A political action committee (PAC) based in Phoenix received $27 million from the CEO of FTX: the bankrupted cryptocurrency giant under investigation for fraud.
Not only did Protect Our Future PAC receive $27 million from FTX CEO Samuel Bankman-Fried — this PAC was the primary beneficiary of his contributions by far. The PAC treasurer is Dacey Montoya: a name that appears frequently throughout the Democratic dark money network. In the recent past, Montoya also chaired the Way to Lead PAC and Not Our Faith PAC, both organizations that received major funds from Democratic dark money funders like George Soros.
According to the Federal Election Commission (FEC), Bankman-Fried’s millions came via four payments from February to June: $9 million on February 4, $4 million on March 15, $10 million on April 14, and $4 million on June 13.
It appears that Montoya received a good cut of Bankman-Fried’s millions. The Money Wheel, Montoya’s consulting firm, received over $134,500 from February to early July from the Protect Our Future PAC. Protect Our Future and The Money Wheel share the same business address. Her consulting firm often gets paid from the PACs she oversees.
The PAC registered with the FEC in January of this year. Bankman-Fried’s millions account for 94 percent of the PAC’s revenue. Another $1 million came from another FTX executive, Nishad Singh, also on February 4.
Montoya’s other PAC, Opportunity For Tomorrow, contributed nearly $195,000 to the FTX executive-backed PAC. One other major contributor was Everytown For Gun Safety Action Fund, the PAC arm of the gun control organization founded by major Democratic donor Michael Bloomberg.
The Phoenix-based PAC only put $1.26 million back into Arizona through its independent expenditures committee (IEC). From there, the money can’t be traced.
The remainder went to Democratic PACs and candidates in other states, primarily ad campaigns to benefit congressional and state legislature candidates in Oregon, Texas, Michigan, Kentucky, North Carolina, Florida, Ohio, Illinois, California, New York, and New Jersey. According to the PAC’s website, the primary reason for the PAC is to elect candidates focused on preventing pandemics.
The only Arizona candidate to which Bankman-Fried contributed directly was Congressman Ruben Gallego (D-AZ-07): $5,800 in March.
Bankman-Fried also contributed thousands to two other Arizona-based PACS. He gave $5,000 to Guarding Against Pandemics, another Phoenix-based PAC with Montoya serving as treasurer. Bankman-Fried also gave $5,000 to a Phoenix-based PAC sponsored by recently-defeated Congressman Tom O’Halleran’s (D-AZ-01) campaign.
The PAC received brief coverage by Politico in January, about a week after it launched and a week before it got its first contribution from Bankman-Fried.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
On Wednesday, the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors (BOS) advised voters to petition the legislature for the election reform they’d like to see — yet it was a lobbyist who spoke out on behalf of the counties against certain election reform bills desired by constituents this past session.
Supervisor Thomas Galvin said during the meeting that voters dissatisfied with the election processes needed to direct their frustration at the state legislature. He claimed that the legislature was “sitting on their butts” when it came to establishing election law, hence why it takes so long to count the votes.
“Go to the state legislature — they’ve been sitting on their butts, they haven’t done a single thing. If you want changes in how votes are counted, let them know,” said Galvin. “We’re all very disappointed in what happened, and we want to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
Similarly, Supervisor Steve Gallardo said that it was incumbent on the legislature to reform election law.
“Many of the suggestions that were made, this board can’t do. We’re an arm of the state. You have to go to the legislature. You have to change the laws,” said Gallardo. “Give us the authority to make some of the changes that are being suggested.”
