by Staff Reporter | Nov 5, 2025 | News
By Staff Reporter |
President Donald Trump endorsed former Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb for the 2026 fifth congressional district race.
Trump dubbed Lamb a “MAGA Warrior,” with a subtle remark of appreciation given to Lamb’s primary opponent, former NFL player Jay Feely (Atlanta Falcons, New York Giants, Miami Dolphins, New York Jets, Arizona Cardinals, and Chicago Bears).
Lamb and Feely are competing for the seat that will be vacated by Congressman Andy Biggs, who is retiring from Washington to challenge Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs for her seat.
“As the former Sheriff of Pinal County, Mark strongly supports our incredible law enforcement, military, and veterans, and knows the wisdom and courage it takes to ensure law and order,” said Trump. “In Congress, Mark will work hard to keep our now very secure border, secure, stop migrant crime, grow our economy, cut taxes and regulations, promote made in the U.S.A., champion American energy dominance, and protect our always under siege Second Amendment.”
Lamb responded with thanks to the president, not only for the endorsement but for his work accomplished in just under a year back in office.
“In just nine months, President Trump has truly made America Great Again, and shown what true leadership and courage is all about,” said Lamb. “He has secured our borders and got our economy moving.”
As for Feely, who settled in Arizona after retiring from the NFL in 2014, Trump encouraged him to take on another race.
“I also like Jay Feely very much, and would like to see him run in a different district, or for a different office,” said Trump. “[Lamb] will never let you down!”
Feely was outspoken about his political beliefs throughout his NFL career. During the Obama administration, Feely was a guest on Fox News where he criticized the former president. It was this outspokenness that many believe led to his being cut from the Miami Dolphins despite setting a franchise record.
“I’ve always felt that if I do my job the best I can and I’m one of the best at what I do and am honest with what I say, then people will respect that,” said Feely at the time.
Feely has not issued a statement responding to Trump’s endorsement.
Others fell in line to endorse Lamb after Trump took action.
The House Freedom Fund issued its endorsement of Lamb hours later.
Trump issued his endorsement only a few weeks into Lamb’s candidacy.
Lamb announced his congressional run last month during an interview with Real America’s Voice.
“I believe in America, I believe in our history and our birthright,” said Lamb. “I believe in God, family freedom, I believe in the rule of law.”
Lamb served as Pinal County Sheriff from 2017 to 2024. Lamb ran for Senate last year, but was defeated in the primary by Kari Lake.
The fifth congressional district includes Apache Junction, Gilbert, Queen Creek, San Tan Valley, and parts of Sun Lakes, Chandler, and Mesa.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
by Ethan Faverino | Nov 3, 2025 | News
By Ethan Faverino |
Republican lawmakers, backed by President Donald Trump and prominent allies including Elon Musk, are escalating efforts to impeach Chief Judge James Boasberg, citing a pattern of rulings they allege usurp executive authority, exhibit political bias, and endanger national security.
The campaign gained fresh momentum on October 30, 2025, when Representative Eli Crane (AZ-02) weighed in on Senator Mike Lee’s tweet, “Should Judge Boasberg be removed from office?”
Crane fired back, “Here’s the real question, @basedmikelee: Why hasn’t it happened already?”
Boasberg, elevated to Chief Judge in March 2023 after his 2011 appointment to the bench by President Barack Obama, has become a focal point in GOP frustration during Trump’s second term, as he keeps getting assigned Trump cases.
Republican lawmakers label him an “activist judge” whose decisions repeatedly obstruct administration priorities on immigration, national security, and government efficiency.
In March 2025, Rep. Brandon Gill (R-TX), along with 22 cosponsors, including Arizona Representatives Eli Crane (AZ-02), Abe Hamadeh (AZ-08), Andy Biggs (AZ-05), and Paul Gosar (AZ-09), introduced H.Res.229, impeaching Boasberg for “high crimes and misdemeanors” under a single article titled “Abuse of Power.”
The resolution accuses the judge of violating his oath by substituting his judgment for the President’s under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 and interfering with executive orders.
Specific charges include:
- Issuing a March 2025 temporary restraining order halting the deportation of hundreds of alleged Tren de Aragua gang members—designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization—without due process.
- Ordering mid-flight aircraft carrying deportees to El Salvador to turn around, despite a subsequent Supreme Court ruling permitting the Act’s use with mandated judicial review.
- Initiating contempt proceedings against administration officials for “willful disregard” of his order, actions Republicans called a “constitutional crisis” that jeopardizes public safety.
Newly disclosed FBI documents, released in October 2025, revealed that Boasberg approved covert subpoenas for phone records of nine Republican senators during the Justice Department’s January 6 investigation. The orders barred carriers like AT&T from notifying targets, citing “reasonable grounds” they might tamper with evidence. Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), among those targeted, denounced the move as a “weaponized legal system.”
