by Jonathan Eberle | Jul 1, 2025 | News
By Jonathan Eberle |
A new Arizona law aims to bolster protections against foreign government interference and intimidation, marking a first-of-its-kind effort in the state to address what lawmakers describe as growing threats from hostile foreign actors.
House Bill 2374, sponsored by State Representative Quang Nguyen (R-LD1), was signed into law this week following bipartisan support. The legislation targets “transnational repression” — a term used to describe efforts by foreign governments to harass, surveil, or silence individuals on U.S. soil, often for expressing views critical of those regimes.
“This law draws a hard line: Arizona will not be a playground for foreign operatives,” Nguyen said in a statement. “Whether it’s the Chinese Communist Party or any other hostile regime, their tactics of intimidation and coercion have no place here.”
The new statute increases criminal penalties for harassment-related offenses when carried out by individuals acting on behalf of foreign powers or terrorist organizations. Crimes such as stalking, assault, and harassment receive enhanced felony designations if committed as part of an effort to silence political dissidents, religious minorities, or other individuals engaging in constitutionally protected activities.
Additionally, the law establishes a new Class 2 felony offense for any unauthorized foreign law enforcement activity conducted in the state. That includes attempts to surveil or detain individuals without express authorization from state or federal authorities.
To help detect and prevent such operations, the legislation directs the Arizona Department of Public Safety to develop a Transnational Repression Recognition and Response Training Program. The program will train local law enforcement across Arizona to identify and respond to covert foreign interference efforts.
Nguyen, who chairs the House Judiciary Committee and fled communist Vietnam as a child, described the measure as both personal and necessary.
“My family fled government repression,” he said. “I won’t stand by while foreign agents threaten people in Arizona for exercising their constitutional rights.”
The bill is part of the Republican Majority Plan in the Arizona House, which emphasizes border security, individual liberties, and public safety.
Jonathan Eberle is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Ethan Faverino | Jun 30, 2025 | News
By Ethan Faverino |
The Prescott City Council has voted down a proposed General Plan on Tuesday, rejecting what critics said contained “woke policies.” If the proposal had been approved, it would have made its way to the ballot for the next election.
The proposed General Plan included policies such as Vision Zero, road diets, and pricey, unreliable energy. These were just a small part of the “woke proposal,” according to critics, that seemed to change the dynamic of the city, rather than shape the future in a way that reflects the community’s vision and priorities.
Vision Zero aims to eliminate all traffic deaths and injuries, which may seem noble on the surface, but is designed to ultimately eliminate the use of fossil fuel vehicles.
Road diets have a similar goal, reducing vehicle lanes to add bike lanes or wider sidewalks.
Prescott Mayor Phil Goode, along with two city council members, opposed the original proposal, citing its misalignment with the city’s conservative values and practical needs. Mayor Goode spoke strongly against this proposal, which he believed reflected policies that could transform the small, historic town into Los Angeles or San Francisco.
In the final vote, the original plan failed to obtain the five-vote supermajority needed to be referred to the ballot. A revised version, which made minor adjustments but retained many of the original policies, was also brought forward but failed again, this time with a 4-3 vote.
Prescott City Council is running out of time to agree on a General Plan that best describes the community’s needs for future development. If they do not vote and decide soon, they may likely miss the ballot for this fall’s general election.
Associate of Government Affairs for Arizona Free Enterprise Club, Mylie Biggs appaluded the move, saying, “This is a major win for the people of Prescott and the members of the Council that stood firm. Every other city in Arizona should be cautious of the language in their own General Plans and follow Prescott’s lead in rejecting wokeness in their cities.”
Ethan Faverino is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Ethan Faverino | Jun 30, 2025 | Education, News
By Ethan Faverino |
Arizona’s State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne is applauding the U.S. Supreme Court for its decision to allow parents to opt their kids out of inappropriate sexual classes. This ruling requires all schools to offer parents the option to withdraw their children when their religious beliefs conflict with course material.
In its decision on Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that parents can opt their children out of public-school lessons containing inappropriate sexual content or LGBTQ+ themes that conflict with the family’s religious beliefs.
Horne praised this ruling, calling it a critical step in protecting young students from “inappropriate sexual lessons” and refocusing the classroom on core academics.
The case, Mahmoud v. Taylor, originated in Maryland, where parents challenged the local school board’s policy of not allowing opt-outs from lessons involving books with LGBTQ+ characters or sexual content. The Supreme Court’s decision sent the case back down to the lower courts for additional review but signaled strong support from parents all over the country.
The case involved “inclusivity” books that were announced in 2022 for students in pre-K through fifth grade in Maryland. Parents opposed the way the books defended controversial ideology around gender and sexuality.
