Political Scandals

Russell Pearce's Leprechaun Rob Haney Flips Out, Invalidates LD 25 Election, Calls the Coppers

I wish I'd been at the November 29 meeting of Legislative District 25 Republicans for the election of new officers and state committee-persons. All the haters were there, and the haters had their asses handed to them when their pro-hater slate, for the most part, went down in flames. Which is the m ... More >>

Helen Purcell Urged to End Confusion Over CBS 5 Early Ballot Report

Sadly, confusion still reigns after CBS 5's recent report on early ballots and the volunteers from different groups picking them up, in which this legal, and very common activity was labeled, wrongly, as illegal. CBS 5 reporter Donna Rossi incorrectly paraphrased the remarks of Maricopa County Reco ... More >>

Maricopa County Elections Office Error a "Dark Political Art," Declares Rachel Maddow

It's elections season, which means it's time for claims of "voter suppression" across the country -- claims that will also become convenient excuses after a given candidate loses their election.That said, it's not too surprising that MSNBC jumped on the Spanish error printed on a handful of election ... More >>

Joe Arpaio's Lawyer Grilled by Ninth Circuit About Why Sheriff Should Remain Exempt from New Times' False-Arrest Lawsuit

Sheriff Joe Arpaio​Editor's note: This post was written by Peter Jamison, who covered the hearing for us and our sister paper, the SF Weekly: An 11-member panel of judges from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit had tough questions today for Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio's ... More >>

Scott Bundgaard Files Ethics Complaint Against Ethics Committee Members

Jeez, hurry up and resign already...State Senator Scott Bundgaard, facing an ethics complaint and possible expulsion from the Senate for his roadside fracas with his now former girlfriend and his invocation of legislative immunity,  has filed an ethics complaint against three members of the sta ... More >>

Russell Pearce's Favorite Scribe Linda Bentley Repeats Smear of Mesa Woman

lindabentley.blogspot.comFor Bentley "responsible journalism" means sliming an innocent person, over and over againI'm getting pretty annoyed at having to berate Sonoran News' nutjob newshound Linda Bentley over her myriad stupidities, but I can't let this one go.As I noted in a recent column, neith ... More >>

Russell Pearce's Allies at Cave Creek's Sonoran News Slime an Innocent Woman in an Attempt to Besmirch the Effort Seeking His Recall

Cinderella @ Marquee Theatre

Russell Pearce Recall Sigs Scored, Most Pearce Donors from Outside LD18

Most of Pearce's 2010 donations were from outside LD18I plan to ride around town with a dead crow in my car, so the next time I see local hack Howie Fischer, he of the one-man "Capitol Media Services," I can carve him off a slice for his dinner.See, Fischer, like many of the rest of Arizona's status ... More >>

John Zidich, Arizona Republic Publisher and Member of Fiesta Bowl Executive Committee, in Glaring Conflict of Interest, Say Local Journos and Politicos

​On Tuesday, the Fiesta Bowl released an internal investigation of bowl employees, highlighting questionable spending of the organization's money and alleged illegal campaign contributions -- the second such internal investigation since The Arizona Republic started reporting on it in 2009. ... More >>

Morning Poll: Are Republicans to Blame for Fiesta Bowl Fiasco?

​Yesterday, Arizona Democratic Party Chairman Andrei Cherny issued a statement bashing Republicans for turning "the Fiesta Bowl into a front for funneling illegal campaign contributions to Republican politicians."Cherny failed to mention in his statement that several of those who benefited from th ... More >>

Fiesta Bowl Fiasco: Arizona Dems Make it Political -- Despite Some of Their Own Having Benefitted From John Junker's (Ahem) Generosity

​By now you probably know about the Fiesta Bowl's decision to ax CEO John Junker following an internal investigation into how he was spending the organization's money, but it's the alleged illegal contributions to the campaigns of Valley politicos that has Arizona Democrats fuming.Junker, the ... More >>

Westboro Baptist Church to Protest Funeral of 9-Year-Old Girl Murdered in Tucson Shooting; Hells Angels to the Rescue?

Christina Green was murdered on Saturday. Despicably, the members of the Westboro Baptist Church plan to protest her funeral.​Members of the controversial Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas, announced today that they plan to protest the funeral of a 9-year-old girl murdered during Sat ... More >>

Andrew Thomas May End Up Disbarred, But He Really Belongs in a Prison Cell

Story Placement Fail: Compliments of Elizabeth Edwards and KPHO

This was the homepage on the KPHO website at 3:23 p.m. today. Oops.​

Sidebar: Fantasy Voter Fraud

Joe Arpaio Signs Off on Ban Amnesty Now's Voter Suppression Efforts?

