by Matthew Holloway | Aug 19, 2025 | News
By Matthew Holloway |
Following a post on X mourning the reported buyouts of Arizona Republic writers and reporters, Arizona Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes received a harsh rebuke for her participation in a 2000 stock trading scandal. Mayes acknowledged being a party in a 2003 article after resigning from the newspaper.
In her August 13th post, Mayes wrote, “The buyouts at the Arizona Republic are devastating. Losing legendary reporters like @maryjpitzl means less accountability and less transparency for the public. And it’s bad news for democracy. As a former Republic reporter it breaks my heart to see the state of the paper today.“
Brian Anderson, Founder of the Saguaro Group and Arizona Capitol Oversight, quoted the post from Mayes the following day. His post included a newspaper clipping dating to the 2003 Arizona Republic story that revealed Mayes’ participation in purchasing stock from Central Newspapers Inc. (CNI) shortly before the sale of the Arizona Republic to Gannett Co., Inc.. The stock trade netted the then-beat reporter approximately $5,000, according to Mayes.
Anderson wrote, “When @KrisMayes was a ‘journo’ at @azcentral, she was investigated for insider trading and then suddenly resigned.”
According to a 2022 article in the Republic, when the scandal came to light again in Mayes’ campaign for the AG Office, the Democrat defended the purchase of CNI stock. No charges against Mayes or the other nine members of the Republic newsroom were brought at the time.
However, as the Republic noted, a letter to readers in the newspaper in 2000 from then-Executive Editor Pam Johnson announced the scandal, informing readers that 10 of its “newsroom staff” were flagged by the company after purchasing CNI stock through their 401(k) accounts.
Johnson, who passed away at the age of 74 in 2021, openly chided her staffers, including Mayes, for violating the Republic’s ethics policy. She wrote, “Republic journalists should never attempt to gain from information the general public does not have access to.”
She told readers:
“In this case, we investigated all of those involved and concluded that no one had what securities regulators would consider ‘insider information.’ That is to say, they had no concrete evidence that the company was going to be put up for sale. And therefore, there were no legal implications. They acted on gossip. Still, they heard or saw things that the general public couldn’t.”
“Many of our staff members heard or saw those same things and did not act. As one said: ‘I didn’t know if it was illegal, but I knew it wasn’t right.’ We agree,” she added.
According to AZCentral, the punishments handed down in the incident included suspensions without pay for four supervisors and formal letters placed in the personnel files of six reporters, including Mayes. The Attorney General has maintained that her subsequent resignation was planned in advance so that she could attend law school.
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 Corinne Murdock | Dec 13, 2021 | News
By Corinne Murdock |
Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ) reportedly violated the Stop Trading On Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act, a law to dissuade insider trading, according to a compliance analysis from Insider. The report added that the senator either offered proof of payment or a resolution of applicable fines, totaling $1,000. None of Kelly’s staffers were reported in violation of the STOCK Act.
Kelly’s spokesman Jacob Peters assured Insider that the senator was committed to constituents, not special interests. He didn’t offer an explanation on the specific violation.
“Senator Kelly is transparent and accountable to Arizonans, not corporate special interests, which is why he is the only Senator who has taken the collective steps of placing his assets in qualified blind trusts, regularly posting his official Senate schedule on his Senate website, and refusing corporate PAC contributions to his campaign,” stated Peters.
In April, Kelly exercised a stock option in a company designing a supersonic aircraft called Boom Technology (previously called Boom Aerospace, also known as Boom Supersonic). In recent years, the company partnered with China to aid in development. Kelly didn’t file the disclosure until August: four months later. The STOCK Act requires legislators to disclose these actions within 30 days of notification or 45 days of transaction.
Kelly wasn’t alone in his violations, and far from the worst nationally; Insider reported at least 48 other congressmen and 182 congressional staffers also violated the STOCK Act. These findings came from “Conflicted Congress,” a review of adherence to the STOCK Act.
Insider ranked legislators’ compliance with the STOCK Act by marking them green, indicating good compliance; yellow, indicating borderline noncompliance; and red, indicating serious noncompliance and potential ethical issues. Kelly was marked yellow, along with Representative Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ-03). The remainder of Arizona’s senators and representatives were marked green.
Senators Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) were the only two senators marked red. Tuberville’s profile cataloged 132 STOCK Act violations totaling $894,000 at least, but no staffer violations; the senator claimed that he paid applicable fines but didn’t provide proof. Feinstein’s profile cataloged one STOCK Act violation totaling over $15,000 at least; like Tuberville, Feinstein claimed that she paid applicable fines but didn’t provide proof. Three of Feinstein’s staffers also violated the STOCK Act.
Those Republican representatives marked red were: Pat Fallon (TX-04), with 118 violations totaling over $9.11 million; Lance Gooden (TX-05), with 12 violations totaling over $60,000; Kevin Hern (OK-01), with 25 violations totaling over $1.07 million; Blake Moore (UT-01), with 76 violations totaling $76,000 and one staffer violation; Chris Jacobs (NY-27), with 12 violations totaling $356,000 and one staffer violation; Dan Meuser (PA-09) with 36 violations totaling over $120,000; Diana Harshbarger (TN-01), with 728 violations totaling $728,000.
Those Democratic representatives marked red were: Sean Patrick Maloney (NY-18), with eight violations totaling over $11,000 and one staffer violation; Susie Lee (NV-03), with over 200 violations totaling at least $267,000; Tom Suozzi (NY-03) with approximately 300 violations totaling at least $3.2 million; Tom Malinowski (NJ-07), with 145 violations totaling at least $845,000; and Kim Schrier (WA-08) with one violation totaling over $500,000.
Some of the representatives and senators provided explanations or general comments for their Insider profile on these STOCK Act violations.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