Bills designed to restructure election processes were lobbied against by someone designated to speak on behalf of the counties. Jen Marson, a lobbyist and executive director of the Arizona Association of Counties (AACo), spoke out against a number of bills introduced to refine the election processes which ultimately failed, including:
SB1056, invalidating ballots not included in chain of custody documentation and making it a class 2 misdemeanor to knowingly put a ballot into the collection, verification, or tabulation process outside of the official chain of custody;
SB1360, granting election observers the right to observe, document, and question all stages of the election process;
SB1577, requiring county recorders or other lead election officials to separate and record duplicated and adjudicated ballots by their type and defect or damage, compiled in a report submitted to the legislature;
SB1609, requiring a court to order an election to be repeated within 90 days if a contested ballot measure or candidate didn’t receive the highest number of votes;
SB1359, requiring unique election system passwords for election employees, volunteers, and contractors;
SB1570, implementing additional voting equipment chain of custody requirements such as access restricted to authorized election personnel, tamper-proof seals for accessible ports, and chain of custody logging, as well as prohibiting voting equipment from having internet access capabilities;
SB1572, requiring county recorders to publish a list of eligible voters on their website 10 days before primary and general elections, as well as all ballot images and sortable cast-vote records, and requiring all ballots to be separated and tabulated by precinct;
SB1358, requiring ballots in counties with voting centers to be separated and grouped by precinct for hand count audits;
SB1404, repealing the Active Early Voting List (AEVL) and limiting early ballot voting eligibility;
SB1357, prohibiting election machines or devices certified by laboratories not accredited at the time of certification;
SB1474, declaring primary and general election days as state holidays, prohibiting voting locations from being used as on-site early voting, and establishing voting on election day only;
HB2241, requiring anyone dropping off an early ballot to either show ID or sign an acknowledgment that they have permission to do so on behalf of the voter.
Marson also spoke out against bills that passed, such as HB2492, which requires proof of citizenship when registering to vote. That particular law attracted lawsuits from the Department of Justice (DOJ) and voting rights groups.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake is fundraising to take legal action in response to the reported thousands of voters testifying their disenfranchisement. Most of the complaints concerned the county-wide vote center malfunctions that resulted in voters leaving without voting, spoiling their ballot, or having their ballot rejected later.
Lake refused to concede the race to her opponent, Democrat Katie Hobbs, though most called the race in Hobbs’ favor earlier this week.
Steve’s Testimony is just one of thousands we have received
“I have no doubt that these issues disenfranchised and turned away a lot of people”
Almost HALF of all voting centers experienced similar issues. This is unacceptable.
Several voters shared that they weren’t comfortable with putting their ballots in “Box 3,” which was where ballots that the tabulators failed to read were placed.
It took Larry an hour & a half to get into his polling location
Inside, Larry's ballot was repeatedly rejected by the tabulator. He was asked to put it in box three so it could be counted downtown.
At least 17,000 voters ended up placing their ballots in that third box option. However, the number of those who refused and spoiled their ballots, then left without voting, is unknown; the county didn’t respond to AZ Free News inquiries about that estimate by press time.
This is Alfred from Maricopa County.
Alfred waited for an hour to vote on Election Day at his local church.
When he finally went to scan his ballot, he was rejected by the tabulators.
Alfred was told to put his ballot in a blue box so it could be counted 'later.' pic.twitter.com/AYWY61lqAx
Voters’ concerns about their vote not being counted once placed in Box 3 stemmed from Arizona GOP leadership, who instructed voters to refuse casting a Box 3 vote.
BIG problems with @MaricopaVote. Tabulator “malfunctions” at at least 6 places. DO NOT PUT YOUR BALLOT IN “BOX 3” TO BE “TABULATED DOWNTOWN.” Maricopa will not be turning on the downtown tabulators today. Find your next nearest polling place here: https://t.co/NkJB16hoiepic.twitter.com/RDvPXAeAe5
— Pam Kirby 🇺🇸 Not a Taco/Ultra MAGA #LatinoGOP (@PamKirby) November 8, 2022
The county insisted that Box 3 votes would be counted. Maricopa County Board of Supervisors Chairman Bill Gates rebuked those who sowed distrust over Box 3 as a valid voting option.
