A judge has ruled Arizona utility regulator Bob Stump's texts aren't public.
David Cole was appointed after the Washington D.C.-based Checks and Balances Project sued when they found a log showing nearly 3,600 texts between Stump and others, including two Corporation Commission candidates he wanted elected in 2014 and the head of a group that spent more than $300,000 to help that happen. That raised questions of illegal coordination.
The issue was complicated because a commission attorney admitted that Stump routinely deleted his texts, and then threw away the state-issued cell phone he was using at the time.
Cole reviewed what a forensic examiner was able to recover and said there was nothing there that fit the definition of a public record.
Stump said that backs his contention that all the messages were personal and that he has been vindicated.
"I am certain Checks and Balances will continue spinning their grand conspiracy theories. As you know they've accused the commission attorney, the AG, the commission's non-partisan legal staff, all five commissioners of potential corruption. In my view, they need to pack up," Stump said.
But Checks and Balances attorney Dan Barr said this hardly ends the matter. He pointed out that Cole never said how many texts he was able to recover, if any.
"Well, if they don't exist, then they don't exist because Bob Stump went out of his way to evade the public records law by using text messaging and then immediately deleting the texts, and then throwing away his state-issued phone," Barr said, who said he will try to get more information from the court.