Clean Elections tells court it must investigate Green Party fraud claims

The Arizona Citizens Clean Election Commission has told a Maricopa County court that its investigation into whether Green Party candidates Risa Lombardo and Duwayne Collier falsely qualified for public campaign funds is exactly the job state law gives it, and asked the judge to toss the candidates' lawsuit. Lombardo and Collier, running for governor and secretary of state, sued after the commission and the Arizona Attorney General began investigating whether they and Republican Scott Neely falsified small-dollar donations to unlock a combined $4.7 million in public funding.

At least six voters told the Arizona Mirror they had no idea why records showed them making $5 contributions to the candidates. The commission's attorneys argue that accepting public money means accepting its oversight rules, and that the candidates raised no objection to those rules until they became investigation targets.

The candidates' attorney, Tim La Sota, calls the accusations 'nothingburgers' and says the commission is trying to bully his clients out of the race by warning them not to spend money that might later have to be repaid, with a plan to wrap up the probe just before the election. The commission counters that the candidates remain free to spend the funds, at their own risk.

The full dispatch is available from the source below.