The reactions from Arizona’s politicians reflect the greater divide along party lines, with Democrats hailing the latest indictment of former President Donald Trump and Republicans criticizing it.
On Monday, a grand jury in Georgia indicted Trump in the Fulton County Superior Court, listing 41 counts against the former president:
violation of the Georgia Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act;
solicitation of violation of oath by a public officer (six counts);
false statements and writings (11 counts);
impersonating a public officer;
conspiracy to commit impersonating a public officer;
forgery in the first degree (two counts);
conspiracy to commit forgery in the first degree (two counts);
criminal attempt to commit false statements and writings;
conspiracy to commit false statements and writings (two counts);
conspiracy to commit solicitation of false statements and writings;
filing false documents;
criminal attempt to commit filing false documents;
conspiracy to commit filing false documents;
influencing witnesses;
criminal attempt to commit influencing witnesses (two counts);
conspiracy to commit election fraud (two counts);
conspiracy to commit computer theft;
conspiracy to commit computer trespass;
conspiracy to commit computer invasion of privacy;
conspiracy to defraud the state;
and perjury
Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ-05) called the indictment a “witch hunt.”
The congressman declared that the judicial system was weaponized against a former president for political reasons. “The American people see straight through these sham political weapons,” said Biggs.
Witch hunt.
The American people see straight through these sham political weapons. https://t.co/d4gmMO98Ym
Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ-07) took the opposite view. Grijalva said that this latest indictment proved the justice system is working as it should.
“These indictments are proof that our justice system is working, and the American people can see through Trump’s cons and lies for what they are – crimes,” said Grijalva.
These indictments are proof that our justice system is working, and the American people can see through Trump’s cons and lies for what they are – crimes. https://t.co/0YKfStCgZs
In an interview with “Pod Save America” on Monday, Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ-03) said Trump represents a “threat to democracy” and expressed his gratitude that legal action has been taken against him.
Mira, listen!
Thanks, @PodSaveAmerica, for having me! Sat down with @tvietor08 to talk about the important issues to Arizonans and how we’re flipping this seat in 2024.
State Rep. Cory McGarr (R-LD17) criticized the use of Trump’s tweets (now called “posts” under the X rebranding by Elon Musk) as grounds for prosecution, equating Monday’s indictment to a third-world country proceeding. McGarr also reposted an X post from Florida Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz, who called the grand jury process “tainted and corrupt.”
“This is what low quality attorneys can accomplish in 3rd world countries where you prosecute political opponents,” posted McGarr.
This is what low quality attorneys can accomplish in 3rd world countries where you prosecute political opponents. https://t.co/h3pxeYAROk
Other Republicans simply pledged their allegiance to the former president. State Sen. Anthony Kern (R-LD27) reaffirmed his support for Trump as the 2024 GOP candidate.
Some of the acts listed in the Fulton County Superior Court indictment cited online speech as the basis for conspiracy, a charge echoing a recent precedent set by the case of Douglas Mackey, better known for his social media personality “Ricky Vaughn.” In March, a jury found Mackey guilty of voter suppression for his right-wing satirical tweets during the 2016 election; Mackey faces up to 10 years in prison. Mackey wasn’t arrested until Jan. 27, 2021: several weeks after the January 6 incident at the Capitol, and exactly one week after President Joe Biden’s inauguration.
Trump is under four indictments currently, all issued this year.
In March, a New York grand jury indicted the former president over alleged “hush money” payments to porn star Stormy Daniels prior to the 2016 election; in that case, People of the State of New York v. Trump, Trump faces 34 felony charges.
In June, a Florida grand jury indicted Trump and his personal aide and valet, Walt Nauta, over the handling of classified documents after his presidency; in that case, United States of America v. Donald J. Trump, Waltine Nauta, and Carlos De Oliveira, Trump faces 37 charges.
Earlier this month, a federal grand jury indicted Trump over his alleged participation in the January 6 incident at the Capitol and alleged attempt to overturn the 2020 election; in that case, United States of America v. Donald J. Trump, Trump faces four charges.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
For a number of years, the Grand Canyon State has been home to some of the most pro-life and pro-family lawmakers, officials, and advocates in the nation, giving Arizona a superior reputation for protecting life and parental rights. Even with a drastic change in values from the state’s new governor, some legislators are still seeking to augment their state’s pro-life standing.
Senator Jake Hoffman introduced SB 1146, which “requires the State Board of Investment to identify U.S. companies that donate to or invest in organizations that promote, facilitate or advocate for abortions for minors or for the inclusion of, or the referral of students to, sexually explicit material in grades K-12,” according to the purpose of the bill provided by the Arizona Senate. Hoffman’s legislation would require “the State Treasurer to divest from the identified companies.”
