Tom Horne disqualified by conflict of interest from pursuing his AIRC witch hunt

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Tom "banned for life by the SEC" Horne was diqualified by a Superior Court Judge today from pursuing his politically motivated witch hunt of the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission, based upon a professional conflict of interest.

Even nonlawyers could have easily explained to Horne that because the AG's office was legal counsel representing the AIRC and provided the commission with training on Arizona's open meetings law that the AG's office could not then switch sides and pursue its own client for a claim related to the advice and legal representation that the AG's office provided the commission. Attorney-client privilege expressly prohibits it. This was clear to everyone from the very beginning, except Horne apparenlty.

The real conflict of interest here is that Tom "banned for life by the SEC" Horne is first and foremost a partisan political hack who is abusing the power of his office to pursue politically motivated litigation. Eventually he is going to find himself in front of a State Bar of Arizona disciplinary proceeding, just like his friend, disgraced former Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas.

The Arizona Capitol Times (subscription required) reports Horne disqualified from investigating IRC – Arizona Capitol Times:

Attorney General Tom Horne will no longer be able to pursue an open meeting law investigation into members of the Independent Redistricting Commission, as a Maricopa County Superior Court judge has ruled the attorney general is saddled with an existing conflict of interest.

Judge Dean Fink today granted a motion to disqualify Horne[.]

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At issue is the fact that the Attorney General’s Office previously advised the commission members about the compliance with state law, including open meeting laws that Horne claims to have a reasonable belief that the commission violated.

Ethical rules established by the Arizona Supreme Court govern attorneys’ duties to former clients and generally prohibit attorneys from leaking information about former clients that could be damaging.

* * *

Fink found the AG’s previous IRC representation as “fundamentally related” to the current investigation, and he regarded the scenario as a “changing of sides.”

The judge was also not swayed by Horne’s claim that another court-established ethical rule grants government attorneys greater leeway in their dealings with former clients in order to respect the duty of prosecutors investigating instances of possible malfeasance by government officials.

Fink found that Horne’s claim did not overrule attorney-client privileges held by the IRC, which, like other public officials, could find themselves under investigation but are still “entitled no less than anyone else to the loyalty of their lawyers.”

* * *

Horne said that he would not appeal Fink’s ruling in the interest of saving what he called “precious time” that could otherwise be spent investigating the commission. The case, he said, would be immediately transferred to Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery, whom Horne said would “pursue the matter as vigorously as I did.”

* * *

Attorney Paul Charlton, who represents IRC Chairwoman Colleen Mathis… praised the ruling as a “vindication of the caution” that Mathis and Democratic commissioners José Herrera and Linda McNulty displayed by not cooperating with Horne.

Charlton stressed that attorneys general are rightfully charged with investigating and prosecuting government officials who are technically clients as long as the prosecutions are not related to the subject of the advice given.

“Here, the attorney general had given the commission very specific advice about open meeting law issues, and, in particular, serial communication (contacts outside of public government meetings) issues,” Charlton said. “The attorney general then said, ‘Now, I am going to pursue a civil prosecution because they ignored the advice I gave them.’”

UPDATE: Judge Fink also delayed the previously scheduled November 7 hearing date for three weeks to give the state time to retain counsel and to prepare for the hearing.

As you might imagine, the Arizona Democratic Party has been burning up the "internets" with press releases following the events of the past two days as new evidence comes to light about the Tea-Publican conspiracy to "blow up" the AIRC:

Horne continues to stonewall public-records request into partisan AIRC investigation

PHOENIX — Back on Oct. 7, the Arizona Democratic Party issued a public records request to Attorney General Tom Horne in order to lift the veil on the coordinated Republican attack against the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission. Three weeks later, Horne has yet to turn over a single public document.

From Day One, it's been obvious that Horne's investigation is rooted in partisanship and is nothing more than a tool to harass and intimidate the citizen volunteers on the commission. Just this morning, a Maricopa County Superior Court judge ruled that Horne had a conflict of interest and blocked him from pursuing his case further. But rather than put the investigation to rest and let the commission perform its duties, Horne is now urging another Republican, Maricopa County Attorney General Bill Montgomery, to take over the investigation and continue it.

Horne appears to be stonewalling the public records request because he fears that insider communications will come out, like an Oct.5 email from GOP Sen. Frank Antenori to several other Republicans, in which Antenori wrote that Brewer's attack on the AIRC was "better late than never. Is she willing to support removing Mathis now?" The email was produced by the state Senate in response to our records request, and it further confirms that Republicans are inciting attacks on the AIRC.

In addition to Horne, Gov. Brewer, AZGOP congressmen, Republican state legislators and other Republican elected officials are continuing this coordinated assault on the redistricting commission, mainly out of fear. Republicans are afraid of having to compete in fair and competitive districts. They know full well that, despite the GOP supermajority at the Capitol, roughly two-thirds of Arizonans do not even belong to their party.

"We will continue to push back against this historic power grab being perpetrated by Brewer, Horne, Republican congressmen and Republican state lawmakers," said Luis Heredia, Arizona Democratic Party executive director. "These politicians have grossly overreached and abused their power, and they must be held accountable."

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Another press release:

Brewer should answer for secret strategy calls
with AZGOP congressmen

PHOENIX — Last night, news broke that Gov. Brewer is holding secret conference calls with Arizona's Republican congressmen to strategize over how to "blow up the IRC." But is anyone surprised?

Claiming to be guardians of Arizona's Constitution, Brewer and the congressmen launched a coordinated assault earlier in October against citizen volunteers on the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission. But Brewer's descriptions of constitutional problems were quickly exposed as flat-out wrong by The Arizona Republic's AZ Fact Check (Zero Stars/False).

The news of Brewer's secret calls with Republican congressmen proves that their assault on the commission is not about the Constitution, it's about protecting these Republicans' grip on power. Last night, the news was published in the Yellow Sheet Report, a sister publication of the Arizona Capitol Times.

Here's an excerpt (emphasis added):

DELEGATION PLAN: DESTROY, STALL, RE-DRAW
It’s looking increasingly likely that the driving force behind the IRC removal effort was the GOP congressional delegation. In addition to whipping Senate votes for the removal of commissioners, the congressmen had a conference call with Brewer and her staff Tuesday night during which they urged the governor to initiate removal procedures. … According to Antenori, who said he discussed at length the delegation’s plan with three congressmen who called him in recent days (he wouldn’t say which ones had called), the delegation wanted Brewer to “blow up the IRC” by removing all five members, then stall the replacement process until January. Doing so would allow Brewer to replace six of the 15 appointed members of the Commission on Appellate Court Appointments. … Once Brewer made the appointments to the appellate panel, a new IRC could then be constituted and more GOP-friendly lines could then be drawn.

—-

Luis Heredia, Arizona Democratic Party executive director, gives this response: "Governor Brewer needs to answer for this. She needs to explain to the press and the public why she is colluding with Republican congressmen to disrupt and possibly destroy a voter-approved process. And if you throw in Tom Horne's partisan investigation, we are seeing a Republican abuse of power equal to the days of Andrew Thomas."

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If the allegations in this press release are true, our Republican elected officials are engaged in a conspiracy to violate the Arizona Constitution (the Independent Redistricting Commission, Prop. 106, a citizens initiative enacted by the voters of Arizona) for purely partisan political advantage. This is an impeachable offense for executive officers, e.g., the Governor and Attorney General, and grounds for recall of state legislators (federal elected officials are not subject to recall). The remedy is meaningless, however, because they are all co-conspirators in this violation of the Arizona Constitution.

It may be time to file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice.