Governor-elect Katie Hobbs’ transition team includes the leader of a nonprofit under investigation for pandemic loan fraud.
Chicanos Por La Causa (CPLC) President, CEO, and lobbyist David Adame was named to Hobbs’ transition team.
The Small Business Administration (SBA) is investigating CPLC for fraudulent pandemic loans under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). The Democrat-led Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis issued a report at the beginning of this month revealing that CPLC’s nonprofit lending subsidiary, Prestamos, received approximately $7.7 billion in loans. That made Prestamos the third-ranked lender for PPP last year, after JP Morgan Chase Bank and Bank of America.
“As of late December 2019, Prestamons had provided ‘more than $50 million in loans supporting more than 400 businesses’ since its formal inception in 2000,” stated the subcommittee report. “In other words, in the two decades prior to the pandemic, Prestamos likely issued less than one percent of the funds that it issued in 2021 as part of the PPP.”
The subcommittee recommended the Department of Justice (DOJ) to act on their findings.
In a statement, Prestamos said that their compliance program resulted in the denials of 57 percent of PPP applications.
“Prestamos supports any effort to identify and correct fraud and to enhance controls, and we have been working with the SBA to strengthen the role of non-profit, community-based lenders in reaching those in need,” stated the lender.
Hobbs named her transition team about a week before the SBA report dropped.
CPLC’s website has a portal for its “Boards,” which currently houses a broken link. However, archived versions of the portal link include the word “Prestamos” in the URL.
In 2020, Adame served on Sen. Mark Kelly’s (D-AZ) transition team. Adame is also a board member of the Arizona-Mexico Commission appointed by outgoing Governor Doug Ducey, a member of the Dean’s Council at Arizona State University (ASU) W.P. Carey School of Business, and a board member of the Greater Phoenix Economic Council (GPEC).
The GPEC President and CEO, Chris Camacho, has worked closely with CPLC and was also named to Hobbs’ transition team.
The co-chair of GPEC’s International Leadership Council, Sharon Harper, recently issued a $1.5 million grant to CPLC through her trustee role for the Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust. Harper also named Adame to a Creighton University board.
Harper, the president, CEO, and co-founder of Plaza Companies, also sits on the boards of the McCain Institute and BioAccel, and serves as a vice chair for the Arizona Community Foundation.
A number of Hobbs’ other transition team members also have ties to CPLC.
Mary Rose Wilcox, former Phoenix City Council member and defeated 2014 congressional candidate, also has ties to CPLC and its loans operations: in 2009, the former Maricopa County Supervisor faced 36 felony counts for failing to disclose her CPLC loans and exercising a conflict of interest when voting on funding related to CPLC. The charges were dropped, ultimately, and Wilcox received about $1 million in settlement.
Mesa Mayor John Giles has worked closely with CPLC over the years. Most recently, the mayor helped establish a new affordable housing development, “Nuevas Vistas.” Giles also supported CPLC’s efforts to pass Proposition 308, granting in-state college tuition to illegal immigrants so long as they graduated from an Arizona high school. Arizona voters approved the measure last month. Leftist dark money heavily backed the proposition.
Bob Worsley, former state senator, and John Graham, chairman & CEO of Sunbelt Holdings, also signed onto Prop 308.
Maricopa County Supervisor Steve Gallardo has also partnered with CPLC in the past. Marlene Galan-Woods, a former Fox News and CBS News anchor, serves on the team and is the wife of Grant Woods: a prominent attorney awarded by CPLC for his work and campaign co-chairman for both former Governor Jan Brewer and Sen. John McCain.
CPLC’s political arm, CPLC Action Fund, endorsed Hobbs in October through its initiative “Latino Loud” or “Sí Se Vota.”
Governor-elect Katie Hobbs reaffirmed that she will hold to her campaign promise to abolish Arizona’s universal school choice program.
Arizona's historic school choice program will likely be short-lived. Governor-elect @katiehobbs promised in her education plan to undo universal school choice. pic.twitter.com/20VtV70qv9
Hobbs issued the remarks last week in an interview with Arizona PBS, about two weeks after appointing two longtime teachers’ union lobbyists to her transition team. Marisol Garcia is a longtime lobbyist for and the current president of the Arizona Education Association (AEA); Stephanie Parra was a former lobbyist for the AEA, is a registered lobbyist for her nonprofit “All in Education,” and serves as a Phoenix Union High School District board member.
“I can tell you that the voucher scheme that we have set up is going to end up as an Alt-Fuels 2.0,” stated Hobbs. “It’s going to bust our budget. We can’t afford to do more.”
I’m pleased to announce my full administration transition team made up of public service, business, labor, & advocacy leaders from both sides of the aisle.
