Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
The Arizona Guardian (subscription required) reports "Escort client list shakes up political community." Ruh-Roh Shaggy.
At least two prominent Republicans quit an influential GOP organization this weekend because its leader has been linked to one of the state’s biggest prostitution stings.
Charles Jensen, founder of Politics on the Rocks, was one of several thousand names on a list of clients of the Desert Divas, a high-end escort service busted last year by Phoenix police.
Although Jensen denies any involvement with the prostitution ring, Paradise Valley Mayor Vernon Parker and conservative talk-radio personality Mike Broomhead have resigned from the political group's advisory board. Parker last week announced his intentions to explore a run for governor at a meeting of the group at a Paradise Valley resort.
Phoenix police released the list of clients' names last year but without any addresses or other information. A more detailed list was made public last week after Greg Patterson, who writes the political blog Espresso Pundit, obtained it through a public records request. He published the list on his Web site and the political community has been buzzing ever since.
Arizona's Own Espresso Pundit: The Mother of All Public Records Requests… I got a call last week that the list was available on CD. Well, you are the public too, So here's your copy.
Parker told the Guardian on Sunday that he is stepping down from the advisory board until the matter is cleared up. He said he had no idea Jensen's name was on Desert Divas' list when he joined the group.
Jensen "and I spoke on the phone last night and came to the conclusion that it would be best for the organization that I resign until this gets resolved,” Parker said.
Jensen created the national organization, which has seven chapters through the country, as a way for conservative Republicans to meet and network in social settings. Most of the gatherings for the local chapter take place at a posh resort in Paradise Valley. The political social club’s logo is an elephant holding a martini glass.
Besides Parker, other high-profile Republican leaders have appeared at the group’s gatherings. Arizona Sen. John McCain recently was the keynote speaker. And state Treasurer Dean Martin, who also is eying a run for the governor’s office, is scheduled to speak next month.
Jensen, who said he didn't even know his name was on the list until last week, adamantly denies he used the escort service. He says he has hired an attorney to “go after” anyone who accuses him of doing so.
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Jensen also confirmed that Broomhead, who hosts the Republican-friendly Mike Broomhead Show on KFYI 550 AM, has stepped down from the board, at least for now. Broomhead was unavailable for comment on Sunday.
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While Parker and Broomhead are the only two who have officially stepped down from the 12-member board, others are considering whether they will continue working with Jensen’s group.
Sen. Jonathan Paton, a Republican from Tucson, says he’s undecided whether he’s going to stay on.
“I’ll have talk to Charles first,” Paton told the Guardian on Sunday. “I haven’t done anything with them yet.”
Paton said he joined this year after Jensen called him and asked if he could help with events in the southern part of the state.
The Desert Divas case began in 2007 when police got a tip about the prostitution ring. They made a first round of arrests in August 2008. Since then, more than 50 people have been arrested in what authorities have called the largest prostitution bust in Arizona history.
Authorities have discovered that some of the names on the list were made up. Police have not been concentrating on the clients of Desert Divas, saying those on the list are not suspects.
DSW at the right-wing blog Sonoran Alliance does not think there is anything to Greg Patterson's public records release of the list of names. “Sloppy Joe” List Really Isn’t That Messy for the GOP:
Last Thursday, Espresso Pundit’s Greg Patterson broke a story about the release of a list of “Joe’s” who have patronized a valley VIP prostitute ring known as the Desert Divas. The story on this actually went public when the Phoenix New Times wrote an article back on February 12th that seemed to go nowhere. Thursday that list of “Joe’s went public.
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Once Patterson posted the list at Espresso Pundit, he left it at that. (He even turned comments “off.”) The Phoenix New Times was quick to jump on his story and also posted a link to the list and spun the story as a heads up to valley wives who may want to see if their hubbies were on the list.
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Since Saturday, I’ve sat on the story after hearing that Dennis Welch of The Arizona Guardian was not going to publish. Well, Welch went public on Sunday. Sean Noble also picked up on it today and even reprinted Welch’s article on his blog, Noble Thinking. And one of our own, “GOP Cannon” posted his/her take on it earlier today. ("Rushing to judgment on the latest scandal") So now I’m going to chime in on the story and what I know.
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Having spoken to both gentleman, it appears that this is all a matter of mistaken identities tied to the addresses where the supposed acts took place. I’m going to take both men at their word especially since they appear to have alibis and attorneys.
Will this taint the GOP brand here in Arizona? I tend to doubt it. I also agree with the earlier post by GOP Canon. There are probably individuals in the GOP who will take advantage of this perception of a scandal and use it as leverage to advance their position of power in the party. That’s sophomoric, unethical and disgusting and it needs to stop.
I don't have a dog in this fight, so I really don't care. But it's entertaining to watch self-righteous conservative blogs attack one another over this story.
No such scandal for Drinking Liberally, right Mike?
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