PHOENIX — A Republican state lawmaker is launching a wide-ranging investigation into pay-for-play allegations involving Gov. Katie Hobbs and a state contractor, issuing subpoenas to the governor, attorney general, Sunshine Residential executives and more.
Attorney General Kris Mayes declined to file charges after a two-year investigation. Group-home operator Sunshine Residential received a 30% rate hike following company donations totaling $400,000 to Hobbs’ inaugural fund and the Arizona Democratic Party. According to Mayes' Aug. 20 report on the matter, the contractor later donated another $150,000 to Hobbs’ legal fund.
The Senate Government Committee will hear testimony on Sept. 29, said State Sen. Jake Hoffman, who chairs the panel.
“When political donors receive government favors, that demands a public investigation,” he said.
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In a statement, Mayes spokesman Richie Taylor called the Senate inquiry “performative political nonsense.”
“It’s time for Senate Republicans like Jake Hoffman – who makes his living as a political consultant to Republican campaigns – to explain why they are using tax dollars on a political grudge match three weeks before ballots are mailed,” he said.
Hobbs’ campaign also pointed to Hoffman’s backing of Hobbs’ Republican opponent, U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs.
“With just 21 days until voting starts and Andy Biggs’ cronies realizing they are running out of time to change the trajectory of his floundering campaign, it’s no surprise a political consultant profiting from Biggs’ campaign is resorting to desperate political stunts to rescue him,” campaign spokesman Michael Beyer said in a statement.
Hoffman, who has endorsed Biggs, owns an advertising company that has been paid for ads in the governor’s race. He slammed questions about his impartiality, saying the media is “trying to spin narratives that don’t exist.”
“That question is absolutely inappropriate,” he said. “I can walk and chew gum at the same time.”
No criminal charges in case
Mayes has said the evidence does not support bribery charges in the case.
"As a prosecutor, I have an ethical obligation to make decisions that can be upheld in court,” she also told reporters Tuesday. “We determined there was not a reasonable likelihood of conviction based on the evidence that we have.”
Hobbs has said she was not involved in the decision to approve Sunshine’s rate hike. She also told reporters last week she had not heard of an alleged conversation in which the company’s founder told a former Department of Child Safety director he would tell Hobbs to keep him on if he approved the rate hike before it was reported in the media this month.
She has declined to disclose who else has donated to her legal fund.
Hearing to be held week before early voting
Hoffman said Wednesday subpoenas would be issued to Hobbs, Mayes, Hobbs spokesman Christian Slater, Hobbs campaign manager Nicole DeMont, the Hobbs inaugural fund, the governor’s legal defense fund, several investigators in Mayes’ office, Sunshine Residential founder Simon Kottoor and his wife, and current and former DCS employees.
“We believe that a thorough investigation needs to occur,” he said. “We don't believe that the people of Arizona received that thorough investigation from Kris Mayes.”
The Sept. 29 special hearing will be held a week before early voting begins.
Hoffman said the Legislature has a responsibility to get answers.
“We will follow the money, we will compel the testimony, and we will put the facts on the public record, and we will finally pursue any reforms necessary to ensure that Arizona law is protecting taxpayers from corruption, abuses and pay-to-play scandals in this state,” he said.
Senate Minority Leader Priya Sundareshan called Hoffman’s investigation “political theater,” saying the case has already been thoroughly investigated.
“Enough is enough. Jake Hoffman is a state senator, not a Republican campaign consultant on the taxpayers’ dime,” she said in a statement. “Arizonans deserve serious governing, not political grudges dressed up as investigations and perfectly timed for election season. Arizonans are smart enough to read between the lines.”
The auditor general, who is appointed by a legislative panel, is conducting a separate investigation in cooperation with the Maricopa County attorney. House Republicans are also investigating the matter.
Hoffman is also seeking the release of Mayes' full investigative file.
ABC15 filed a public records request with Mayes’ office asking for those records earlier this month.
“We will provide those documents to you when we have done that appropriate legal review,” Mayes told reporters on Tuesday, adding that her office will also consult with the auditor general’s office before releasing the records.
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