SB 1146 has eleven co-sponsors: two in the Senate (Senators Anthony Kern and Justine Wadsack), and nine in the House (Representatives Joseph Chaplik, Justin Heap, Rachel Jones, Alex Kolodin, Cory McGarr, Barbara Parker, Jacqueline Parker, Beverly Pingerelli, and Austin Smith). Earlier this month, it passed out of the Senate Finance Committee, chaired by J.D. Mesnard, with a party-line 4-3 vote. Senators Mesnard, Steve Kaiser (Vice Chairman), Janae Shamp, and David Gowan voted to approve the bill; while Senators Lela Alston, Brian Fernandez and Mitzi Epstein voted to oppose.
In an exclusive interview with AZ Free News on why he sponsored this bill, Senator Jake Hoffman said, “There is no excuse for Arizona taxpayer resources being used to prop up woke corporate oligarchs that are funneling their profits into far-left extremists groups working to undermine our state’s pro-life and pro-family policies. We are in a war for the minds and souls of our future generations, and we should not sit idly by while the ruling class ‘elites’ force feed them a radical agenda that is antithetical to the values of the majority of Arizonans.”
Democrat Senator Mitzi Epstein strongly disagrees with this legislation, saying, “It would violate people’s First Amendments; their various rights to have an abortion, which is legal in Arizona or their various rights to learn about things from places that provide those materials. The Senate Democrat Caucus also warned about this bill before the Finance Committee took it under consideration this week, tweeting, “SB 1146 interjects politics into our money management where there is currently no problem. Further demonizing age-appropriate sex education and abortion care is not popular policy. We cannot afford more Republicans games.”
Should this bill pass both chambers of the Arizona Legislature, it would likely find an open door on the Ninth Floor for an expedient veto from Governor Hobbs, who made abortion rights one of the themes of her State of the State address to the Legislature in January.
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
Over the past three years, many parents in a number of school districts across the nation have demanded more transparency and involvement with their children’s education. The Republican-led Arizona Legislature has been working on solutions, and Members have introduced new bills this session to give parents the access and information that they have been requesting.
Representative Justin Heap has introduced one of those bills, HB 2786, which deals with requirements for parental notification for teacher training. The bill “mandates a school district governing board develop parental notification and access procedures if the school district is involved with a training for teachers or administrators,” according to the bill overview provided by the Arizona House of Representatives. If passed by the Legislature and signed into law, the bill would “require a school governing board to notify parents of these trainings and give parents access to any printed or digital materials used for the training.” It also stipulates that the governing boards adopt “a policy to provide parents the information contained in its parental involvement policy in an electronic format.”
In an exclusive interview with AZ Free News on why he introduced this legislation, Representative Heap stated, “Transparency will have the added benefit of bringing school district and school boards back into alignment with the values of the parents of the students they serve. The knowledge that their training materials must be made public will discourage school districts from implementing policies that are hateful to the parents of students in their districts. If any school district official, any school board member, principal, or teacher believes that what is going on in their schools should be hidden from the parents in their district, then they have no business being involved in education.”
The legislation currently has ten co-sponsors: Representatives Neal Carter, Lupe Diaz, Liz Harris, Rachel Jones, Teresa Martinez, Cory McGarr, Barbara Parker, Jacqueline Parker, Michele Peña, and Beverly Pingerelli.
On Tuesday, February 14, HB 2786 cleared the House Education Committee with a 6-4 party-line vote. Republican Representatives David Cook, Liz Harris, Lupe Diaz, Michele Peña, David Marshall, Sr (Vice Chairman), and Beverly Pingerelli (Chairman) voted in favor; while Democrat Representatives Jennifer Pawlik, Laura Terech, Judy Schwiebert, and Nancy Gutierrez voted against passage.
Representative Pingerelli gave the following statement to AZ Free News on why she decided to hold a hearing on this bill in her committee: “Parents should have information readily available about what teachers are learning as part of their professional development programs. Are they receiving instruction about better ways to teach reading, math, or science? Or, as was pointed out during the February 14 hearing and testimony, are the topics covered controversial, ideological or morally objectionable to parents? As I’ve always stated, the focus in K-12 education should be academics. Since it is a reasonable assumption that the training teachers receive is translated into classroom instruction, parents should have the right to be informed. That’s why I decided to hear House Bill 2786 in my committee.”
HB 2786 generated much opposition leading up to and during the hearing in the Education Committee, starting with the Arizona House Democrats. They posted that Representative Heap’s bill demands that “parents get to review every type of training teacher gets (including copyrighted materials),” adding that “he was upset when he learned teachers can get training about equity, inclusion and cultural sensitivity. The Arizona Education Association tweeted that “teachers need to focus on students’ learning – not spend all their time trying to satisfy the demands of people who see our classrooms as a way to score political points.”
Representative Heap disagrees with these analyses of the bill, saying, “I believe that sunlight is the best disinfectant. My bill does not ban this teacher training, or any training, which a school district wishes to implement. It simply requires that if a school district requires, endorses, recommends, funds, or facilitates teacher training programs then they must make all those materials used (Digital or Physical) in that training available for parents to review.”
Due to the partisan breakdown of HB 2786s support and opposition in the early stages at the Arizona Legislature, it is highly likely that Democrat Katie Hobbs would veto this bill should it pass through both chambers and reach the Ninth Floor later this session.
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
