PHOENIX — Former Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb has sent his Republican primary opponent in the Congressional District 5 race a cease-and-desist letter, telling him to stop talking about how Lamb failed to disclose a bankruptcy on legal documents as required by law.
Daniel Keenan, who is facing Lamb in the Republican primary, has talked on the campaign trail about Lamb’s 2018 failure to disclose a bankruptcy on documents filed with the Arizona Corporation Commission for his now-defunct nonprofit, the American Sheriff Foundation.
“Mark Lamb filed for bankruptcy and then committed perjury when he signed a legal disclosure claiming that he never had,” a Keenan campaign flier reads.
Lamb and Keenan are running for U.S. Rep Andy Biggs' seat, a Republican who is running for governor. The primary is July 21.
Lamb’s attorney, former Arizona Supreme Court Justice Andrew Gould, sent Keenan a letter Friday telling him to “immediately cease and desist from publishing, republishing, or otherwise disseminating false and defamatory statements concerning Sheriff Lamb” within five days.
Do you have a concern in your community or a news tip? We want to hear from you!
Connect with us: share@abc15.com
In a statement, Keenan told ABC15: “We’re not going to be intimidated from telling the truth about our opponent, that he can’t be trusted and he is unfit for office.”
Bankruptcy not disclosed on paperwork
Lamb has publicly talked about filing for bankruptcy in Utah in 2003. He wrote in his self-published book about the filing for his business, Paintball Junkeez.
In Arizona, he filed articles of incorporation for the American Sheriff Foundation, a nonprofit he founded in 2018 that has since lost its tax-exempt status at both the state and federal level.
In the document, the “no” box is checked for a question asking about bankruptcy. Lamb signed the document, which says the signer acknowledges “under penalty of perjury” that the document and any attachments is submitted in compliance with state law.
In 2024, Lamb told Arizona Luminaria it was an oversight with “no malicious intent,” saying his lawyers put the paperwork together.
Gould wrote in his May 15 letter to Keenan that Lamb has not been charged or convicted of perjury.
“Your defamatory statements, repeated by your campaign through printed advertisements, are false statements of fact, not opinion, and are actionable under Arizona law,” he wrote, adding that Lamb would pursue legal action if Keenan continues to say or publish statements alleging Lamb has committed perjury.
In a statement responding to the cease-and-desist notice, Keenan’s campaign manager, Joseph Raetzer, called the argument that the campaign is liable for defaming Lamb because he wasn’t charged and convicted of perjury “a bizarre argument.”
“The record is clear: Mark Lamb committed perjury when he filed a sworn statement with the state government claiming he had not filed for bankruptcy, even though he had,” Raetzer said.
When asked for comment, Lamb’s campaign spokesperson told ABC15 the cease-and-desist letter “speaks for itself.”
Standard for defamation is high, expert says
A First Amendment expert at Arizona State University’s law school said political speech is broadly protected.
“This is how we elect our leaders in a democracy,” said Gregg Leslie, executive director of the First Amendment Clinic. “You have to be able to criticize people. They have to be able to withstand the criticism. They get a right to respond to it and say what are often otherwise defamatory things, as well.”
He said free-speech protections apply to all kinds of speech and are “more important than anywhere” in political campaigns.
The standard for defamation is high for political speech, Leslie said. To be considered defamation, a campaign claim would need to be a false statement of fact, he said.
“It's got to be something that is capable of being proven true or false,” he said.
And because Lamb is a public figure, lawyers would need to show actual malice, meaning they knew it was false or recklessly disregarded whether something was true or false.
Leslie said it’s intentionally a high standard.
“We live in a country where we believe you've got to be able to speak freely," he said. "You've got to be allowed that, and you shouldn't be stopped by the government or by litigants."
