The Democrat running for Maricopa County District Attorney previously defended a man indicted of sexually assaulting a mentally disabled child by suggesting that the 12-year-old girl made the story up for attention — and has managed to snag an endorsement from Soros-backed advocacy group.
In 2009, Tamika Wooten became Jacob Payne’s criminal defense attorney after he was accused of repeatedly sexually assaulting a child, court records show. Before Wooten represented him, Payne pled guilty to kidnapping in 2004 after he admitted to restraining a 19-year-old girl as an accomplice murdered her, receiving five years in prison for his crime. Wooten, while representing Payne in 2009, said that “children with learning disabilities fabricate stories to get attention” to discredit the young girl who accused the freshly-released convict of assaulting her.
Wooten, who is running a platform of putting fewer criminals in jail by prioritizing “alternatives to incarceration,” secured the endorsement of Our Vote Our Voice Arizona on Sept. 20. The Soros family’s Open Society Action Fund in 2023 gave just over $1 million to the group, a significant sum for an organization that has had an average annual revenue of roughly $2.5 million since 2020, according to tax documents.
The girl who accused Payne of sexual assault claimed that he had repeatedly groped her and forced her to engage in sex acts, according to court filings. Hospital staff found blood on her underwear after one such assault — she had not been menstruating at the time, per police testimony.
Three of the girl’s siblings told the officer who arrested Payne that they had witnessed their sister come out of the room Payne was in while buttoning up her pants, according to court filings. The girl’s older brother called their mother and told her that his sister had been molested. When confronted by the girl’s mother over the phone, Payne hung up and attempted to flee the apartment.
Wooten, who moved to stop prosecutors from referring to Payne as a “predator” or “pedophile,” argued that the girl’s family members may have “coached” her into accusing him of assault because of their “dislike” for the man, court documents show. Wooten also said that the young girl’s inability to remember specific details about the assaults was evidence of her fabricating the story.
The girl had previously made a false sexual assault claim against her father, which led her mother to initially dismiss her allegation against Payne. Her mother took her daughter seriously after her siblings corroborated her claims.
Payne was indicted of sexually abusing a child again in 2013, this time being accused of molesting a six-year-old girl, according to court records. Prosecutors ultimately dropped the charges “in the interest of justice” but explicitly noted that their decision was not made because evidence was insufficient. He pled guilty to aggravated assault in 2020 and was then convicted of disseminating nude images he took of a woman without her consent in 2023.
The Soros family has made a broad effort to reform criminal justice in the United States away from incarceration and toward rehabilitation, spending tens of millions on criminal justice nonprofits and on electing left-wing prosecutors. Many large cities where the Soros network worked to install prosecutors aligned with their views saw considerable upticks in crime.
Many of the donors backing Vice President Kamala Harris also supported Soros’ efforts to elect liberal prosecutors.
Wooten, who has promised to fight mandatory sentencing laws, is running to unseat Republican Rachel Mitchell, who has focused on cracking down on organized crime and fentanyl, the Washington Examiner reported.
Our Voice Our Vote Arizona and Wooten did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s requests for comment.
Additional scrutiny of Walter Ringfield Jr., currently under arrest for the theft of an electronic security fob used to access vote tabulation machines from the Maricopa County Tabulation and Election Center, has revealed a troubling pattern of implication in criminal actions surrounding Arizona elections.
Caroline Wren, a fundraiser and Senior Advisor to GOP U.S. Senate Candidate Kari Lake, has revealed that Ringfield was named in a 2022 lawsuit between the Arizona Free Enterprise Club (AFEC) and Arizonans for Free and Fair Elections. The lawsuit challenged the registrations of several of its circulators. Ringfield was identified among those circulators with “multiple infractions against them,” in Exhibit A of the lawsuit by the AFEC.
Hi 👋 @azfec, thanks for highlighting this story. Need your help with something.
In 2022 you filed a lawsuit against Arizonans for Free and Fair Elections challenging the circulator registrations. Per exhibit A in your lawsuit, one of those circulators with multiple infractions… https://t.co/07GHGgaUy8pic.twitter.com/u7Tm0XnyfP
In a post to X, Wren asked three questions regarding Ringfield’s mention in the lawsuit:
Who paid Walter to gather signatures for the Arizonans for Free and Fair Elections campaign?
Has Walter been a signature gatherer for any other campaigns or ballot initiatives in Arizona?
What were the nature of the objections against the signatures Walter turned in in exhibit A of your lawsuit?
