Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
No one will ever mistake me as a supporter of Governor Jan Brewer. But Brewer is entitled to a presumption of innocence until proven guilty in a court of law, even if she does not afford that presumption to those she seeks to remove from office by executive fiat — the AIRC and its chair, Colleen Mathis.
Today the Arizona Republic published an investigative report into whether social security benefits were improperly paid on behalf of Jan Brewer's son, Ronald Brewer, who was found not guilty by reason of insanity following sexual assault and kidnapping charges in 1989 and committed to the Arizona State Hospital in 1990.
In a sidebar to this investigative report, the Republic says:
Republic reporters filed a series of requests for information about the investigation using state public-records laws and the federal Freedom of Information Act. Those requests were filed with various government agencies, including the Arizona Governor's Office, Arizona Department of Health Services, Arizona Attorney General's Office, Arizona Department of Administration, U.S. Social Security Administration, Los Angeles Department of Coroner and the Glendale, Calif., Police Department.
The Social Security Administration and Arizona agencies mostly denied access to the information requested. State officials did produce billing records from the law firm of Gallagher & Kennedy, with many of the entries redacted.
Republic reporters also gathered information from Maricopa County Superior Court records, administrative-policy documents, public repositories of vital records and confidential sources.
The newspaper's yearlong examination underwent regular review by multiple editors.
In other words, after a year of investigation, most of the information requested by the Republic was denied to them due to medical records and social security privacy and confidentiality regulations, which should have come as no surprise to reporters if they were familiar with the law. The Republic concedes in the third paragraph of its investigative report that:
The precise scope of the probe could not be ascertained because state and federal officials would not reveal the information, citing federal secrecy statutes and patient-confidentiality laws.
Despite having bupkis, the Arizona Republic apparently felt it had to justify all the man hours and expense it spent on pursuing this investigation by publishing today's report, which can only be described as speculation and conjecture at best. There is no "there" there.
This is journalism at its worst and is grossly unfair. The editors of the Arizona Republic should be held accountable by their peers for their decision to publish this "investigative" report.
With that said, here are excerpts from today's "investigative" report. Feds probed role of Gov. Brewer in son's Social Security benefits:
Gov. Jan Brewer's role in the collection of her son's Social Security benefits was under investigation for more than a year by federal authorities trying to determine if about $75,000 in benefits was improperly paid on behalf of her son.
Sources familiar with the investigation said the case was referred to federal prosecutors, who have declined to pursue charges. However, sources said, Social Security officials are considering efforts to recover the money through administrative procedures. One source described the case as "highly political."
* * *
Brewer and her office have declined to discuss the matter in detail. Brewer said in a written statement to The Arizona Republic, after more than a month of interview requests, that she knows no specifics of the inquiry and never spoke to investigators.
Her spokesman, Matt Benson, wrote in an e-mail late Wednesday that the target of the inquiry has not been clear. "All that has been evident is that the records of the governor's son Ron were of interest," he said.
* * *
The Arizona Republic has determined:
The case involves an examination of Social Security benefits paid on behalf of Brewer's oldest son, Ronald. He first received benefits as a minor after his father's death and continued to receive them as an adult because of a disability from mental illness.
* * *
Court records said Ronald was receiving Social Security benefits when he was sent to the hospital in 1990. Federal law was changed in 1995, barring Social Security benefits to anyone institutionalized after being found not guilty by reason of insanity.
Each year, Jan Brewer, as "representative payee," would have been asked by the Social Security Administration to sign a form regarding her son's status. That form requires the representative payee to confirm if there is any change in the living arrangements of the beneficiary. The signature line for that reporting form states: "A person who conceals or fails to tell SSA about events asked about on this form with the intent to fraudulently receive benefits may be fined, imprisoned, or both." Ronald did have a status change in 2002. Court records show he was conditionally released in May 2002 and returned to the hospital by September 2002. He currently is confined to the hospital.
The basis of the investigation was whether Ronald improperly received benefits at any time; the amount of money in question is about $75,000. Brewer said her son is no longer receiving benefits.
The governor declined repeated requests for interviews or records regarding the investigation. Last Friday, the newspaper submitted written questions to the governor's chief of staff and Brewer's private attorney. Those questions were answered in part this week by a four-page statement from Brewer.
* * *
The Arizona Republic has confirmed from multiple sources that the Social Security Administration's Office of Inspector General initially launched an investigation involving Brewer in a case tied to Ronald's benefits.
The case was presented in fall 2010 to the U.S. Department of Justice, sources said, which sent it to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Nevada to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest with the office in Arizona.
* * *
A spokesman for the SSA said more than 1,200 Social Security cases were accepted for federal prosecution during the past fiscal year. A larger number of cases were declined because they were minor offenses, there was no loss to the government or there were "problematic" issues with evidence or procedure, the spokesman said.
The agency said other cases are prosecuted at the local level. When prosecution is declined, the Social Security Administration has the right in cases of overpayment of benefits to try to recover the money through civil lawsuits or administrative means.
A Department of Justice spokeswoman on Wednesday said she could not confirm or deny the existence of an investigation.
* * *
During the course of The Republic's investigation, the newspaper obtained billing records of a Phoenix law firm retained to represent the Arizona Department of Health Services. [It appears this is all they had other than publicly available records.]
* * *
The Republic also requested copies of any subpoenas, records of any payments to the hospital on Ronald Brewer's behalf, officials' calendars, and communications related to Ronald Brewer, the governor or the investigation. Various state agencies denied the requests on legal grounds or said they were unable to locate such records.
* * *
Over the course of its attempts to understand the nature of the federal investigation, The Republic learned that Ronald Brewer would have become eligible for his Social Security benefits via his birth father, Ronald Richard Warren. . . [who] died in Southern California in August 1969, entitling his son to survivor Social Security benefits.
* * *
[In 1989, Ronald Brewer] was arrested, charged, found not guilty by reason of insanity and committed to the Arizona State Hospital in Phoenix.
The court order following his commitment required Jan Brewer to use her son's Social Security benefits — his only income at the time — to pay the Arizona State Hospital for "the cost of said patient's examination, treatment and maintenance pursuant to court-ordered treatment."
* * *
Those Social Security benefits are the only benefits involving the Brewers of which the newspaper is aware. Ordinarily, survivor benefits expire at age 18 or 19. But if a surviving child is found to be disabled before age 22, the benefits could convert to disability benefits and be extended indefinitely. Ronald Brewer would have met the Social Security requirements for disability at a younger age based on what court records say was an early diagnosis of mental illness.
It is unclear when federal officials first questioned whether benefits were still being paid for Ronald Brewer even though he may not have been eligible because of his institutionalization in the Arizona State Hospital's forensic ward[.]
* * *
The governor said her son "currently does not receive Social Security benefits," and she noted that she has "never been served with a subpoena, interviewed or deposed in the matter."
* * *
In her statement, Brewer said she believes her "family will prevail with any additional or future inquiries in any fashion about his benefits."
"Brewer's statement said she believed the investigation was a politically motivated attack on her family." Doubtful. The Arizona Republic has been an enabler of Jan Brewer throughout her political career. This is a case of poor journalism, and should embarrass the Arizona Republic.
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