For example, The Becket Fund noted one book tasks three and four-year-olds to search for images from a word list that includes “intersex flag,” “drag queen,” “underwear,” “leather,” and the name of a celebrated LGBTQ activist and sex worker.
Becket said another book advocates a child-knows-best approach to gender transitioning, telling students that a decision to transition doesn’t have to “make sense,” and teachers are instructed to say doctors only “guess” when identifying a newborn’s sex anyway.
“While scientific education regarding reproduction at an appropriate age is perfectly proper, there has been a trend to subject young children to sexual lessons that are inappropriate to their age,” said Horne. “Defenders of these programs say they want to be welcoming and inclusive. The proper way to do that is to include all students in education about reading, writing, math, science, history, and the arts. The inappropriate lessons about which parents are complaining are a distraction from these crucial academic subjects.”
Ethan Faverino is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Matthew Holloway | Jun 30, 2025 | News
By Matthew Holloway |
U.S. Immigration and Border Enforcement Officers scored a major victory over cross-border drug smugglers in San Luis, Arizona, when they arrested an American citizen following a search of a suspicious vehicle. During the search, officers found over $1.3 million worth of cocaine bound for the streets of Phoenix and Tucson.
The incident occurred in the morning on Friday June 20th when the suspect, a 26-year-old male driving a pickup truck, attempted to enter via the dedicated SENTRI inspection lane from Mexico. According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the SENTRI system allows for “expedited clearance for pre-approved, low-risk travelers,” and requires, “all applicants undergo a rigorous background check and in-person interview before enrollment.”
In a press release, Border Patrol stated that the driver, confirmed to be a U.S. citizen, was “referred for further examination after the primary officer detected abnormalities within the spare tire.” The additional scrutiny paid off when in a secondary inspection area, a CBP canine unit alerted officers to the presence of narcotics in the vehicle.
In the extensive search that followed, CBP officers located and extracted fifty packages of cocaine hidden in the vehicle, including those hidden in the spare tire. The estimated street value of the seized narcotics was $1,317,580.
Chris Leon, Area Port Director for San Luis, praised the officer’s work in extreme conditions saying, “The tireless efforts of our officers and drive to protect our nation in these unrelenting conditions of 100 plus degree temperatures prevented these dangerous drugs from entering our streets and communities.”
The suspect, whose name has not been released, was turned over to Homeland Security Investigations, while his vehicle and the drugs inside were seized. According to CBP, “Federal law allows officers to charge individuals by complaint, a method that allows the filing of charges for criminal activity without inferring guilt. An individual is presumed innocent unless and until competent evidence is presented to a jury that establishes guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.”
Matthew Holloway is a senior reporter for AZ Free News. Follow him on X for his latest stories, or email tips to Matthew@azfreenews.com.
by Jonathan Eberle | Jun 29, 2025 | News
By Jonathan Eberle |
After weeks of political brinkmanship and competing proposals, Arizona lawmakers have approved a bipartisan state budget that combines Democratic Governor Katie Hobbs’ “Arizona Promise” priorities with over $100 million in conservative-driven spending cuts secured by House Republicans. The compromise averted a potential government shutdown.
The $16 billion spending package reflects a rare show of collaboration in a divided government, incorporating elements from both the governor’s agenda—focused on opportunity, affordability, and social services—and Republican demands for fiscal restraint, public safety funding, and government accountability.
“I am thrilled that the legislature passed the bipartisan and balanced Arizona Promise budget to expand opportunity, security, and freedom in our state,” Hobbs said in a statement. “We showed Arizonans what is possible when we are willing to reach across the aisle and deliver common sense solutions for the people of our state.”
House Republicans, meanwhile, emphasized that the final deal bears the mark of tough negotiations, resulting in meaningful structural reforms and a $100 million reduction in planned spending compared to earlier drafts.
“This revised budget isn’t the one we would have written,” said House Speaker Steve Montenegro. “But with time running out and the risk of a shutdown increasing, we fought for and secured serious improvements. We cut spending, added strong transparency requirements, and locked in public safety pay raises. Those changes matter.”
The final package maintains many of Hobbs’ original proposals while adopting Republican-backed amendments. “This was not a blank check,” said House Majority Leader Michael Carbone. “We held the line on conservative principles, cut unnecessary spending, and demanded accountability. This budget is better because of our efforts.”
While the Arizona Promise budget may carry the governor’s name, its final version reflects the realities of a politically split state government. The result is a package that funds long-term priorities across education, health care, infrastructure, and public safety, while also maintaining fiscal discipline and Republican values like limited government and transparency.
