Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
Arizona's de facto governor, "King" Russell Pearce (R-Mesa), is the most prominent legislator to figure in the Fiesta Bowl Scandal report disclosures related the bowl’s lobbyist efforts. There's the scent of blood in the water, and the sharks are beginning to circle "King" Russell Pearce.
The Arizona Capitol Times reports Pearce’s finance reports don’t list Fiesta trips (subscription required):
Pearce’s report for 2005 lists gifts from five sources but not the Fiesta Bowl or its sister bowl, the Insight Bowl. His report for 2008 listed only one gift source, a conservative legislative group, but not the Fiesta Bowl.
The Fiesta Bowl report said the bowl paid at least $18,453 in 2005 on the three-day “dignitary” trip to Chicago in which four legislators and others stayed at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, went to an hour-long meeting for a presentation on college football and attended a game between Northwestern and Michigan.
The 2008 trip to Boston included a stay at the Copley Plaza Hotel and attendance at a Boston College-Virginia Tech game. A dinner presentation featured a talk by Boston College’s athletic director. The report said the trip cost more than $65,000.
Pearce’s wife accompanied him on the Chicago trip while she and a son went with him on the Boston trip. The bowl report said the bowl paid for expenses of the legislators and “in many instances” those of family members.
Pearce’s disclosure report for 2009 did not mention a Dallas trip that year in which the Fiesta Bowl report said Pearce and another lawmaker were the bowl’s guests. The bowl’s report said the trip was for a game between Oklahoma and Texas but it did not discuss the trip in detail.
His report for 2006 listed the Insight Bowl as the source of a gift worth $500 or more for “me and wife.”
Pearce apparently recycled that report in subsequent years, as the same Insight Bowl listing appeared in the gifts section but crossed off on each of those reports.
The Arizona Republic reports in Brewer: Panel will help bowl rebound:
[O]n Monday, the Secretary of State's Office released reports that show Senate President Russell Pearce, R-Mesa, did not disclose gifts he received from the bowl as required by law.
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Pearce was among lawmakers who took a 2005 trip to Chicago that cost the bowl more than $18,000 and a 2008 trip to Boston that cost the bowl more than $65,000.
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Pearce's 2005 form makes no mention of the Chicago trip, and his 2008 form makes no mention of his Boston trip.
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[T]he Special Committee's report, the document also states Fiesta Bowl employees were reimbursed for non-Fiesta Bowl tickets given to Pearce in 2007 and 2008.
The report makes no mention of Pearce or other politicians paying for the tickets.
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Pearce stated on a financial-disclosure statement covering May 2007 through May 2008 that he received a gift from the Insight Bowl.
But more-recent reports do not list any such line items.
The Arizona Guardian also reports Pearce didn't report 2005 Chicago trip on Fiesta Bowl dime (subscription required). H/t Arizona Guardian for graphic.
There are many good reasons to support the recall of "King" Russell Pearce, but his corruption is reason enough. Sign the petition today.