The Chandler City Council will vote to renew a police union memorandum of understanding (MOU) on Thursday, a weighty decision given recent allegations of an ongoing FBI corruption investigation involving one of the council members and the former police union president.
Those purportedly under investigation are Councilwoman Jane Poston and former Chandler Law Enforcement Association (CLEA) President Michael Collins. As first reported by ABC15, Chandler’s recently retired police chief, Sean Duggan, claimed the existence of the FBI probe in an email to City Manager Joshua Wright last November. The FBI didn’t confirm the existence of any investigation in response to questioning from the outlet.
“In this matter, information was uncovered indicating Collins and Poston may have committed violations of federal law and as such, an active public corruption criminal investigation is underway,” said Duggan.
Poston denied the existence of any such investigation in a statement released earlier this month to ABC15, calling the claim an “unsubstantiated rumor.” The councilmember said she was unaware of Duggan’s email prior to the recent reporting on its contents.
“No one from any investigative agency has contacted me. Based on the complete lack of evidence, I decided to treat this as the unfounded rumor I believe it to be,” said Poston.
A spokesperson for the city also denied that the city manager was contacted by the FBI regarding such an investigation.
An additional, related concern ahead of Thursday’s vote relates to a potential conflict of interest for Poston over the proposed CLEA MOU. Poston’s company, J2 Media, has done public relations for CLEA in recent years, and serves as one of their business supporters.
One of J2 Media’s creations for CLEA in 2021 was a presentation advocating for terms of the existing MOU.
Thursday’s city council meeting will address the renewal of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with CLEA to last through 2026. The updated MOU includes several substantive and expensive changes:
Merit increases of up to five percent for the 2024-25 and 2025-26 fiscal years;
Maintaining the compensation market position at third market as a measure for market increases;
A $1,500 bonus to certain CLEA members;
A five percent Special Assignment Pay Differential for officers assigned to Bike Team, School Resource Officer, Behavioral Health Unit, and Neighborhood Response Team;
Vacation accrual increases of .3 hours per pay period for 0-5 years of service, .4 hours per pay period for 5-10 years of service, .1 hours per pay period for 10-15 years of service, and the annual maximum vacation accrual cap increase of 80 hours;
A $10,000 contribution into the Post Employment Health Plan (PEHP) of any officer with 10 or more years of service;
A $25 per pay period contribution increase into PEHP accounts by the city;
$900 to $1,750 graded PEHP sick leave contribution amounts based on years of service;
A one-time $10,000 PEHP contribution for officers with 10 years or more of service who didn’t receive a 2024 contribution;
A one-time $5,000 PEHP contribution for officers with 15-19 years of service;
A one-time $10,000 PEHP contribution for officers with 20 or more years of service;
Contributions to retiring officers’ PEHP account align with graded PEHP sick leave contribution scale, except for officers with over 30 years of service (they receive 50 percent of sick leave balance);
And, an increased 1.5 pay rate for officers working through a holiday shift.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
An Arizona State University (ASU) professor is among the 38 law professors petitioning the Department of Justice (DOJ) for the release of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange.
ASU law professor Gregg Leslie and 37 other professors submitted their petition days ahead of Tuesday’s hearing on Assange’s extradition from the U.K. Should the court deny his request to block his extradition, Assange will be taken to the U.S. to face 17 espionage charges over his 2010 publication of classified materials.
Among the leaked materials were footage of a 2007 airstrike in Baghdad revealing that soldiers shot 18 civilians from a helicopter, including a Reuters journalist and his assistant; nearly 391,900 Iraq War logs spanning 2004 to 2009; and the “Cablegate” files consisting of diplomatic cables revealing U.S. espionage against the United Nations and other world leaders, tensions with allies, and corruption in other countries.
The DOJ accused Assange of working with former Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning to obtain classified information. The DOJ charged Assange with espionage in 2019, alleging that he used Manning to secure certain sets of classified Secret documents: about 90,000 Afghanistan war-related significant activity reports, 400,000 Iraq war-related significant activities reports, 800 Guantanamo Bay detainee assessment briefs, and 250,000 State Department cables.
