Parks due to liability purposes.

Mayor Shubert said:

“If you open this up to ice fishing, while on the surface it sounds good, then what happens

 

next year? Does somebody come back and say,

 

‘I want an ice shanty in Hudson Springs Park for ‘X’ amount of time?’

 

And if you then allow ice fishing with shanties, then that leads to another problem.

 

Prostitution.”

Well, it shouldn't be an issue here - 

In central and southern Arizona, we don't have much ice fishing.  And that's as far as I'm going with this. :)