I look forward to working with these outstanding local leaders as we build an administration that works for all Arizonans. pic.twitter.com/mfejYSvYpX
In a video shared within an AEA meeting reviewing the upcoming legislative session on Wednesday, Hobbs pledged to be the biggest ally of public schools in the state’s history.
“I’m ready to get to work as the most pro-public education governor in Arizona,” said Hobbs.
Garcia expressed confidence that Hobbs would be an ally to their teachers’ union. She also said that she and the AEA were completely against the state’s school choice program, the Empowerment Savings Account (ESA) Program.
“We have always been against any sort of vouchers, not just expansion but vouchers in essence,” said Garcia.
In September, Garcia stated that it wasn’t possible to support both public schools and private schools when it comes to funding.
“Funding AZ public schools & then being pro private schools vouchers is hypocritical,” wrote Garcia. “Union members have ALWAYS been against vouchers. They hurt our communities & funnel tax payer $ to private companies.”
Such a BAD take Paul. Funding AZ public schools & then being pro private schools vouchers is hypocritical. Public schools take every single student, ALL of them. Union members have ALWAYS been against vouchers. They hurt our communities & funnel tax payer $ to private companies. pic.twitter.com/ALLPI5Rj3Z
Hobbs has been forthright about her opposition to universal school choice. Her education plan published through her campaign revealed that she would scale back the program to bolster public school funding.
Hobbs declared that universal school choice was an “attack” on public schools, reflecting an intent to eventually “do away with” them. Hobbs also claimed that the ESA Program lacked any accountability and oversight.
About 32,000 children applied for the ESA Program, according to the Arizona Department of Education. Students may qualify for up to $6,500 each — totaling about $208 million.
Save Our Schools Arizona (SOSAZ), an activist group opposed to universal ESAs, attempted to reverse the universalization through a ballot measure. In September, SOSAZ overreported its signature count to qualify for the ballot — something hawkeyed pro-school choice parents discovered immediately. However, Hobbs delayed counting the signatures for about five days.
Kari Lake and Katie Hobbs will face off again over election matters next week — this time, over the course of two days in court.
Lake’s lawsuit against Hobbs and Maricopa County kicked off on Tuesday. Judge Peter Thompson scheduled the two-day hearing for Dec. 21 and 22.
Judge in @KariLake v. @katiehobbs election lawsuit: the volume of the evidence presents a problem that needs fleshing out. Hearing set for two days: Dec. 21 & 22. Effectively, a Christmas Eve battle.
Kari Lake’s counsel, Bryan Blehm and Kurt Olsen, filed an ex parte motion to substitute one of the exhibits: “Attachment C.” They reportedly failed to redact voter signatures on their filings. The judge admitted them, however, which will require the clerk’s office to scan thousands of pages containing the redacted filings into the system.
Andy Gaona, on behalf of Hobbs in her capacity as secretary of state, and Tom Liddy, on behalf of Maricopa County, both said they will file to dismiss. Alexis Danneman was present on behalf of Hobbs as governor-elect.
The judge conferred extensively with all counsel on when and for how long hearings should take place, given the transfer of power designating Hobbs as governor fast approaching (Jan. 2). However, Gaona, Danneman, and Liddy expressed confidence that the judge would dismiss the case and insisted that an evidentiary hearing wasn’t necessary.
However, the judge stated that the substantial amount of evidence before him would require a “reasonable amount of time” to review. He noted that a hearing spanning multiple days would take the case right up to Jan. 2.
“Looking at the timing of this, this is a statutory creature,” said Thompson. “This isn’t a ruling that I will be able to do in 15 minutes.”
Blehm asked for a three day “trial” at minimum, but the judge refused. Thompson stated that the case was a “hearing, not a full-blown trial” that would take a few hours for each side to argue, at most.
Gaona warned that a lengthy hearing would threaten an orderly transition of power. He stated that Lake’s case was “non-existent.”
Liddy argued most of Lake’s evidence was duplicative, and some of the remainder was “of dubious probative value.” Liddy also noted that his team received a thumb drive on Tuesday morning containing confidential voter data. AZ Free News reached out for comment on this point. Liddy explained that they, the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office, received the thumb drive from the clerk of the board after it was served to the county by Lake’s team late Monday. The thumb drive contained about 6,000 pages of documents, many containing voter information such as copies of voters’ signatures.
Blehm took issue with what he claimed was a characterization of their evidence’s procurement by Liddy, but Liddy said he didn’t issue any characterization.
Blehm also asked the judge for permission to inspect the ballots. Thompson appeared confused by this request and denied it.
Technical issues with the conference call derailed the hearing for the better part of the hour, and continued to plague the livestream for the remainder of the hearing.