Kris Kobach? That's some "impartial" source you got there, SeanThe paranoia has been reaching a fever-pitch both in and over an e-mail recently sent out by the local nativist organization Ban Amnesty Now, which claims that "illegals" are looking to steal the upcoming midterm elections. The e-ma ... More >>

Russell Pearce's Latest Loss: 9th Circuit Swats Down Racist Provision of Prop. 200

The "architect" of Arizona's ethnic cleansing laws, stymied by the 9th CircuitTo borrow a phrase from that great modern philosopher Flavor Flav, when it comes to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeal's recent ruling on Prop 200, don't believe the hype.Because hype, fake outrage and panic is basically what ... More >>

J.D. Hayworth's Old Pal Jack Abramoff Leaves Prison for Halfway House

Disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff is scheduled to be released from prison on December 4.​With the latest leg of the John McCain/J.D. Hayworth saga focusing on which of the two is more of a lobbyist, it seems only fitting that one of the most scandalous lobbyists in history just got  ... More >>

Ruth McGregor Assigns Special Prosecutors Issue to Yuma Judge; County Answers Andrew Thomas' Belatedly Served Court Complaint

  Image: Yuma County Judge Andrew Gould, you've just entered the Twilight Zone...​A couple more turns of the screw to report this morning on the county front: 1. Former Arizona Chief Justice Ruth McGregor -- a retiree who just returned from an out-of-country trip -- ruled that a ... More >>

Outspoken Lefty Actor Tim Robbins Donated Money to J.D. Hayworth Campaign; WTF?

Seen here, did Tim Robbins escape from Shawshank Prison, or realize he accidentally donated money to J.D. Hayworth? You be the judge.​For anyone who has ever seen Tim Robbins talk about, well, anything political, you probably find it hard to fathom that he would donate much more than a mean- ... More >>

Arpaio to Host Fundraiser to Help Pay J.D. Hayworth's Legal Bills

Former Congressman J.D. Hayworth​On December 5, for $250, you could have the distinguished honor of posing for a photograph with Sheriff Joe Arpaio and former Congressman J.D. Hayworth. Or, you could just go into your bathroom and flush $250 down the toilet -- whatever seems like a better value.Th ... More >>

Hot Links: Obama's AZ Visit, the Taylor Fire, and a Dozen Babies

​Six pilots violated air space restrictions during President Obama's visit to Arizona on Sunday, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. The FAA restricted air space within a 30-mile radius of Sky Harbor, allowing only scheduled airline flights and emergency aircraft. The pilots who viol ... More >>

Andrew Thomas is Free At Last -- Final Bar Complaints, Including One About New Times Case, Dismissed

This just in: It's okay to arrest newspaper owners under the cover of night. And it's perfectly ethical for the county attorney to appoint the sheriff's lawyer as a special "independent" prosecutor in a case where the sheriff is the "victim." And if that "independent" prosecutor's conf ... More >>

Rick Renzi, Indicted Former Congressman, Getting His Earmarks Through

  If you don't like the $1.2 million in earmarks shoved into a Congressional spending bill headed for a vote in the U.S. Senate, it may be tough to get ahold of the man responsible: Indicted Former Congressman Rick Renzi. USA Today reports that Renzi is one of several former lawmakers who ... More >>

Tucson Extremist Roy Warden's Upcoming "Rally" to "Impeach" AZ Supreme Ruth McGregor

Roy Warden: Este pendejo, indeed...Anti-immigrant nutjob and Mexican flag-burner Roy Warden's coming to town Wednesday, December 10 for a "rally" to "impeach" Arizona Supreme Court Chief Justice Ruth McGregor. Well, supposedly. According to e-mails the wacky Warden's sent out to the state Supreme Co ... More >>

Contradicting His Office's Previous Statements, Chief Deputy David Hendershott Now Claims He Ordered the New Times Arrests

David Hendershott Tries to Take One for Andrew Thomas, but Somebody's Not Telling the Truth

Mark Jacoby, Accused of Voter Fraud in AZ, Is Arrested

Arizona Supreme Court Declines Andrew Thomas' Request to Halt State Bar Probe

Senator Files Ethics Complaint Over Gay Marriage Vote

Trial by Firing

Inside Dubya's Department of Injustice

Russell Pearce: The Savior of Andrew Thomas?

New Times founders honored for support of civil liberties

Letters from the issue of Thursday, March 13, 2008

John McCain's bimbo and corruption eruptions...

Siege Mentality

County Attorney Andrew Thomas is attempting to capitalize on a national trend by attacking local judges

Judge Baca smacks down Dennis Wilenchik and the County Attorney's office in the case of the New Times grand jury subpoenas.

PLOT THICKENS IN SUBPOENA SEARCH: Judge Anna Baca demands to see missing docs, orders County Attorney to appear.

IN YOUR FACE! FURIOUS PUBLIC BACKLASH FORCES COUNTY ATTORNEY ANDREW THOMAS TO DROP CASE AGAINST NEW TIMES.

Case Against New Times Dropped

County Attorney Fires Special Prosecutor

Peaches

Impeach My Bush
(XL)

Neil Young

Living With War
(Reprise)

Pressure Tactics

You won’t believe what GOP officials are pulling now to try to keep Senator Jack Harper from discovering the truth about a local election!

Flashes

From the week of January 28, 1999

End of a Smear

County Attorney Richard Romley thought he had parlayed a trivial investigation into the resignation of one of his chief political rivals. But Attorney General Grant Woods decided that his top assistant would not be sacrificed to prosecutorial overreaching

CASUAL CONFLICTS

ARIZONA LAWMAKERS OPERATE UNDER A SYSTEM INCAPABLE OF STEMMING CONFLICTS OF INTEREST.