Stick a fork in him, Tom ‘banned for life by the SEC’ Horne is done

Arizona Attorney General Tom “banned for life by the SEC” Horne likes to claim how effective he is as an attorney. And yet  . . .

Last week “Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Mark Brain rejected Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne’s bid for a temporary restraining order against County Attorney Bill Montgomery, whose office is investigating, among other things, allegations that Horne has used his state office to campaign for re-election.” Tom Horne’s Bid for Temporary Restraining Order Against Against Bill Montgomery Rejected by Judge.

This week, “A Maricopa County judge denied Attorney General Tom Horne’s request to bar the Citizens Clean Elections Commission from investigating a campaign finance complaint against him.” Judge denies Horne injunction against Clean Elections:

Judge Dawn Bergin rejected Horne’s argument that the commission lacks authority over candidates who don’t participate in the Clean Elections system. Furthermore, Bergin said a 2014 law that sought to prohibit the commission from investigating privately funded candidates doesn’t apply to the case.

Bergin said the plain language of the 1998 Citizens Clean Elections Act suggests that voters intended for the commission, which oversees Arizona’s public campaign funding system, to have authority over nonparticipating candidates.

Bergin said the statute “demonstrates an intent to subject nonparticipating candidates who substantially exceed the statutory contribution limits to the same penalty as participating candidates.”

The judge also said SB1344, which the Legislature passed during the 2014 session, does not bar the commission from investigating Horne. She said it is not applicable for two reasons.

First, Bergin said the law has no retroactivity clause, which means it would not apply to alleged violations of campaign finance that occurred prior to July 1, when the new law went into effect.

[Second], the judge said the law attempts to bar the commission from investigating alleged violations of Article 1 of Arizona’s campaign finance law, which governs traditionally funded candidates only. But Bergin said the commission is looking into Horne for an alleged violation of Clean Elections statutes, which are contained in Article 2 of the campaign finance laws.

Bergin’s ruling is likely to spur an appeal by Horne.

Stick a fork in him, Arizona’s second most corrupt politician is done. It’s up to you the voters to pour the sauce on this cooked goose on Primary Election Day next Tuesday. It’s time to kick Tommy Boy to the curb.