In 2020, the DOJ issued a second superseding indictment broadening the scope of the charges to include allegations that Assange recruited computer hackers to benefit Wikileaks. The indictment cited an alleged unauthorized access to a government computer system of a NATO country in 2010, and a contract with a hacking group to obtain materials from the CIA, NSA, or New York Times.
Last week’s letter from the 38 law professors made the case that Assange qualified as a journalist and, therefore, the First Amendment protected Assange’s actions. The law professors countered that Wikileaks’ openness to receiving information didn’t qualify as Assange recruiting sources or soliciting confidential documents
“Award-winning journalists everywhere also regularly ‘recruit’ and speak with sources, use encrypted or anonymous communications channels, receive and accept confidential information, ask questions to sources about it, and publish it,” said the professors. “That is not a crime — it’s investigative journalism. As long as they don’t participate in their source’s illegality, their conduct is entitled to the full protection of the First Amendment.”
The law professors further warned that Assange’s prosecution served as an “existential threat” to the First Amendment and would, in time, enable the prosecution of other reporters. They cited the police raid of a local Kansas newspaper that occurred last August based on verbal allegations of identity theft.
“It could enable prosecution of routine newsgathering under any number of ambiguous laws and untested legal theories,” said the professors.
In that case, a disgruntled local restaurant owner had told the city council and the county attorney — the brother-in-law of the hotel owner housing her restaurant — that the local newspaper had illegally obtained documentation of an unresolved DUI charge that proved she had been driving without a valid license for over a decade. At the time, the newspaper had also been investigating claims of sexual misconduct by the police chief. Within days, the police conducted their unlawful raid. The newspaper had obtained the documentation legally through public records.
Similarly, editors and publishers of a number of news outlets, including The New York Times and The Guardian, argued that Assange engaged in journalism by obtaining and disclosing sensitive information for the public interest.
In a 2019 press release announcing Assange’s charges, the DOJ dismissed the claim that Assange qualified as a journalist.
“Julian Assange is no journalist. This is made plain by the totality of his conduct as alleged in the indictment — i.e., his conspiring with and assisting a security clearance holder to acquire classified information, and his publishing the names of human sources,” stated the DOJ.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
Arizona ratepayers are overpaying by up to four times more than they should for unreliable energy due to renewable energy mandates — and stand to pay even more in the future — according to congressional testimony by Nick Myers, commissioner for the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC).
Myers testified to the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee last week that the whole renewable energy mandate movement not only constitutes bad policy, but defies common sense.
“Our ratepayers are paying three times for the same generation and retiring reliable generation in favor of unreliable generation is just bad. It’s common sense: you have to have a backup plan,” said Myers. “You have to create more dispatchable generation that sits there idle so that you can use it when the sun goes down or the wind doesn’t blow: we don’t have a whole lot of wind in Arizona, but you have to have that generation available to come online when it happens.”
Myers said that most of ACC’s current challenges stem from a lack of adequate infrastructure to replace the “early forced retirement” of coal plants. He said that ratepayers are having to pay three to four times more than they should because of this dilemma.
“Personally, it pains me to have to prove accelerated cost recovery for early shutdown of coal plants while at the same time authorizing recovery on new purchase power agreements and then because the utilities are ultimately responsible for keeping the lights on, we also have to approve the building of reliable dispatchable generation in the form of natural gas,” said Myers. “That means our ratepayers are paying three times for the same energy generation that could be had by simply keeping our existing generation online until natural retirement or even better beyond that.”
Additionally, Myers said that ratepayers pay four times more than they should for energy due to renewable energy mandates forcing utility providers to invest in “premature technology” under long-term contracts. Myers said that the cost burden is projected to worsen over the next two decades as the price of solar energy drops. The commissioner disclosed that additional problems concerned delayed development and commercialization of newer technologies, namely small modular reactors.
