by Matthew Holloway | Aug 25, 2025 | News
By Matthew Holloway |
Congressman Eli Crane (R-AZ02) announced Friday that he has signed on to Rep. Abe Hamadeh’s ‘Preserving and Protecting the Integrity of American Elections’ Act, known as H.R. 2499. The bill is designed to codify President Donald Trump’s Executive Order 14248, which enhances U.S. election security by requiring proof of citizenship for voter registration, restricting mail-in ballot deadlines, and prioritizing enforcement against non-citizen voting.
The bill further mandates that states require proof of citizenship in the form of a government-issued ID on voter registration forms, orders the Departments of State, Homeland Security, and Social Security Administration to provide federal database access to states for determining voter eligibility, and requires a single Election Day deadline for vote tabulation. Each measure will carry the threat of withdrawn federal funding in the event of non-compliance.
In a post to X, Crane wrote, “Proud to cosponsor @RepAbeHamadeh‘s bill to codify President Trump’s executive order on election integrity. Arizonans have witnessed poorly-run elections firsthand, and this legislation addresses key vulnerabilities. We must have an efficient and trustworthy process.”
After introducing the bill, Hamadeh said in a statement at the time, “The American people deserve better. They deserve to know that their legally cast ballot is counted and accounted for. I am disappointed, but obviously not surprised that Mayes and Fontes seek to thwart the implementation of commonsense safeguards of democracy.”
He added, “As a trusted advisor once said to me, ‘election integrity never disenfranchised a single soul, but a single act of election fraud disenfranchises us all.’”
In a press release, he added, “In Arizona, we have seen what the mismanagement of voter rolls, failed election infrastructure, and corrupt courts can do to destroy voter confidence and faith in our system overall. We are taking swift action to rebuild citizens’ trust in our elections through comprehensive and meaningful election integrity legislation.”
In a post to X, the Congressman observed, “Many people say we should focus on the future and move on from 2020 and 2022… How could I(?) [K]nowing what I know? Our elections have been hijacked, they’ve been corrupted, and the American people deserve justice. It can never happen again. Election Security IS National Security.”
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 Ethan Faverino | Aug 22, 2025 | News
By Ethan Faverino |
On August 6, 2025, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) sent letters to manufacturers, importers, and distributors of unapproved animal-derived thyroid medications, notifying them of the agency’s intent to take enforcement action due to concerns over safety, potency, and dosing consistency.
These medications, derived from dried animals’ thyroid glands, are used by an estimated 1.5 million patients in the U.S. but are not FDA-approved, unlike synthetic alternatives like levothyroxine, which serve approximately 22 million patients.
The agency has allowed a 12-month transition period for patients to switch to FDA-approved medications.
Earlier this week, Congressman Abe Hamadeh (AZ-08) issued a formal inquiry to Dr. Martin Makary, Commissioner of the FDA, seeking clarity on recent agency actions that could restrict access to desiccated thyroid medications such as Armour Thyroid, NP Thyroid, Nature-Thyroid, and Natural Thyroid, which are critical for many patients managing hypothyroidism.
In his letter to Dr. Makary, Congressman Hamadeh emphasized the concerns of his constituents, particularly the veterans and seniors in Arizona’s 8th Congressional District, who rely on desiccated thyroid medications for effective treatment.
“Many of these patients have found desiccated thyroid medications to be more effective than synthetic alternatives for managing their thyroid conditions,” said Hamadeh. “Any disruption to their treatment regimens could have serious health consequences and undermine the doctor-patient relationship.”
Congressman Hamadeh requested that the FDA provide answers by September 5, 2025, to the following questions:
- What specific actions, if any, is the FDA taking regarding desiccated thyroid medications like Armour Thyroid?
- What evidence supports any potential restrictions on these long-established medications that have been safely used for decades?
- Has the FDA conducted a comprehensive analysis of how any restrictions would affect patients who rely on these medications?
- If restrictions are being considered, what steps will the FDA take to ensure patients maintain access to effective thyroid treatment options?
Congressman Hamadeh continued to state, “This issue reflects broader concerns about federal agency overreach into medical decisions that should remain between patients and their physicians. The FDA’s primary mission should be ensuring drug safety and efficacy, not unnecessarily restricting access to medications with established track records of safety and effectiveness.”
Dr. Makary has already responded to the backlash and public concerns via X (Twitter), stating that the “FDA is committed to pursuing the first-ever approval of desiccated thyroid extract, pending results of the ongoing clinical trials. In the meantime, we will ensure access for all Americans.”
