Paul Babeu Turns Distortion of Truth Into an Art Form

Babeu, for example, claims continually that Obama has cut funding for border security, even though overall funding has increased. During a series of interviews last year, Babeu even maintained that the Obama administration didn't devise a plan to address drug smuggling across the U.S.-Mexico border until the president's third year in office.

Babeu went on to spin that his blasting the Obama administration over Fast and Furious (a botched operation by federal agencies that put high-powered weapons into the hands of Mexican drug cartels) forced the feds to finally come up with a plan in 2011.

Babeu in a dunk tank to raise money for a Sheriff's Office Benevolent Fund.

DeSisto School founder Michael DeSisto selected Babeu to run his school from 1994-2001.

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More About

• Paul Babeu
• Barack Obama
• Conservative Political Action Conference
• Immigration
• Election Campaigns

It was another attempt by Babeu — whose overriding political strategy has been to demand immensely tighter border security — to put one over on the public.

The truth is, the Obama administration announced its version of the National Southwest Border Counternarcotics Strategy in June 2009.

On the local front, Babeu ran for sheriff the first time on a platform that emphasized fiscal conservatism. Yet county officials had to point out to him that the PCSO budget was spiraling out of control. He responded by blaming his budget overruns on county supervisors' approving a pay increase for his deputies — which he had demanded.

He topped this hypocrisy with a much bigger one:

The avowed "fiscal conservative" requested a $5 million earmark from the Arizona Legislature to combat "border violence" in his county — which is 70 miles from the border. But lately he has insisted that he opposes earmarks of any kind.

When Babeu first ran for sheriff, he stressed that he would bring integrity and "higher standards" to the PCSO. And he has dealt severely with deputies deemed by him to have brought disgrace to the Sheriff's Office. Lately, after the border hawk was accused of shaming the PCSO himself by posing on gay websites and allegedly threatening his Mexican ex-lover, he dismissed his actions as "nobody's business" ("Babeu Responds to New Times Article," February 18).

According to the sheriff and former head of a disgraced private school, his personal and professional woes are overwhelmingly the fault of political enemies.

"All of these anvils are being dropped out of the sky upon us," Babeu told KTVK after he dropped out of the congressional race. "Us" being Governor Jan Brewer, Attorney General Tom Horne, and Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio. "[The Obama administration is] taking punches at the top leaders in our state," he said.

"Arizona is a thorn in the side of President Obama, Eric Holder, and Napolitano," Babeu spat. "We shall not be silenced!"

On the national stage, however, Babeu has been shut up and shut out.

While stumping in Prescott, Yuma, and other parts of the far-flung Fourth Congressional District he yearned to represent in Washington, Paul Babeu pledged — holding up his right hand for emphasis — to take a hard-line stand on immigration enforcement and to fight President Obama and his liberal minions to the end.

Despite what voters heard in news reports concerning his gay sexual escapades, he is — he swore — a true Republican conservative.

But his self-descriptions and political promises go beyond typical political stumping, as he has not-so-subtly attempted to bulk up his image with a few choice phrases — among them that he is a "combat veteran."

He evokes the powerful image of a brave soldier on the front lines exchanging gunfire with enemies of America.

In February, that is how Babeu introduced himself to an audience at the Conservative Political Action Conference in D.C., declaring that he had served a "combat tour in Iraq."

Babeu joined the Army National Guard in Massachusetts in 1990, participating in mandatory training on select days each year. One of his early Guard assignments was helping to build a fence along a portion of the California-Mexico border.

He worked his way up through the ranks, was promoted to major in 2005, and served in Iraq from April to November of that year.

Although he has referred to himself as a "combat veteran" many times this year, military personnel files obtained by New Times do not show him engaging in actual combat.

They do show that he was discharged honorably and that he received the requisite ribbons for such service, including an Army Achievement Medal, an Armed Forces Reserve Medal, and an Iraq Campaign Medal.

New Times reached out repeatedly to Babeu and his campaign representatives to clarify his combat record and to answer other questions for this article, but neither the sheriff nor his operatives responded. Indeed, during an attempt to talk to him at the Prescott event, he ignored New Times' questions, and a campaign worker eventually growled that the sheriff only talks to "real newspapers."

A couple of old news accounts, in which Babeu is quoted, offer insight on his real role in Iraq.

In 2008, after he was elected sheriff, Babeu told the North Adams Transcript that he was a "human resources director" in Iraq.

"Most of the time, when a serviceman is deployed, he is located in one area for an entire tour," Babeu said to the Massachusetts newspaper. "I was fortunate because the type of job I had required that I be flown around a lot. I worked to ensure that the command climate was beneficial for the troops. Sometimes there were morale issues, and I worked with the leaders to advise them and implement good practice standards."