Arizona Free Enterprise Club President Scot Mussi offered some answers to AZ Free News, explaining that, “In 2022 Ringfield Jr. worked for Sutton and Smart to collect for Free and Fair.”
Mussi added, “This cycle he worked for a time on the Abortion Initative (through Fieldworks) and is currently registered to collect for the RCV/Jungle Primary initiative (Make Elections Fair) through Advanced Micro Targeting.”
Finally, he revealed AFEC’s objections against Ringfield, “As for the objections we made against Ringfield Jr., they dealt with the fact that he failed to properly register with the Secretary of State as a paid circulator.”
In the complaint filed in 2022 by Mussi, the AFEC alleges, “Signatures collected by certain circulators of the Initiative Petition who were required to have been, but were not, properly registered with the Secretary of State are void as a matter of law. Specifically, these individuals either:
a. Failed to register with the Secretary of State prior to collecting signatures in support of the Initiative Petition, and hence did not strictly comply with A.R.S. § 19-118(A);
b. Failed to provide a signed and notarized affidavit averring to the accuracy of the specific information included in their registration for measure I-16-2022, and hence did not strictly comply with A.R.S. § 19-118(B)(5);
c. Failed to provide on their registration submissions to the Secretary of State a full and complete permanent and (if applicable) temporary residential address—to include the relevant apartment or unit number, if the circulator resided in a multiunit complex—and hence did not strictly comply with A.R.S. § 19-118(B)(1);
d. Misrepresented on their registration submissions to the Secretary of State one or more required items of contact information, and hence did not strictly comply with A.R.S. § 19-118(B)(1); or
e. Failed to provide on their registration submissions to the Secretary of State the statutorily required address for service of process, and hence did not strictly comply with A.R.S. § 19-118(B)(4).”
A search of LinkedIn by Wren also confirmed that one “Walter Ringfield Jr” shows a history of volunteering in 2022 with Our Voice Our Vote, which Wren described as “a far-left wing advocacy group funded by Open Society Foundation,” although this is not reflected by his registrations with the Secretary of State.
In an extensive post to X, Wren outlined that Ringfield also has a previous criminal history and was arrested and charged with one count of theft and criminal damage in 2023 having allegedly stolen $1,800 from a former employer citing VoteBeat and noted that he was entered into a diversion program and was not convicted as a result. It was likely due to this diversion that he was able to pass a background check from Maricopa County.
In case you’re new here or just confused as to what the heck is going on in Maricopa County, here is a quick recap:
On Monday, June 24 the Maricopa County Sheriff’s office @mcsoaz released a statement saying there had been a theft by an election worker at the Maricopa County…
Reporting from the Arizona Daily Independent also noted that Ringfield filed a statement of interest in 2023 to run for U.S. Senate as a Democrat and was also implicated in a June 19 theft from the Arizona Senate Building.
Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that Caroline Wren is an attorney. The story has been corrected.
A Democratic election worker was arrested Tuesday for the theft of keys and a security fob belonging to the Maricopa County Elections Building (MCTEC) where he volunteered.
MCTEC surveillance footage captured 27-year-old Walter Ringfield Jr. putting the keys and fob in his pants pocket last Thursday, June 20. An employer discovered the theft and confronted Ringfield about it. Though Ringfield initially denied the theft, the keys were discovered later in his vehicle.
The fob remained missing, according to a Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office press release. Ringfield claimed to law enforcement that he returned the fob approximately 20 minutes after taking it. The county reprogrammed the fobs and disabled the one Ringfield claimed to have returned.
Ringfield reportedly told police that he returned the fob out of regret and a desire to “clean up” his life, starting with permanent employment at MCTEC.
The Arizona Daily Independentreported that Ringfield filed a statement of interest last year to run as a Democrat for U.S. Senate this year.
On Wednesday, the Arizona Senate GOP posted that they now suspected that Ringfield stole from a Senate employee earlier this month. The GOP coalition reported that the Department of Public Safety has undertaken an investigation into the matter.
“The suspect appears to be the same individual recently arrested for stealing from Maricopa County,” said the Senate GOP. “In response to requests from the public, we are releasing surveillance video of the incident.”
UPDATE: DPS is investigating a theft of some personal items from a Senate employee. The crime occurred at the Senate on June 15th. The suspect appears to be the same individual recently arrested for stealing from Maricopa County. In response to requests from the public, we are… pic.twitter.com/RrNZQ4Q7f4
According to a since-deleted LinkedIn profile, Ringfield volunteered at Our Voice Our Vote and graduated from Arizona State University. Ringfield also interned for Tempe City Council member Berdetta Hodge and former state representative and congressional candidate Jevin Hodge.