Ethan Faverino is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Matthew Holloway | Aug 13, 2025 | News
By Matthew Holloway |
The Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA) has become the center of controversies in Arizona in the past few days, involving Arizona’s Democrat Secretary of State Adrian Fontes and a raft of reforms to the act proposed by Congressman Abraham Hamadeh (R-AZ08).
According to a press release from State Representative John Gillette’s office (R-LD30), “Fontes ordered counties to abandon the secure, state-managed Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA) ballot processing system and instead use a third-party platform controlled solely by his office.”
Gillette condemned Fontes, saying, “UOCAVA exists to ensure that our deployed service members, their families, and Arizona residents living overseas can securely exercise their right to vote. He explained, “It does not give voting rights to foreign nationals, illegal immigrants, or U.S. citizens with no prior Arizona residency. This directive is a reckless expansion of voting access beyond what the law allows.”
The release from Gillette’s office added, “The change undermines the clear intent of federal law, circumvents the Arizona Election Procedures Manual—which requires a public process and legislative oversight before such changes—and risks improper use of federal funds designated for legitimate UOCAVA services. Removing counties from control also weakens ballot verification and tracking safeguards that protect against fraud.”
In a statement released by the Secretary of State’s office, Fontes characterized his change as “the upgrade we’ve been working toward for 20 years.”
On the federal stage, the Proving Residency for Overseas Voter Eligibility (PROVE) Act, introduced by Rep. Hamadeh earlier this month, drew the ire of elections reporter Garrett Archer of ABC 15. The self-proclaimed “data guru” held the reforms to be unnecessary, according to the Arizona Daily Independent. Archer has been in an ongoing social media feud with Hamadeh and his staff regarding UOCAVA voting totals.
Introducing the measure, Hamadeh warned that the UOCAVA allows people who have never resided in the U.S. to vote in state elections, undermining the integrity of the electoral process. “The loophole in UOCAVA allows citizens living overseas, with no current ties to a state, to arbitrarily choose where their vote counts,” he said. “This threatens electoral integrity and is an affront to everyone who believes in fair and free elections. The PROVE Act will close this loophole and go far to restore trust in our elections.”
Hamadeh explained in a post to X:
“The military and overseas citizen voting data reveals some concerning patterns: Volume Stats:
• Total UOCAVA ballots transmitted: 1,327,324
• Here’s the kicker: 70% went to overseas citizens, not military voters
• That’s the largest gap between overseas civilians and uniformed services since 2014.”
Archer accused the congressman of “still lying. Just with numbers this time.” He argued, “The four states with a concentration of UOCAVA voters are Virginia, Florida, Washington, and California. The UOCAVA voters in the first three are all majority military. Virginia is near the seat of government, Washington and California both have aerospace and tech industries. Abe is implying its suspicious that a random county in Oklahoma or Nebraska DO NOT have over 100 UOCAVA voters. Quite the opposite in fact. If a random county in Oklahoma or Nebraska had over 100 UOCAVA voters, that would be suspicious.”
In response to another post from Archer, who shared his breakdown of UOCAVA registrations in 2024 by Arizona counties, Hamadeh asked, “Why aren’t you using the military numbers? Is it because it completely invalidates your rebuttal? This bill ensures that military voters are protected and loopholes are closed.”
Hamadeh then cited Hans von Spakovsky, Election Law Reform Initiative and Senior Legal Fellow at the Edwin Meese III Center for Legal and Judicial Studies: “‘The typical civilian Congress was looking at [when UOCAVA was created] was, for example, a State Department foreign service officer in Europe for a several-year assignment who would return to his or her home in Maryland or Virginia or another state when that assignment ended,’ Spakovsky told The Federalist. Spakovsky explained the legislation was surely not intended to permit expatriates, or other individuals who left the country and have no intention of ever returning, to continue voting.”
Answering the efforts of Adrian Fontes to interfere, and blasting the Democrat in a post to X, Hamadeh wrote, “Overstepping his authority & again demonstrating his flagrant disregard for the integrity of our elections, @Adrian_Fontes is exploiting voting in the name of the very servicemembers who protect that freedom. Congressman Hamadeh’s PROVE Act fixes this.”
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 Matthew Holloway | Aug 6, 2025 | News
By Matthew Holloway |
Three of Arizona’s Republican Congressional delegation have called for accountability from the FBI over the rapidly evolving scandal around the ‘Durham Annex,’ a cache of recently released records exposed by FBI Director Kash Patel and Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard.