Affected senators also include Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Ron Johnson (R-WI), Bill Hagerty (R-TN), Josh Hawley (R-MO), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), and Tommy Tuberville (R-AL).
On October 30, Cruz urged the House to impeach Boasberg and seek federal sanctions, stating, “If a judge signs an order reaching a factual conclusion for which there is zero evidence whatsoever, that judge is abusing his power.”
Lawmakers allege the broader probe—conducted under former special counsel Jack Smith—targeted up to 156 Republican lawmakers, conservatives, and organizations at significant taxpayer expense.
Ethan Faverino is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Matthew Holloway | Nov 1, 2025 | News
By Matthew Holloway |
Arizona Senator Ruben Gallego sharply criticized Republican leaders over the Democrat-led federal government shutdown during an appearance on CBS’s The Late Show with Stephen Colbert this week. Gallego claimed that the impasse threatens health care affordability nationwide
The segment spotlighted the Democrat-instigated federal government shutdown and the looming expiration of enhanced Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies, which could drive up premiums as open enrollment begins November 1st. The interview played out like an in-kind political ad for Gallego.
The subsidies, extended under the 2021 American Rescue Plan as a form of COVID relief, eliminated income caps for marketplace eligibility, allowing households above 400% of the federal poverty level to receive aid.
Host Stephen Colbert teed up the Democratic position for the softball interview: “Well, this shutdown has gone on for 29 days. If I can characterize the position the Democrats want the Republicans to address [as] the lapsing of the tax credits and ACA, the Obamacare, so people are going to see the rates jump up starting in November, right?”
Gallego detailed the stakes for his state. He noted that premiums could surge nearly 50% for a family of four earning up to $128,600 annually—or a family of five up to $150,600—potentially adding about $7,000 to yearly costs. He said, “And things are hard right now. I mean, everything is fricking expensive, and now the government, these Republicans, are going to willingly raise people’s premiums. That’s what’s happening right now.”
The senator, who has continued to cash his congressional paychecks during the shutdown, directed fire at GOP figures absent from negotiations. He accused House Speaker Mike Johnson of being “off hiding somewhere with the Epstein list” and quipped about former President Donald Trump, saying, “I don’t know where the hell Trump is. But I think he’s probably in Korea putting on a crown or something like that.”
Gallego stressed the fallout for ordinary Americans: “Either way, our people, everyday working-class people in this country are hurting right now.”
Just two weeks ago, Gallego claimed he needed to “restrain” himself in the presence of Speaker Johnson when he and Sen. Mark Kelly confronted the Speaker in a Capitol hallway.
Gallego’s account seems to ignore a point that Senate Majority Leader John Thune exposed explosively from the Senate floor Monday night when he said, “The senator from New Mexico is absolutely right; SNAP recipients shouldn’t go without food. People should be getting paid in this country, and we’ve tried to do that 13 times—and you voted no 13 times! This isn’t a political game; these are real people’s lives we are talking about, and you have all just figured out 29 days in that, oh, there may be some consequences?!?”
Instead, Gallego took the time to leverage his well-worn rags-to-Senate story—from a single-mother home to advocating for economic opportunity —continuing what appears to be a soft start to 2028 White House ambitions.
Arizona State Representative Nick Kupper (R-LD25) took to X to respond to Gallego’s post, sharing the interview. Gallego wrote, “The fact that someone like me ended up where I am is proof that this country can still be great. But that promise doesn’t survive on its own. We have to fight for it.”
Kupper, seemingly unimpressed, reposted him, quipping: “The fact that he’s on this late-night show slinging his crap is more proof that this is all just performance art.”
The full interview is available on YouTube and Paramount+.
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 | Oct 31, 2025 | Education, News
By Ethan Faverino |
Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne issued a statement opposing the State Board of Education’s decision to postpone the rulemaking to strip Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) language from Arizona’s teaching standards.
The issue will now be taken up at the Board’s December meeting—a delay Horne warns risks $866 million in federal education funding and violates clear federal civil rights directives.
“I respectfully but strongly disagree with the vote to postpone opening the rule-making process,” declared Horne. “The President issued an Executive Order requiring DEI language to be removed from programs funded by federal dollars. It made it abundantly clear that federal education funding is at risk if DEI language remains in education programs. Failure to comply with federal guidance may result in the loss of an estimated $866 million to Arizona schools. That is a major funding cut to our schools, and we need to begin dealing with this as soon as possible.”
Horne pointed to a letter from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR), signed by Acting Assistant Secretary Craig Trainor, which reaffirms that discrimination based on race, color, or national origin is illegal under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Equal Protection Clause, and controlling Supreme Court precedent.
The guidance explicitly condemns race-based preferences in admissions, financial aid, hiring, training, discipline, housing, and graduation ceremonies, and warns that DEI programs often “preference certain racial groups and teach students that certain racial groups bear unique moral burdens that others do not.”