The latter Hodge resigned earlier this year from the House of Representative amid allegations of a past sexual assault.
Ringfield’s Truth Social profile, which is still active as of this report, prompted some media outlets to initially label him a straightforward Republican or, at the very least, right wing. Ringfield did repost some content supportive of President Donald Trump and retweeted content from right-wing individuals, politicians, and outlets, among them Melania Trump, Steven Crowder, Fox News, Townhall, Conservative Brief, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, Sean Hannity, and The Federalist.
However, Ringfield has also posted remarks like, “We are a nation built on enslaved immigrants,” and “Transgender people is not new transphobia is.”
One picture he posted depicted him with a woman named Sofia (Sonya) Schmerer, his longtime girlfriend who supports Black Lives Matter and goes by “they/she” pronouns per her social media, alongside CNN Analyst Bakari Sellers, and both Berdetta Hodge and Jevin Hodge.
More telling of Ringfield’s political interests and beliefs are apparent under his online persona “Alphonso SunDevil.” His Facebook profile header, updated at the beginning of June, reposted the city of Phoenix’s graphic for its Pride Day pronoun badge/button making with ASU Museum: the LGBTQ+ flag with the Sun Devils hand gesture superimposed.
Other photos from Ringfield’s social media show his involvement or support for the Arizona Education Association, Senator Mark Kelly, Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego, Phoenix Vice Mayor Lauren Kuby, Congressman Greg Stanton, and Tempe Mayor Corey Woods.
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Gov. Katie Hobbs’ ex-press secretary, Josselyn Berry, ousted for tweeting a death threat to “transphobes” hours after the Nashville school shooting, has returned to the dark money organization she worked for previously.
After laying low for several months and privatizing her social accounts, Berry reactivated her LinkedIn and publicly announced her hire by Progress Arizona. She began working with the organization in June.
“After a much-needed sabbatical I’m thrilled to announce I’ve returned home to my Progress Now family as their Senior Director of Campaigns,” said Berry. “I’ll be working with our battleground states to help them run winning programs for the 2024 election cycle.”
Although Berry has reactivated her LinkedIn account, her X page (formerly known as Twitter) remains private. At some point after inciting controversy and making her X page private, Berry updated her profile header image from a picture of Hobbs to the phrase “Trans Rights Are Human Rights.”
Those who reacted positively to Berry’s characterization of her departure from the Ninth Floor included Hobbs’ policy advisor, Molly Murphy; Hobbs’ deputy chief of staff, Will Gaona; Arizona House communications director, Robbie Sherwood; Arizona Senate Democratic Caucus communications director Calli Jones; Arizona House Democratic Caucus senior policy advisor Vicente Reyna; and Phoenix Vice Mayor Yassamin Ansari’s communications director, Emily O’Neil.
Berry resigned within days after issuing a general death threat to those opposed to transgender ideology. The morning after the Covenant School shooting, Berry posted a gif of a woman holding guns in each hand with the caption “Us when we see transphobes.”
Less than 24 hours before, a woman who identified as a transgender man shot and killed three elementary school-aged children and three teachers at the Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee.
The Press Sec. for @GovernorHobbs has RESIGNED over this vile tweet calling for violence against Democrats’ political opponents.
Katie Hobbs should stop surrounding herself with far-left partisans & instead hire people focused on doing the work of the people. pic.twitter.com/bVu6xqXCcd
— Arizona Freedom Caucus (@AZFreedomCaucus) March 29, 2023
Prior to her communications gigs with Hobbs, the Arizona Democratic Party, and the Arizona Senate Democrats, Berry served as the Progress Arizona executive director and chairman.
The dark money nonprofit has received funding from One Arizona, which in turn received funding from the dark money behemoth Arabella Advisors’ five nonprofit arms.
The nonprofit has also received funding from George Soros directly, such as through his Democracy PAC, and indirectly, such as through the Future Now Fund (aka PAC For America’s Future).
The nonprofit then turns around and issues funding to a number of progressive nonprofits including the Arizona Advocacy Network, CASE, Civic Engagement Beyond, League of Women Voters AZ, LUCHA, Our Voice Our Vote, Poder Latinx, and Rural Arizona Action.
Berry also previously worked as the program manager for Arizona Wins and communications coordinator for the Arizona Advocacy Network, two key organizations within the state’s leftist dark money network.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
Benjamin Franklin once famously said, “[I]n this world, nothing is certain except death and taxes” — true, unless you’re a leftist political nonprofit. For many of them, taxation isn’t certain, even if they run afoul of tax-exempt status requirements.
