Arizona Attorney General under investigation by federal authorities
April 3, 2012
Phoenix, Arizona: On February 11, 2012, a former Tom Horne campaign volunteer and lawyer from the attorney general's Tucson office named Don Dybus filed a complaint with Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett alleging that Attorney General of Arizona violated state campaign laws during his election campaign for attorney general back in 2010.[1] The FBI was charged with investigating the
complaint, which contends that Horne flouted the state's law prohibiting coordination between campaigns and independent expenditure committees, and accuses Horne of making a felonious deal with campaign supporter Kathleen Winn, promising her a post-election job in exchange for her alleged services as a coordinator of several of these cited illicit arrangements.[2]
In his complaint, Dybus said Horne collaborated with manager Nathan Sproul of the firm Lincoln Strategy, independent committee Business Leaders for Arizona, and Winn, who was the committee's Chairwoman, to arrange a $115,000 contribution to Business Leaders for Arizona from Horne's brother-in-law in Santa Monica, California. Dybus also accuses Lincoln Strategy of facilitating a $350,000 contribution to the independent committee from the Republican State Leadership Committee in Virginia. The independent committee implicated by Dybus reportedly spent roughly $500,000[3] on a series of advertisements smearing Horne's general election opponent Felecia Rotellini (D), whom Horne narrowly defeated in November 2011.[1]
After Horne took office as attorney general, he made Winn his Director of Community Outreach, a prominent position within the office that earns the suspected co-conspirator an annual salary of $95,505.[3] As revealed in the Arizona Capitol Times, Dybus called for Winn to be removed from the payroll, and urged Gov. Jan Brewer to replace Horne: “This is a matter of grave concern to all citizens of Arizona who should not tolerate a law-breaking attorney general."[3]
A spokeswoman from his office relayed Horne's explicit denial of any wrongdoing, insisting "the fact is that extraordinary care was exercised to avoid coordination,"[3] and referring to Dybus as "disgruntled."[1]
See also
- Attorney General of Arizona
- Arizona Secretary of State
- Governor of Arizona
- Current Governor of Arizona Jan Brewer
Footnotes
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- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 The Daily Courier, "Arizona Attorney General accused of breaking laws in 2010 campaign," April 2, 2012
- ↑ The Business Journal, "FBI investigating Arizona attorney general Tom Horne," April 2, 2012
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Arizona Capitol Times, "FBI investigating Horne for campaign violations," April 2, 2012
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