Rob Haney R.I.P.

No, Rob Haney, the former chairman of the Maricopa County Republican Committee (MCRC) isn’t “technically” dead.

But he might as well be.

Former MCRC Chair Rob Haney

One of the things Rob Haney is famous for (working with Tom Husband, the MCRC Chairman who recruited him and later worked for him as MCRC Executive Director) is learning how the establishment kept taking control of the party (basically recruiting PCs, both “real” & “paper”) and turning that same tool against them.

Regardless of many PCs he personally recruited (I’ve heard numbers ranging from 500 to 5000) the fact is he built a machine. And by the time the 2011 Maricopa County Meeting took place (after the Tea Party Revolution) I’m told upwards of 80% of the PCs attending were “tea party”.

Something happened during the 2011-2012 election cycle though. Maybe he got mad at AZGOP Chair Tom Morrissey because he (Morrissey) wouldn’t let him be State Chairman by proxy. Maybe he got mad at the Tea Party. Ultimately the why of it doesn’t matter.

Because in the fall of 2012, going into the winter 2013 AZGOP Statutory Meeting, Rob Haney endorsed Robert Graham for State Chair.

The effect of this was to immediately give people “permission” to ignore (or at the very least minimize) all the evidence that was presented to them about what kind of chairman Robert Graham would be. It allowed former Senator Russell Pearce (still smarting from his recall election maybe?) and Sheriff Arpaio and many other county and state party officers to endorse. Granted, Graham’s opposition in 2013 was fairly disorganized, but still. . .

And after 2 years of a Robert Graham chairmanship Haney could have come out, said he made a mistake and endorsed Lori Urban. Instead he publicly stayed silent, which again gave cover to Pearce, Arpaio, and others to betray the principles they said they believed.

This past Saturday was the result.

And so I close today with this question to Mr. Rob “Nero” Haney, former MCRC Chairman.

What tune did you play on your fiddle while the MCRC and AZGOP burned?

UraPC Patriot

Edited Feb 17, 2015: I’d like to thank my volunteer proofreaders/editors for noticing the spelling error in Sen. Pearce’s name. [link to come]

 

FEC complaint filed against Robert Graham and the AZGOP

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Ardith Hildebrant, 480-991-0804, ardith_h@q.com

FEC complaint filed against Robert Graham and the AZGOP

Ardith Hildebrant, candidate for Treasurer in the AZGOP’s upcoming January 24th election, has filed a formal complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) against Chairman Robert Graham and the Arizona Republican Party (AZGOP).

The complaint documents dozens of entries and transactions that question the compliance with federal and state campaign finance disclosure laws.

Press Release: FEC complaint filed against Robert Graham and the AZGOP

Hildebrant who’s career expertise is in accounting, operational and internal auditing, and legal research related to internal audits, said “Serious violations of campaign finance laws have been raised throughout Robert Graham’s administration. That’s the main reason I felt compelled to run for Treasurer”. Hildebrant added “now we have the evidence after weeks of investigation and review”.

Robert Graham and Timothy Lee, the Treasurer for the AZGOP have been asked repeatedly to explain what they have been doing; however, they have refused.

This is not the first time Robert Graham and Timothy Lee have been implicated in campaign finance law violations. Timothy Lee was the AZGOP Treasurer of record when the FEC conducted a full audit of the AZGOP and his activities from 2009 through 2010. Robert Graham was the President of Americans for Responsible Leadership (ARL) when California’s Fair Political Practices Commission indicted and fined ARL and Sean Noble’s Center to Protect Patient Rights (CPPR) a record FEC complaint filed against Robert Graham and the AZGOP $1 million for money laundering tens of millions of dollars.

The current dark and dirty money campaign finance violations are too numerous and complicated to describe in this release, but appear to be far more serious than Graham’s and Lee’s previous campaign finance activities and violations.

Tom Morrissey, former Chairman of the AZGOP said, “Graham’s and his supporters’ hypocrisy is stunning. They seem to be saying because they are the establishment, crony capitalists and wealthy special interest groups that campaign finance regulations and the law don’t apply to them. The FEC should make it crystal clear to them that the law does apply to them”. Morrissey went on to say “these egregious actions are not victimless violations”.

Hildebrant urged “Robert Graham, Timothy Lee and the AZGOP to come clean and submit to a voluntary full audit by the FEC”.

The treasurer has a watchdog role over all aspects of financial management, working closely with the other members of the Executive Committee to safeguard the finances of the AZGOP and its contributors. The treasurer of a political committee registered with the FEC is legally responsible for that committee’s compliance with the federal campaign finance laws.

Hildebrant said “it’s imperative that anyone interested in running for treasurer of any organization make sure they audit the books first”.

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Morrissey Strikes Back

For the past 2 years Robert Graham has done everything he could to belittle his predessessor (hmm…what other chief executive does that???); constantly claiming how much debt he was left with, the shabby condition of the headquarters building, etc.  It’s as if he can’t help himself.   Well today (16 January 2015), Tom Morrissey hit back.  You can find the article here:

http://www.arizonadailyindependent.com/2015/01/16/former-azgop-chairman-refutes-robert-grahams-false-claims/

Now as a State Committeeman these past two years, I’ve watched and wondered.  Really Robert??  Things were THAT bad?

So over the past 2 years, I asked the people who were there with Morrissey, especially in the beginning, what happened.  I got an earfull.  And they basically all agreed with what Morrissey says in his article there.  Were there issues during his tenure?  Sure. But Graham inhereted an organization in much better shape than Tom Morrissey did.

Why don’t you ask them?  I’m sure every one of the people who worked with Morrissey would be happy to talk with you like they did me.  Granted, I think all of them have come out in support of Lori Urban…still they’ll tell you (in exhaustive detail) what they saw.

In fact, all have publically endorsed a candidate EXCEPT Laddie Shane.  Hey Laddie, wanna chime in with whomever YOU are supporting???