Funding sources, expenditure recipients, and even those operating these nonprofits may remain secretive under the current state of lax federal enforcement. These tax-free and opacity perks are possible through two interrelated federal tax classifications: 501(c)(3), or “C3,” and 501(c)(4), or “C4.” There are over 27,000 C3s and just over 1,200C4s registered in Arizona. The big difference between the two classifications is that donations to IRS-recognized C3 organizations are deductible under our income tax code. And the Left has learned how to exploit this tax status for their political benefit.
In Arizona, many liberal C3 and C4 nonprofits work in tandem, each executing symbiotic duties while coordinating their activities and sharing data and resources. Sometimes, these C3 and C4 duos are “sister” organizations — meaning, they’re affiliated rather than independent entities allied over common goals.
These arrangements are legal so long as clear distinctions are made between charitable and non-charitable activities. Over the last several months, AZ Free News has conducted an extensive review of over a dozen different liberal nonprofits in the state, examining their websites, tax documents, and social media accounts. Our research has found that many of these organizations have blurred the lines on their political activities via various C3 and C4 groups. In some cases, there appeared to be no distinction at all, with some C3 organizations providing completely different accounts of their tax-deductible program activities to the IRS compared to what they shared publicly.
How the IRS Intended for C3 and C4 Organizations to Operate
C3s have two major qualifiers: they’re supposed to be nonpartisan and apolitical—meaning, they can’t expend funds or use resources to coordinate with political activity being conducted by C4s.
C3s must organize and operate exclusively for purposes that are one or more of the following: charitable, religious, educational, scientific, literary, testing for public safety, fostering national or international amateur sports competition, and preventing cruelty to children or animals.
The IRS defines “charitable” as relief of the poor, the distressed, or the underprivileged; advancement of religion; advancement of education or science; erecting or maintaining public buildings, monuments, or works; lessening the burdens of government; lessening neighborhood tensions; eliminating prejudice and discrimination; defending human and civil rights; and combating community deterioration and juvenile delinquency.
The IRS expressly prohibits C3s from being an “action organization”: those engaging in political or legislative activities. Political activities include the direct or indirect participation or intervention in any political campaign on behalf of or in opposition to any political candidate. The IRS also prohibits political campaign fund contributions or public statements of positions, either verbal or written, on behalf of the organization in favor of or opposing any candidate.
The IRS does condone voter education activities, such as get-out-the-vote (GOTV) efforts like voter registration. However, any evidence of political bias is forbidden: favoritism of a candidate, opposing a candidate in any way, or “hav[ing] the effect of favoring a candidate or group of candidates.” Lobbying is also largely forbidden.
Comparatively, the IRS classifies C4 organizations into one of two categories: social welfare organizations or local association of employees. The former concerns civic leagues or organizations organized exclusively for social welfare promotion, not profit. The IRS clarifies that social welfare promotion doesn’t include direct or indirect participation or intervention in political campaigns on behalf of or in opposition to any candidate. Those that do must not render that activity as their primary activity, and risk being subjected to taxation. The latter concerns membership-based organizations with net earnings devoted exclusively to charitable, educational, or recreational purposes.
How Leftist C3 and C4s Operate in Arizona
Our review of leftist C3s in Arizona appears to indicate that their activities are overtly partisan and political. They coordinate with politically active C4s to achieve shared, partisan goals, and receive political action committee (PAC) funding while doing so. Often, these leftist C4s have either direct or indirect participation or intervention in political campaigns on behalf of or in opposition to one or more candidates.
Progressive activists leading these C3s have effectively mastered the art of exploiting the IRS code for partisan advantage, helping to maximize liberal donor partisan impact with their dollars while still hiding their identity. The C3s will claim that their allowable vote (GOTV) efforts, such as voter registration, are nonpartisan. They will claim they’re reaching out to certain, “marginalized” demographic groups; however, these groups turn out to be known Democratic voter bases.
One example of this is Mi Familia Vota Education Fund, the C3 sister organization of Mi Familia Vota, the C4. The former admitted on their 2020 tax filing to coordinating political activity with the latter. The executive director of Mi Familia Vota Education Fund, Hector Sanchez Barba, has publicly advocated for the losses of Republican candidates.
“We will keep working to keep extremism, Trump and MAGA out of our democracy,” wrote Sanchez Barba. “@MiFamiliaVota.”
In response to a Politico article documenting the GOP’s underperformance in last year’s midterm elections, Sanchez Barba thanked Latino voters for having Democrats win.