“We’ve led responsibly in a divided government,” Speaker Montenegro said. “We held the line, improved the bill, and protected the priorities of our voters.”
Jonathan Eberle is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Matthew Holloway | Jun 29, 2025 | News
By Matthew Holloway |
Salacious past rumors surrounding Democrat Congressman Greg Stanton (D-AZ01) resurfaced Wednesday during Congressional testimony from Senior Advisor for the U.S. Agency for Global Media Kari Lake before the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Lake’s testimony, entitled Spies, Lies, and Mismanagement: Examining the U.S. Agency for Global Media’s Downfall, laid out a devastating case against the agency that manages Voice of America (VOA) as well as the Office of Cuba Broadcasting (OCB), Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
Lake described an editorial firewall at the VOA, which prevents U.S. policymakers from influencing coverage yet allows foreign actors like the Chinese government to exert huge pressure. During her testimony, Lake also confronted Stanton with the prospect that VOA could potentially report on long-held rumors that the Congressman had a homosexual affair several years ago. In such an event, she explained, Stanton would be powerless to prevent the government news outlet from reporting the story he contends is false. In fact, he would be sued for even trying to.
According to VOA, “The firewall prohibits interference by any U.S. government official in the objective, independent reporting of news,” as per the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2017.
“Your job is to tell the people of the world the truth about America,” Stanton said. “And because of that, there is a more fundamental issue that I want to address today, and that is character.”
Under that thin veneer of justification, Stanton then followed with a lengthy tirade launching ad hominem attacks on Lake’s character, her truthfulness about elections, and openly accused her of lying about the conduct of both the Arizona and U.S. Presidential elections. Citing her legal battles following her gubernatorial and senatorial election defeats, the Arizona Congressman scorned Lake as “an adjudicated liar.”
Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Rep. Issa was compelled to intervene when Stanton accused Lake of being a “liar” and a “loser” and called upon the Congressman to adhere to the House rules of decorum.
Lake, finally able to answer when Stanton yielded his time back to the chair, replied, “That was complete insanity. Can I respond to that because that was complete insanity? I wish I could yield back the last five minutes of my life, and I want to apologize to the people of Arizona that we have somebody who’s representing the folks in one of our great parts of the Valley that doesn’t care about the integrity of our elections.”
Turning to address Stanton she continued, “But you weren’t here, you came in late, and we were talking about USAGM today, the Agency for Global Media, and how they can put out absolute, abject lies, and we can’t control any… We have no say over what the editorial content is, and I would hope that you would not be okay with that.”
Lake then made a personal appeal to Stanton, referencing a long-held rumor in Congress, the existence of which has been independently verified by AZ Free News.
“They could literally put out a lie about anybody here, and I know you’ve been a victim of that. I know you’ve been a victim. I remember the stories about you when they said you had a gay lover, and those were going out.”
“Mr. Chair,” Stanton burst out angrily. “I hope you honor what you just gave as a caution to everyone, and I move those words be stricken.”
Undeterred, Lake continued her point, “To tell you that those kind of lies, and you said they were lies, those kinds of lies can be broadcast today on VOA, and you can’t pick up the phone, Representative Stanton, and call them and say, ‘Hey, you’re putting out lies about me.’ You would not be able to do that because they would sue you for breaking the firewall.
“So, lies are being told on Voice of America; it’s inappropriate. You’ve been subjected to lies that you said were lies about you in the media before, and how would you like those lies were put on Voice in America right now? Because they could do it, and you couldn’t do a thing about it. You couldn’t stop it. You couldn’t stop all those lies that you said were said about you if they went on Voice of America today. You’d have to sit and take it.”
Chairman Issa ruled on Stanton’s request to strike Lake’s comments, noting that Lake “was responding and I thought rather complimentary. That in fact those were untrue and she was defending that. So, I’ll leave it as that. I think Mr. Stanton would agree that those were untrue statements, and she said so.”
Stanton, seeming to recover his composure, attempted to resume his attacks on Lake, again claiming Lake to be “an adjudicated liar,” only to be cut off by Chairman Issa.
Chairman Issa then reclaimed time for himself and appeared to admonish Stanton and the other Democrat members for their attacks against Lake saying, “I’ll be brief in saying if everyone on the dais had the accusations of their opponents or even quite frankly sometimes the legal battles, all of us would have a bad day here. That is part of politics. But we’re not here to discuss politics today. We’re here to discuss the spending of hundreds of millions of dollars and a question of whether or not it was best spent on behalf of the American people.”
Matthew Holloway is a senior reporter for AZ Free News. Follow him on X for his latest stories, or email tips to Matthew@azfreenews.com.