As Chairman @BillGatesAZ pointed out, misinformation has consequences. People who contradicted official @maricopavote information about Box 3 caused fear & confusion among voters and made Poll Workers' jobs much more difficult. Watch: pic.twitter.com/E3BLBwZMtI
Another voter claimed that he has cast a regular ballot for years without issue, yet had to vote provisional last Tuesday. He claimed that his vote has yet to be counted.
This is Dan from Pima.
Dan has been voting for as long as he can remember.
When Dan showed up to vote on Election Day, they told him he was no longer on the voting rolls & gave him a provisional ballot.
Another voter testified that the printer issued faded ink on her ballot. She said that her ballot was rejected eight times before poll workers had her spoil the ballot and vote on a new one. The entire ordeal took her two hours.
AZ Free News asked the county last week whether the toner used in the printers was the same as the primary. They still haven’t responded.
It took Shannon over 2 hours to vote on Election Day.
Her first ballot showed faded ink & was rejected 8 times.
Shannon asked to spoil her ballot & was able to vote with a new ballot.
In a statement, Lake said that last Tuesday’s issues were proof of what she’d been saying for months. She blamed both the tabulation machines and printers for the mass vote center failures, though the county stated publicly that printer settings were the main issue. It took over eight hours for the county to discover the issue, well into Election Day.
The city of Phoenix plans to spend over 25 percent of its $396 million in COVID-19 relief funds on homelessness and affordable housing initiatives. It is the city’s second-highest expenditure of relief funds after city operations.
According to the city’s American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) plan for this year, over $99.5 million will be spent on homelessness and affordable housing. The majority of this, around $75.5 million, is slated to address the homelessness crisis.
Even with tens of millions allocated to mitigate the homeless crisis, notorious encampments like “The Zone” continue to worsen. City spokespersons informed reporters in September that the city is working to approve contracts and allocate the funds, which expire in 2024.
THE ZONE: Over the weekend, PPD responded to discovery of a dead & burned fetus in PHX’s largest homeless camp. Last night – a tent on fire w/ a man seriously burned inside.
There are 764 unsheltered people in the zone, nearly 3X last year this time but down from end of summer. pic.twitter.com/eR4Qjsqm62
Earlier this week, the state’s largest homeless shelter told12 News that they lacked enough resources to meet community needs, though they receive city funding. The city announced on Wednesday that it allocated $8 million to expand shelters for homeless families.
Comparatively, the city’s allocation of relief funds for other initiatives amounted to far less.
Financial, utility, and rent assistance for low-income families totaled $26 million altogether — about one-fourth of what’s slated for homelessness and affordable housing. Funds to advance the city’s workforce training facility and program, as well as establish workforce tuition and apprenticeship programs, totaled $28.5 million.
Concerning COVID-19 mitigation, the city allocated $28.9 million for testing and vaccines. From last July until the end of June, the city provided nearly 120,000 tests and 15,700 vaccines.
The city also allocated $28 million for COVID-19 health care expenses for its workers, and another $22 million to give premium pay for its essential workers. The city’s revenue replacement totaled $20 million. It set aside $23 million to rehabilitate a recycling facility and manage stormwater projects with the county’s flood control district.
$6 million went to tuition assistance and college prep for high school students, with another $3 million to update the Mesquite Library. $5.9 million went toward public Wi-Fi, with a small portion of that allocated for laptops and hotspots for the community, and $22 million to improve internet connectivity in certain neighborhoods.
$8.3 million went to refugees. $10.5 million went to climate-related initiatives: $6 million to plant trees, and $4.5 million to make 200 homes energy efficient.
Child care-related initiatives received $14.8 million, with the majority slated for airport employee child care and establishing an early childhood education program for 300 children.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
On Wednesday, Governor-elect Katie Hobbs flipped on her campaign promise to continue providing support for the state’s Border Strike Force (BSF).
Hobbs told AZFamily that she was “taking a hard look” at whether the BSF should continue. Hobbs reportedly expressed doubt that it was an appropriate job for the Arizona Department of Public Safety.