The OCR letter also cites the Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard (SFFA), which states that the use of racial preferences in school testing and admissions is unlawful. Their message is simple: “If an educational institution treats a person of one race differently than it treats another person because of that person’s race, the educational institution violates the law.”
“Not only is the $866 million at risk, but there is a philosophical issue at stake, too,” continued Horne. “All people should be judged based on their character and ability, not their race or ethnicity. DEI language and programs promote the exact opposite, and they have no place in the classroom. The teaching standards, unfortunately, include DEI references, and they need to be removed.”
The teaching standards at issue direct educators to teach “equitably,” with “responsiveness to the cultural backgrounds and differing perspectives learners bring to the learning environment,” and to address the “social, emotional, and cultural needs of students.”
“These terms do not belong in teaching standards,” Horne concluded. “The standards are meant to direct educators on the most effective ways to teach students’ core academics. Every instructional minute is precious, and DEI efforts distract from that essential mission.”
Ethan Faverino is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Staff Reporter | Oct 30, 2025 | News
By Staff Reporter |
Newly obtained evidence reveals the pornographic and violent past of a Democratic leader in Tucson.
The posts, advocating for the harming and murdering of his political opponents and promotion of his pornography, came from Rocque Anthony Perez: an appointed Tucson City Council member (Ward 5) and, until joining the council in recent months, an executive director for Congresswoman-elect Adelita Grijalva’s Metropolitan Education Commission (MEC) nonprofit.
MEC advises and makes recommendations on K-12 education for Tucson as well as all of Pima County.
The California Globe published copies of since-deleted social media posts they received as a reflection of Perez’s recent past as a creator and disseminator of pornography, and an advocate of political violence.
In addition to the trove obtained by the Globe, AZ Free News recovered archived posts by Perez detailing his consistent advocacy for the harming and murdering of his political opponents.
The incriminating posts recovered occurred under two accounts: “@rocqueperez” and “@localanthony.” From the former, Perez posted his controversial political posts, and from the latter, Perez posted his pornographic posts.
From 2019 to 2020, Perez had served as Student Body Senator at the University of Arizona. He also led Tucson’s Pride Festival in 2019.
Throughout 2020, Perez advocated for the assault and murder of his political opponents.
In a June 2020 post, Perez told a friend to murder his conservative family members after the friend complained that living with them was unbearable.
“So kill them, do your duty baby girl,” said Perez.
In July 2020, Perez retweeted a picture of Ivanka Trump posing with a can of Goya beans with the following caption:
“Someone throw this b***h off the capitol building roof please,” said Perez.
Perez asked for someone to assault conservative activist and pundit Kaitlin Bennett in a January 2020 post.
“How has she not gotten beat yet? Like… hath no one the bravery to literally hurt her cause…?” said Perez.
“Roses are red, violets are blue, vote for Joe Biden, or I’ll cut you,” posted Perez in one post, with a picture of him pointing scissors at the camera.
“This vapid white girl is defending Trump[’s] response to COVID in my Zoom public relations class, do I end her or do I end her,” said Perez.
Perez expressed his hope, multiple times, that President Donald Trump would contract COVID-19 and die.
“PLEASE give Trump the Coronavirus please lordt, he is an at risk PLEASE,” posted Perez in March 2020.
In October, when then-President Donald Trump announced that he and then-First Lady Melania Trump tested positive for COVID-19, Perez advocated for the president’s death.
“Take his life baby! Get him!” said Perez.
“Honestly I would take one for the team and knock him out if I could,” said Perez in a repost of a July post from Trump.
In an August 2020 post, Perez made a post about how he and the purportedly haunted Annabelle doll (who, at the time, was the subject of a viral rumor of having escaped the museum housing it) should kill the president.
“Annabelle escaped and I’m like, hey bb girl we got some people you should meet, don’t be shy, go say hell [knife emoji],” said Perez.
In July 2020, Perez expressed hope that COVID-19 would infect and eliminate multiple elderly Republican voters and members of the Arizona Republican Party leadership, including then-chair Kelli Ward, then-Sen. Martha McSally, and Rep. Paul Gosar.
“A lot of old white people in one place, it’d be a shame if [COVID] got em,” said Perez.
In March 2021, Perez asked in a post on X whether he should fight then-Governor Doug Ducey.
“Just saw Doug Ducey, do I square up or do I square up,” posted Perez.
Under his @localanthony handle, Perez posted pornographic videos and pictures to promote his Only Fans account.
Despite his numerous posts advocating for harm and death to his political opponents and his publicized OnlyFans content, Perez maintained his post as the public relations lead, then marketing and communications strategist for the University of Arizona, his alma mater. He would maintain that latter job through 2022 before joining Arizona State University as their communications manager.
ASU hired him, though Perez posted “F**k Arizona State University Bro” on his page in early January 2020.
Perez’s term on the Tucson City Council ends in December.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