Meanwhile, their partner C4s pay for media and partisan activities like ad campaigns for candidates. It’s uncertain whether the funding for these activities comes from their C3 partners since those grant or cost-sharing agreements aren’t public. The IRS requires that C3 funds given to C4s be restricted to charitable uses — not electioneering activity.
The C3-C4 duo targets certain voter demographics to achieve a partisan outcome. They contact Democrat-leaning voters to get their vote cast, convince newly registered voters to vote Democratic through mailers and ads supportive of Democratic candidates and causes, and publicly support certain partisan ballot initiatives.
The C3-C4 sister organizations thinly veil their efforts that a division exists between them. For example, Mi Familia Vota spent tens of thousands on TV advertising that advocated for the election of Reginald Bolding ahead of last year’s primary. However, they listed a staffer for their C3 sister organization, Mi Familia Vota Education, as the point-of-contact on that campaign filing.
As AZ Free News reported in Part One of this series, Mi Familia Vota receives funding from One Arizona, a C3, which in turn receives its funding from the Tides Foundation, George Soros’ Open Societies Foundation, and several different organizations under Arabella Advisors.
.@RealMarkFinchem, a MAGAmigo, lies, & says that the 2020 election was fraudulent. If elected, he would use his position to help Trump. We are fighting for free and clear elections this cycle. Our democracy is at stake in Arizona, we must fight back. We say #BastaFinchempic.twitter.com/WPVSjflt2L
Ahead of the midterm election last June, One Arizona advertised a job opening for an independent expenditure (IE) campaign manager. The position appears to be one for a political staffer, which would constitute prohibited electioneering.
While not a complete pitcure, the above graphic illustrates some of the connections in the left’s secretive infrastructure and how they relate to Arizona elections.
Leftist C3s also hire for both the C3 and C4, resulting in shared jobs and salaries. One Arizona (C3) and Arizona Wins (C4) co-hired staff including a field director, field program coordinator, and finance and compliance director. That shared salary should not be used for political work. One recent example of this was a job listing by Arizona Coalition for Change (C3) and Our Voice Our Vote (C4) for a data manager that would work within the duo’s political and grassroots lobbying arms.
These blurred lines surrounding co-hires don’t just apply to staff. Arizona Center for Empowerment (ACE, a C3) and LUCHA (C4) share an executive director, Alejandra (Alex) Gomez, as well as staffers. This relationship is further complicated by the fact that ACE listed LUCHA as its “Employer of Record” on their latest tax return. Under Gomez, both organizations have expressed their partisanship.
Last year, LUCHA launched an initiative to get Democratic candidates elected: “LUCHA Blue.” The nonprofit pledged to prioritize certain races and voter bases in its GOTV efforts. On its hiring page for the initiative, LUCHA disclosed that it would staff between 70 and 105 people.
“We believe that not all candidates align with the mission of LUCHA, and this is why we created a campaign not only to flip Arizona Blue — but LUCHA Blue!” stated LUCHA. “Overall, the goal of the campaign is to win these targeted races, increase Latin/Hispanic voter turnout, and educate voters on the voting process.” (emphasis added)
In one post following Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) winning re-election last November, LUCHA appeared to affirm that both it and ACE assisted in organizational efforts to assure Kelly’s victory.
Wealthy dark money donors have a greater financial incentive to back C3s. 75 percent of their donations can go to politics and qualify as tax deductible — effectively maximizing their gift-giving while affording them a tax break. C4 donations aren’t tax deductible.
The IRS has long been aware of the disparity between the lawful intent for C3 and C4 entities, and the current reality of C3-C4 relationships. As ProPublica revealed in 2019, the IRS essentially gave up on holding nonprofits accountable.
The following are some of Arizona’s liberal C3-C4 nonprofit duos: One Arizona and Arizona Wins, Arizona Center for Empowerment and Living United for Change in Arizona, Mi Familia Vota Education Fund and Mi Familia Vota Victory, Chispa AZ/League of Conservation Voters Education Fund and League of Conservation Voters, Arizona Coalition for Change and Our Voice Our Vote, Instituto Lab and Instituto Power, Rural Arizona Engagement and Rural Arizona Action, and Voto Latino Foundation and Voto Latino.
The relationships between these nonprofits and the awareness of their straining tax law will be further explained in the next installment of this series.
This is Part Two in a series on the Left’s secret infrastructure to turn Arizona blue. Be sure to sign up for our newsletter to be notified of Part Three in the series.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.