The cause came from the publication of the conference call access information from those with massive followings such as the Democracy Docket, Wendy Rogers, and Gateway Pundit. Hundreds of members of the public jumped onto the call, leaving some of the litigants out. Initially, Lake and her legal team were unable to access the conference call.
Kari Lake's lawsuit contesting the results of the Arizona gubernatorial election will meet at 11:00 am MT/1:00 pm ET.
Dial-in (917) 781-4590 Conf ID: 105 414 319# in case link doesn’t work for tuning into… Judge Orders Kari Lake and Katie Hobbs to Appear at Emergency Court Hearing Over Election Lawsuit. @KariLake
The Arizona Republican Party (AZGOP) urged Attorney General Mark Brnovich to investigate Governor-elect Katie Hobbs’ role in censorship of online speech.
The AZGOP asked Brnovich to determine whether Hobbs violated federal or state laws by using state resources in coordination with the Biden administration to remove posts on her office’s behalf. They further requested that Brnovich obtain the entire trove of communications between the secretary of state’s office and Twitter.
As the Arizona Daily Independent reported, court filings in the case Missouri v. Biden revealed that the secretary of state’s office used a middle man of sorts to censor online speech: the Center for Internet Security (CIS).
The Republican Party of Arizona calls on @GeneralBrnovich to immediately investigate @SecretaryHobbs over a government agency directing a private company to suppress free speech.
CIS is led by a former Obama administration official, and has received hundreds of millions in federal grants and contracts over the past two decades.
Several days after discovery of Hobbs’ arrangement to moderate online speech, Hobbs called on Arizonans during the statewide canvass certifying the election to suppress election misinformation and disinformation.
Secretary of State @katiehobbs directs Arizonans to monitor election-related speech and suppress conspiracies. Fascinating timing given the recent discovery that Hobbs' office effectively controlled election-related speech online. pic.twitter.com/W7nskWV63s
As of press time, Brnovich hasn’t issued a public statement on social media or by press release to address the AZGOP’s request. AZ Free News requested comment; the attorney general’s office didn’t respond by press time.
While Hobbs hasn’t addressed the controversy over her office’s moderation of online speech, her incoming chief of staff and former assistant secretary of state, Allie Bones, issued a statement to multiple mainstream media outlets defending the arrangement.
Bones told reporters that it was the job of governments, including the secretary of state’s office, to purge the public square of perceived misinformation and disinformation. Bones added that the CIS arrangement was a normal one between governments and social media companies. The chief of staff insisted that their actions weren’t silencing dissent.
“One of the ways we [make sure that voters are informed] is by working to counter disinformation online that can confuse voters,” stated Bones. “This is yet another example of conspiracy theorists trying to create chaos and confusion by casting doubt on our election system. It’s unfair to Arizona voters and it’s harmful to our democracy.”
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
The task force charged with recommending special ethics rules for attorneys who work for the Arizona Attorney General’s Office and other public entities across the state will miss its December 2022 report deadline, according to Arizona Supreme Court records.
The Task Force on Ethics Rules Governing the State Attorney General, County Attorneys, and Other Public Lawyers was established by Chief Justice Robert Brutinel in February following high profile ethics complaints filed by the Arizona Board of Regents and Secretary of State Katie Hobbs against Attorney General Mark Brnovich.
Although the task force has met eight times, members requested additional time to prepare its ethics recommendations. As a result, Brutinel recently signed an order setting a new deadline of June 2023.
In Arizona, the attorney general is mandated by statute to provide certain legal advice as well as representation to various state agencies, state officials, and state employees. The same principle applies to the state’s fifteen county attorneys.
Brutinel’s creation of the Public Lawyers Task Force acknowledged there are particular ethical concerns a government lawyer may face when representing a public body, elected official, or even a government employee that other attorneys do not have to address. Similar considerations can arise for private practice attorneys who are retained to provide legal counsel to a government client.
Many of those considerations came to a head in 2020 when Brnovich and his staff attorneys were accused by Hobbs of failing to abide by the Arizona Supreme Court’s Rules of Professional Conduct. In another instance, Brnovich actually sued his own client, the Arizona Board of Regents, who in turn contacted the Arizona State Bar.
The ethics complaints against Brnovich’s staff were dismissed by the State Bar, although the attorney general himself agreed to a diversion resolution. The situation, however, drew renewed attention to the dual ethical obligations government lawyers have, particularly when required by state law to represent a specific client.
Former Maricopa County Attorney and current Justice Bill Montgomery was appointed by Brutinel to chair the task force. Among the issues the members are expected to address are:
the process to follow if a government or public lawyer believes there is a conflict of interest in representing a public client;
how to handle situations in which the government lawyer does not approve of, or cannot ethically fulfill, a specific course of action desired by a client;
how the terms and conditions of legal representation should be documented between an attorney and a government client, and who calls the shots if the client is more than one person.