Following the initial release, Congressmen Abe Hamadeh, Eli Crane, and Andy Biggs all offered comments via X, along with media interviews uniformly calling for accountability from the Department of Justice for the monumental scandal, which President Donald Trump described as “a FAILED coup.”
Gabbard started the proverbial ball rolling with a post to X, saying, “Whistleblower reveals how they were threatened by a supervisor to go along with the Obama-directed Russia hoax ‘intelligence’ assessment, even though they knew it was not credible or accurate. The Whistleblower refused.
“Yesterday we released the Whistleblower’s firsthand account of what happened in the crafting of the January 2017 ICA, their yearslong efforts to expose the egregious manipulation and manufacturing of intelligence carried out at the highest levels of government and the IC (detailed in our previous releases) and how they were repeatedly ignored.”
The releases by DNI Gabbard and FBI Director Patel indicated that the Hillary Clinton campaign allegedly approved a plan to falsely link President Donald Trump to Russia as a distraction from her email scandal, with the FBI failing to adequately investigate or disclose key information, including misleading the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. The document highlights U.S. intelligence assessments of Russian intercepts suggesting Clinton’s involvement in stirring up a scandal. Later email releases showed clear ties from the Clinton Campaign to Leonard Benardo, Senior Vice President of billionaire George Soros’ Open Society Foundations.
Congressman Crane made several posts to X over the course of the day, calling for accountability. He quoted Leading Report’s note that said, “Declassified files show Hillary Clinton personally signed off on plan to link Trump to Russia in 2016, ” and he wrote, “And the swamp went along with it. We the People expect ACCOUNTABILITY.”
Sharing the whistleblower account Crane added, “This is a MASSIVE scandal. There has to be accountability.”
Responding to a report from John Solomon, Crane commented, “A historic scandal. And it’ll likely be ignored by the very mainstream media figures that perpetuated the hoax in the first place.”
In response to additional subsequent releases from FBI Director Patel, he wrote “Keep releasing. Then we have to hold them accountable.”
Congressman and Arizona Gubernatorial candidate Andy Biggs similarly demanded “consequences for everyone who conspired against the American people.”
He wrote, “It was planned from the start. Americans were manipulated by the Left and the media for years. Those of us who called out the stench from the start were painted as conspiracy theorists. There must be severe consequences for everyone who conspired against the American people.”
In an interview with Garret Lewis of The Afternoon Addiction on 550 KFYI, Rep. Abe Hamadeh was clear: “There has to be justice. There has to be accountability. People need to be locked up.”
“It is the biggest scandal in American history, and that’s why President Trump won back in November,” Hamadeh added. “Because this is a repudiation of the corrupt cabal that has held a chokehold on our country for so long.”
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 Ethan Faverino | Aug 6, 2025 | News
By Ethan Faverino |
Congressman Abraham Hamadeh (AZ-08) has introduced the Proving Residency for Overseas Voter Eligibility (PROVE) Act, which is a step toward ensuring trust and integrity in America’s elections.
Joined by original co-sponsors Congressman Tim Burchett (TN-02) and Congressman Andy Ogles (TN-05), Hamadeh’s legislation addresses critical vulnerabilities in the current voting system for overseas citizens.
The PROVE Act amends the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA) to require non-military U.S. citizens living abroad to prove current residency in the state where they intend to vote.
Acceptable proof includes residency ties through the voter, their spouse, parent, or legal guardian. Those unable to establish state residency may vote in federal elections only in the District of Columbia.
Under existing UOCAVA rules, states must allow overseas citizens to vote in federal elections based on their last state of residence, even if they lack current ties to that state.
39 states, including key swing states like Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, and Wisconsin, permit people who have never resided in the U.S. to vote in state elections, undermining the integrity of the electoral process.
Congressman Hamadeh stated, “The loophole in UOCAVA allows citizens living overseas, with no current ties to a state, to arbitrarily choose where their vote counts. This threatens electoral integrity and is an affront to everyone who believes in fair and free elections. The PROVE Act will close this loophole and go far to restore trust in our elections.”
Since taking office in January 2025, Congressman Hamadeh has prioritized election integrity and called on his colleagues to join him in supporting the PROVE Act so they can rebuild the trust of American citizens in our country’s elections.
“In Arizona, we have seen what the mismanagement of voter rolls, failed election infrastructure, and corrupt courts can do to destroy voter confidence and faith in our system overall,” said Hamadeh. Since taking office, I have introduced legislation to address some of the most egregious practices and close the most glaring loopholes in our election system.”
Ethan Faverino is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
