After Arizona state lawmaker Analise Ortiz shared a post online about real-time immigration enforcement actions in her community, Pinal County Attorney Brad Miller offered to investigate her on behalf of the Arizona Legislature. But Attorney General Kris Mayes said that falls outside of Miller’s authority.
Ortiz, a Democrat representing Phoenix and Maryvale in the Arizona Senate, shared a post on social media warning about ICE activity near an elementary school in her community.
That led to criticism from Republican lawmakers, who accused Ortiz of doxing federal immigration enforcement agents. Doxing typically refers to the sharing of an individual’s personal information online with intent of stirring up threats and other harassment against the targeted person.
Ortiz and other Democrats denied that she doxed anyone, saying she shared information about activities happening in public spaces and did not include personal information about agents.
Protected speech or a criminal act?
Senate President Warren Petersen (R-Gilbert) alleged Ortiz’s post “may be in violation of federal law” and referred the case to the U.S. attorney for the District of Arizona.
Miller, the Pinal County attorney, also offered to investigate the situation.
“I would be happy to be a special prosecutor and investigate this particular matter if they need a legal opinion,” Miller told conservative radio host Garrett Lewis last week.
Ortiz argued her post qualifies as speech protected by the First Amendment. She compared it to the traffic app Waze alerting someone about an upcoming speed trap on the highway.
“This is absolutely a politically motivated attack and an escalation of the far right’s willingness to use the courts and investigative agencies to target their political opponents,” Ortiz said.
Miller told Lewis he disagreed with the Waze comparison, because the social media warnings could interfere with active ICE investigations.
“This is obstruction of justice. This is aiding and abetting the unlawful concealing of unlawful aliens,” Miller said.
However, Miller later told KJZZ News that he is not accusing Ortiz of wrongdoing and is rather calling for an investigation, because he believed Mayes would not look into the situation.
“I'm certainly not accusing any lawmaker of a crime without actually investigating the case,” Miller said.
But he said if criminal activity did occur, that speech is not protected.
“So I don't know if she did, but I do know that criminal activity and speaking about criminal activity or warning others about criminal activity or threatening witnesses after a crime has occurred is not protected speech,” he said.
Arizona Democrats defended Ortiz.
“As we have stated, Senator Analise Ortiz was well within her 1st Amendment rights and has done nothing wrong or illegal,” House Assistant Minority Leader Nancy Gutierrez (D-Tucson) said in a statement. “The coordinated online attacks, and the targeting of her for investigation and prosecution by Senate Republican Leadership and other elected officials, is an authoritarian intimidation tactic to silence opposition.”
Gov. Katie Hobbs also said she did not believe Ortiz broke the law, though she took a more nuanced approach to the whole issue
“Look, I understand her concerns,” the governor said of Ortiz.
“And I'm not going to police her social media or what she posts or anyone else,” she continued. “But we have really heightened potential for things to blow up like we saw recently in LA in particular. And I think we need to be cognizant of that.”
Special prosecutor or special counsel?
After Miller offered his services as a “special prosecutor,” Mayes sent him a letter on Aug. 8 suggesting neither the Pinal County Attorney’s Office nor the state Legislature have the authority to pursue charges against Ortiz, who made the social media posts in Maricopa County.
“I find it concerning that you expressed a willingness to use your office to prosecute an elected Arizona State Senator in what appears to be in excess of your constitutional and statutory authority,” Mayes wrote.
Mayes, citing her “supervisory authority” over county attorneys in state law, directed Miller to respond to the letter by Friday and point out where in Arizona law he is authorized to act as a “special prosecutor” for the legislature and why Ortiz’s actions would not be protected by the First Amendment.
Miller disagreed with Mayes’ contention that he only has jurisdiction within Pinal County, saying his office takes on cases referred from other counties due to conflicts of interest and other issues.
“It's actually a regular, naturally occurring scene that we end up prosecuting cases from other counties,” he said. “I mean, currently I carry a couple of cases from Maricopa County. I have cases from Pima County.”
Mayes also criticized Petersen, the Republican Senate president who is now running for attorney general.
“Warren Petersen is using his position as Sen. President to threaten and intimidate Sen. Analise Ortiz for exercising her 1st Amendment rights,” Mayes wrote on social media. “That’s not leadership — it’s bullying.”
And she took a shot at Petersen's legal credentials.
“I know he’s only been a lawyer for a year and a half but he needs a [Continuing Legal Education] on the Bill of Rights,” Mayes added.
Petersen, who was admitted to the State Bar of Arizona in December 2023, said he requested the investigation to protect law enforcement. That comes as the Department of Homeland Security claims attacks against ICE officials have increased significantly over last year.
“Arizona Senate Republicans stand firmly in support of ICE and the important work they do to uphold our nation's immigration laws and protect our communities,” he said in a statement.
But Petersen appeared to agree that Miller, the Pinal County attorney, cannot operate as a special prosecutor to look into the issue further. He said he spoke with Miller about eventually serving as a “special counsel” to the Arizona Senate, not a special prosecutor.
“You can't hire a special prosecutor; he doesn’t have jurisdiction,” Petersen said.
However, Petersen said Republican senators could retain Miller to investigate whether Ortiz violated Senate rules, which could result in censure, other punishments or even expulsion.
“I think he could do a good job on that, and we certainly haven't foreclosed that idea,” Petersen said.
That wouldn’t happen until after the U.S. attorney finishes his review, Petersen said.
The Arizona Legislature has seen a rash of ethics investigations in recent years for alleged rules violations, including investigations that resulted in the expulsion of Republican Liz Harris in 2023 and the resignation of Democrat Leezah Sun in 2024.
Ortiz, then a member of the House, faced an ethics panel in 2024 for shouting at Republican lawmakers during contentious hearings over Arizona’s territorial-era abortion law, which was repealed later that year.
Howard Fischer with Capitol Media Services contributed to this report.