According to Myers, ACC has approved nearly 2,000 megawatts of solar plus battery connections and hundreds of megawatts of thermal generation in the past year.
Myers further noted that a “one size fits all” approach to regulation was impossible due to Arizona’s diverse topography and climate, citing the disparities between the northern and southern parts of the state.
The commissioner also clarified that Arizona lacks the infrastructure to supply natural gas and that the state can’t allocate much more to turbines for intermittent renewable resources.
Instead, Myers said that they have turned to alternative solutions, such as hydroponic basins — an initiative that he says won’t come to fruition in the next decade — as well as salt caverns for natural gas and possibly hydrogen storage. That latter proposal, he said, may provide buffering for the entire west coast and parts of Mexico.
Another solution in the works concerns an increase in the number and size of pipelines laid from Texas to California.
Myers said that ACC has been active in Day-Ahead Markets (DAMs), which matches energy buyers and sellers, a tool they view as a possible stepping stone for a Regional Transmission Organization (RTO). He said that DAM simulations have yielded net savings for utility customers, with or without the inclusion of Washington and California.
“While Arizona has many transmission lines in development, it is important to work with our neighbors to determine what is best in regard to long-term transmission suitable for our region,” said Myers.
When asked whether it was an ideal solution to have California govern the grid for western states, Myers said no. He cited California’s inability to secure power for its own residents and its legislative primacy clauses prioritizing its own interests above that of other states.
“Should we have a problem, California will only make a change if it benefits California, and that is a huge problem for us,” said Myers. “Just look at how much of a bang-up job they’ve done at keeping their own lights on.”
Rep. Debbie Lesko (R-AZ-08), who sits on the subcommittee, commended ACC for rolling back renewable energy mandates earlier this month. Lesko said that the retraction was a “reasonable approach” that she felt attracted more businesses to the state, in contrast with the steady bleed of businesses from neighboring California.
Lesko asked about the reliability and potential problems posed by carbon capture technology and storage outlined by the EPA proposal to reduce carbon emissions by 90 percent by 2030. Myers agreed that the technologies were purely “aspirational” and a threat to reliability. He, along with other state public utility commissioners testifying that day, expressed a desire for the EPA to take back their proposal.
“Those technologies are so much in their infancy that they are extremely expensive, the timeline is extremely rushed, and there is absolutely no infrastructure in place to handle either one of those technologies,” said Myers. “It would absolutely increase costs dramatically to Arizona utilities if we had to do that; it might also accelerate the closure of certain plants because of these requirements.”
As an example of the high cost to ratepayers, Myers explained that hydrogen would have to be converted to ammonia en route since it can’t be piped in long distances.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
The woman who gained international notoriety nearly a decade ago for faking her race, Rachel Dolezal (now Nkechi Amare Diallo), was fired from her job teaching elementary school children in Tucson shortly after news broke of her publicly advertising her porn on OnlyFans.
Diallo worked as an after-school educator in the Community Schools program within the Catalina Foothills School District. The district hired her for $19 an hour. She ran a gardening club for those students.
On Tuesday, Libs of TikTok posted one of Diallo’s provactive images on X (formerly Twitter) along side some of her racy posts. (Warning: You can view the post here, but it is not safe for work or if you’re around children.
Diallo launched her OnlyFans in 2021, initially as a lifestyle page dedicated mainly to workouts based on initial media coverage and her own social media posts on the subject. About a year later in 2022, Diallo began to transition the page into its current state of straight-porn content with risque postings of her wearing lingerie — a move that was widely reported on and trending on social media.
Diallo charged about $10 a month for access to her porn. The OnlyFans account was included in her LinkTree on both her public Facebook and Instagram pages.
According to social media posts, Diallo moved to Arizona around July 2020 after her son was admitted to the University of Arizona. Last March, Diallo attended Gov. Katie Hobbs’ signing of a ban on hair discrimination, legislation modeled after a California law prohibiting discrimination against employees’ hair texture and establishing protective styles such as braids, locs, twists, knots, and headwraps. In a comparison of the photos posted by Diallo and the governor’s office of the event, it appears that Diallo was cropped out.