Hobbs’ latest remarks conflict with her campaign trail promise in June to continue the strike force. Hobbs claimed at the time that she valued the strike force in curtailing drug trafficking.
“The governor created the Border Strike Force that really in reality is a drug interdiction unit, and so continuing to provide the support so that they’re able to carry out that job,” said Hobbs.
Hobbs also claimed she would continue to support National Guard presence along the border, so long as it was needed.
Governor Doug Ducey established the BSF in 2015. Since its inception, it has received more than $100 million in state funding. This past year, the state budget awarded $11.6 million to expand the BSF, as well as $50 million to improve patrolling, physical barriers, detention, and prosecution efforts.
Since 2018, the BSF seized over 190 million lethal doses of fentanyl, 400 pounds of heroin, $14 million in cash, 700 firearms, and 8,000 prescription pills.
In April, Ducey helped launch a 26-state expansion of his statewide strike force to combat the border crisis, called the American Governor’s Strike Force. Considering Hobbs’ perspective on the state’s BSF, it’s unlikely that this coalition will continue.
That’s not all the border policy that Hobbs has in mind.
Hobbs promised earlier this month that she would remove the shipping containers closing up the border wall gaps. She told reporters that they were an ineffective, “political stunt.” Hobbs said that the state needed to rely more on the federal government rather than taking initiative on its own.
Arizonans are tired of the inaction at the border, and more importantly, they’re tired of Washington using the border as a political football. Here's what I'll get done: pic.twitter.com/8zmRb8YLWV
One mother who fought to defend universal school choice in Arizona will serve as its executive director.
On Thursday, Christine Accurso announced that Superintendent-elect Tom Horne asked her to serve as the executive director for the Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) Program. Accurso, a beneficiary of the ESA Program, said that she would do everything in her power to protect school choice.
“Families deserve educational choice to help shape and mold the futures of their precious children,” stated Accurso.
Tom Horne will be Arizona's next Superintendent of Public Instruction! 🎉 The day after the election I called to congratulate Tom. He thanked me and then said he would like to appoint me as the new executive director of the ESA division at the Dept. of Ed. I accepted. 1/3
Accurso led the Decline to Sign movement, which opposed Save Our Schools Arizona’s (SOSAZ) ballot initiative earlier this year to overturn universal school choice.
Not only has Accurso been an advocate for expanding school choice, she’s been a watchdog for the movement.
Accurso discovered that SOSAZ far overestimated their signature numbers when they turned in their signature sheets for the ballot initiative. She raised awareness of the signature shortage, urging the secretary of state’s office to expedite verification of the signature count rather than waiting the 20-day period allowed by state law. Several days after Accurso and other parents petitioned the secretary of state’s office, they confirmed that the petition lacked enough signatures.
Accurso also publicized recent issues with the ESA Program helpline as parents attempted to join the newly-expanded program. The phone line was busy nonstop, and would hang up on parents without the promise of a call back or an option to leave a message.
School choice was one of the issues that defined the midterm election. Where some Republicans lost in other contested races by thousands of votes or continue to await final ballot batches to determine the winner, Horne prevailed.
Horne managed a victory over Democratic incumbent Kathy Hoffman, earning 50 percent of the vote to Hoffman’s 49 percent — just over 9,300 votes.
Hoffman conceded on Thursday, shortly before Horne tapped Accurso to lead the ESA Program.
After a hard-fought race, we came up short. I want to thank my supporters, volunteers, and staff who stood by me during this election. And I especially want to thank my family for all of their love and support.
Horne ran against Critical Race Theory (CRT), ethnic studies, and bilingual rather than immersive education. Horne advocated for in-person learning, standardized testing for graduating seniors, state takeover of failing schools, and full in-state scholarships for those who exceed state testing.
Hoffman ran against school choice expansion and bans on CRT tenets in education. She advocated for reducing class sizes, increasing teacher pay, increasing mental health funds for students, and increasing internet access for students.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
