Monday the Maricopa County Superior Court will hear arguments to stop an investigation into Attorney General Tom Horne. His attorneys are trying to get a preliminary injunction to stop the Clean Elections Commission’s investigation of Horne.
The investigation is about claims made by a former Horne staff member Sarah Beattie that Horne and his staff worked on his 2014 re-election campaign on state time. The argument is over whether the commission has the authority to investigate candidates like Horne who did not accept public funding.
“It has absolutely zero business in this matter. Mr. Horne is not a Clean Elections candidate and this is not their legal business,“ attorney Tim LaSota said.
LaSota cites state law, saying it's up to the Secretary of State to investigate campaign finance issues for candidates who didn’t take Clean Elections money.
“The commission's point is that we absolutely have the authority to inquire and to investigate any non-participating candidate who is alleged to have violated the Clean Elections act,” said Clean Elections Commission Executive Director Tom Collins.
According to Collins, the commission has the ability to enforce contribution limits and reporting requirement laws on all candidates running for state and legislative offices.