Diallo’s racial deceit was discovered in 2015, after a Spokane, Washington news outlet questioned her about her parents and her race during an interview about racial justice and racially motivated hate crimes. At the time, Diallo was the NAACP Spokane president and an Africana studies lecturer at Eastern Washington University.
The interaction between Diallo and the reporter went viral. Shortly after Diallo was outed for faking her race, she stepped down as the local NAACP chapter president and embarked on a media tour explaining that she was “transracial.”
Despite all the controversy that arose over her “transracial” identity, Diallo managed in the subsequent years to maintain a sizable following that yielded speaking engagements, artwork sales, a memoir, and a Netflix documentary.
In 2018, the year her Netflix documentary came out, Diallo was charged with welfare fraud for taking over $8,000 in relief by hiding her memoir income. The following year, Diallo agreed to a plea deal to repay the thousands and complete community service.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
On Tuesday, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas was impeached under an effort initiated and led in part by Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ-05).
The resolution to impeach Mayorkas for high crimes and misdemeanors passed 214-213, with three Republicans voting against it: Ken Buck (CO), Mike Gallagher (WI), and Tom McClintock (CA). Biggs has been proposing legislation to impeach Mayorkas since 2021.
In remarks preceding the impeachment vote, Biggs said the Founding Fathers were supportive of impeachment as a means of addressing serious offenses to the nation.
“It’s hard for me to conceive of any bigger offense against the nation than opening up the border and actually willingly and intentionally inviting in 10 million-plus illegal aliens to cross into the country,” said Biggs. “Secretary Mayorkas opened up our border and encouraged people to come in.”
Biggs cited Mayorkas’ inability to confirm during his sworn testimony that the border was operationally under control as defined by the Secure Fence Act of 2006. Mayorkas implied that the standard was impossible to meet, and that DHS had created its own standard to meet.
“That is a violation of separation of powers, and it is also a violation of his oath of office and duties,” said Biggs.
Additionally, Biggs cited DHS implementing a catch and release policy by abusing the policy allowing parole passes for certain immigrants on a case-by-case basis for humanitarian purposes. Those passes granted temporary legal status to the migrants that received them. Over the course of several decades, only an average of several dozen migrants annually received parole passes. Under Mayorkas, over a million have been issued to illegal immigrants over the last three years.
The congressman also cited Mayorkas testimony that his administration wasn’t deporting illegal immigrants even if they had removal orders from a court.
Biggs said it was imperative to impeach Mayorkas to prevent the unrelenting, ever-worsening tide of illegal immigrants constituting the border crisis.
“It isn’t a matter of a policy difference; it isn’t a matter of incompetence or maladministration. This is somebody who is a public official who has breached the public trust, and if we keep him in office for another 12 months, we shall surely see several million more people in this country,” said Biggs.
The impeachment resolution now heads to the Senate.
Tuesday’s vote was the second attempt against Mayorkas. House Republicans failed to gain enough votes to pass the impeachment resolution last week.
Rep. Eli Crane (R-AZ-02) said that the impeachment was warranted and claimed the border crisis was a deliberate effort by Mayorkas.
“The crisis at the border was deliberate, which more than warrants this historic action,” said Crane.
The crisis at the border was deliberate, which more than warrants this historic action. https://t.co/labBRJir0r
Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ-07) condemned the impeachment as “baseless” and that there was “no evidence” of wrongdoing by Mayorkas. Grijalva claimed that the border crisis was now Republicans’ fault, not the Biden administration.
“[H]e has lawfully carried out the policies of President Biden and still requires significant help from Congress to manage the issues we face at the border,” said Grijalva. “[House GOP] now bear full responsibility for the situation at our southern border.”
Instead of passing real immigration reform to fix our broken system or giving the necessary resources for Secretary Mayorkas and border communities to manage the humanitarian crisis, the House Republican majority moved forward with a baseless impeachment resolution. https://t.co/nppoLt51h2
