IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
“Good thing the embattled Sheriff decided to lawyer up – it looks like he’s going to need it,” said DCCC Spokesman Tyler Law.
The Arizona Republic’s Laurie Roberts also has a column out on Babeu’s growing RICO problems:
Paul Babeu, fighting crime one newsletter at a time
The Arizona Republic
By Laurie Roberts
Babeu recently put out a four-page, full color brochure to voters, entitled Keeping you, your family and our communities safe.
Or, as it could have been titled: Why you, your family and our communities should send Paul Babeu to Congress.
The newsletter included no fewer than four pictures of the sheriff.
There was Babeu, posing with presidential candidate Ben Carson.
There was Babeu, testifying to a congressional committee.
There was Babeu, standing beside an American flag with his hand over his heart.
And on the front page, a smiling Babeu, with a list of his accomplishments while sheriff.
And oh yeah, there was this: “This publication paid for by seized criminal money.”
“Aside from the newsletter providing community outreach and being educational, it works as an excellent recruitment tool to bring volunteers and serious applicants who wish to join the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office,” he said, in a prepared statement.
One would think then that this great community outreach and educational tool would have been sent to every Pinal County resident.
Curiously, it was sent only to voters.
“The list of addresses was obtained from Pinal County voter registration files,” Tim Gafney, director of administration for PCSO, told the Casa Grande Dispatch.
According to the Dispatch, nearly half of Pinal County adults — 47 percent – aren’t registered to vote.
The newsletter has caught the eye of the Goldwater Institute, which on Monday filed a public records request seeking documents explaining how Babeu’s agency is using money and assets seized under state forfeiture laws.
I’m guessing the Goldwater Institute doesn’t think a campaign piece masquerading as an informational, educational newsletter is a proper use of crime fighting funds.
“Arizona law forbids public officials from using government resources for political purposes,” Goldwater attorney Jared Blanchard told me, via email. “The Pinal County Sheriff’s Office newsletter could be construed as a campaign flyer. We sent a public records request because we think, at the very least, the public should know what, if any, taxpayer resources were spent on that flyer as well as what decisions were made regarding how that flyer serves a legitimate public purpose.”
Me? I’m thinking the flyer shows that Babeu is uniquely qualified to go to Congress.
In Congress, our leaders regularly use public funding to send out self-promotional pieces that masquerade as newsletters.
Babeu’s just getting a head start.