Katie Hobbs speaks at Inagural Celebration
Democratic Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs, whose election is still under question and litigation, is now under fire after it was revealed that Hobbs sold tickets to her inaugural events for as much as $250,000, reportedly using a “dark money” operation.
As The Gateway Pundit reported, Hobbs was sworn into power on Monday, January 2, at a private ceremony closed to the public and media. In a bizarre moment of incompetence and unseriousness, Hobbs bursted into laughter after she was told to solemnly swear that she will support the Constitution.
We later reported on Hobbs’ privately funded inauguration ceremony, held on the Arizona Capitol grounds last Thursday. Again, Hobbs hid from reporters, and she was nowhere to be found after her inaugural address.
Days after the ceremony, Hobbs celebrated her inauguration with an unimpressive black-tie gala at Talking Stick Resort Casino on Saturday, January 7.
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For these events, Hobbs reportedly asked donors to give $250,000 to the Katie Hobbs Inaugural Fund without disclosing where the money was going. $250,000 bought a “platinum sponsor” status with 25 seats at Thursday’s inauguration ceremony, signed programs, and a “special gift” with no limitation on how much donors can contribute.
According to StopKatieHobbs.com,
On December 10, five days before Hobbs declared victory in the gubernatorial race, Nicole DeMont — the Democrat’s campaign manager — quietly filed articles of incorporation for a 501(c)(4) nonprofit entity called “An Arizona for Everyone.” (This phrase will be the theme of the inauguration, according to obtained documents.) On December 13, still two days before Hobbs declared victory, DeMont then filed articles of incorporation for another 501(c)(4) nonprofit entity called “Katie Hobbs Inaugural Fund,” which presumably speaks for itself.
The “known place of business” listed on both entities’ corporate records is the address of Coppersmith Brockelman PLC, a politically-tied law firm that has represented Hobbs on election cases in her capacity as secretary of state. Roopali Desai, a former partner at the firm, was the judge who administered the Democrat’s oath of office on Monday.
The financial connection between these two dark-money groups and Hobbs’s inaugural events, such as her ceremonial ball, remains to be seen. But their identities may serve as helpful guidance for oversight activities by legislators — whom she already has antagonized — who want to determine whether any public funds have been transferred between the two groups and state government.
After further investigation into the claims that the law office, Coppersmith Brockelman PLC, is listed as the known place of business for these shady nonprofits, The Gateway Pundit can confirm that the listed addresses are the same as Coppersmith Brockelman. This firm represented Defendant Katie Hobbs in Kari Lake’s ongoing lawsuit to overturn the 2022 midterm.
Judge Roopali Desai also worked for the Coppersmith Brockelman since 2007, became a partner, and was named “Lawyer of the Year” by the firm shortly after she was nominated to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals by Joe Biden on June 15, 2022, and confirmed on August 4, 2022.
Judge Desai swore Katie Hobbs into office on Monday, and she served as a member of Secretary of State-elect Katie Hobbs’ transition team in 2018. She also reportedly defended Arizona election officials against lawsuits after the 2020 election and represented Katie Hobbs in an election lawsuit by the Arizona GOP.
This is all suspicious.
Now legislators are considering an investigation into how this money was spent.
The Gateway Pundit reported yesterday on Katie Hobbs’ first State of the State address, where brave Republican Arizona Legislators turned their backs on the Hobbs “Democratic Fascism” regime and walked out during Hobbs’ speech.
It appears the Legislature may look into why Katie Hobbs likely took millions of dollars without disclosing how the money would be spent.
Rachel Alexander of the Arizona Sun Times reported,
Arizona’s new Democratic governor, Katie Hobbs, is facing criticism for secrecy surrounding the amounts of money that donors contributed to her inaugural events, which previous governors have disclosed in the past. It’s also been revealed that Hobbs asked the donors to contribute $250,000 without explaining where the money was going. Arizona Senate President Pro Tempore T.J. Shope (R-Coolidge) said he might conduct an investigation.
“I would think it might be something we would look into,” Shope told AZ Family. “We should have the right to know as a citizen what kind of contributions they’re getting.”
State Senator John Kavanaugh (R-Fountain Hills) said he agreed.
The $250,000 contribution to be a “platinum sponsor” got donors 25 seats at Thursday’s inauguration ceremony, signed programs, and a “special gift.” There is no limitation on how much donors can contribute. Hobbs asked for 10 times more money than previous Governor Doug Ducey did for his second inauguration.
While some local left-leaning journalists have criticized Hobbs, progressives have been largely silent. The Arizona Sun Times asked the Arizona Democratic Party if they took a position on Hobbs’ inauguration contributions but did not receive a response by publication. In contrast, federal prosecutors opened up an investigation after former President Donald Trump raised $107 million from inaugural donations. The Washington D.C. Attorney General’s office sued Trump’s inaugural nonprofit, alleging waste.
Progressive Arizona Republic columnist Laurie Roberts denounced Hobbs in an article on Thursday. “[A] a pitch for $250k a pop?” she asked. “Money that then goes to a dark money group — one that doesn’t have to disclose who gave what? So much for transparency and accountability.” She said the more than 100 sponsors are “a who’s who of companies and organizations that are, no doubt, interested in having the governor on speed dial.”
Hobbs defended the lack of transparency to ABC-15 on Tuesday.
“All of the donors are on the website,” she said. “I don’t even know why this is an issue. They’re all on the website.”
Jenny Guzman with the democracy reform and government watchdog group Common Cause told ABC-15 she expects Hobbs to release the financial data since it was a campaign promise. Governor Janet Napolitano issued public disclosures about how her inaugurations were funded after the events.
Other journalists were also questioning the lack of disclosure for her inaugural party early on, admitting that it was the opposite of promises she made for “the most ethical and accountable” administration in history.
Last week, KJZZ reported,
Incoming Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs is kicking off her term with a celebratory ball, a first for a new governor since Fife Symington had one in the 1990s.
But Hobbs, who touted transparency as part of her leadership, has refused to disclose which people or corporations are paying for the party.
And the lack of full public disclosure continued with her taking the oath of office on Monday. That event, held four days before the ceremonial oath, was closed to the public and media, with the exception of a pool news photographer.
And the costs of that Thursday ceremony are being picked up by special interests, including lobbyists, companies that do business with the state, developers and builders. But the new administration, while listing official “sponsors” for the event, has been unwilling to share how much each is paying for that privilege.
The incoming governor’s unwillingness to share details of the events publicly, how much they will cost, just who is paying and how much stand in contrast to her promise to make her administration “the most ethical and accountable” in history.
On her katiehobbs.org website, she vows to make state government more transparent, “because the people deserve to know what their leaders are doing with their money.”
When Democratic Gov. Janet Napolitano took the oath of office in 2001, she collected $150,000 from donors and those attending four inaugural receptions, followed by public disclosures.
Republican Gov. Jan. Brewer’s 2011 inauguration was cheap by comparison as the state struggled with fallout from the Great Recession and cratered state revenue. The event cost $65,000, and expenses included renting the chairs and other necessities to house a large Capitol crowd and also covered $13,000 worth of keepsake coins stamped with her likeness for guests.
Brewer raised $200,000 for the event and no tax dollars were used.
Outgoing GOP Gov. Doug Ducey was inaugurated in 2014 and 2018, and both times he tapped special interests like lobbying firms and big businesses to pay for some of the costs.
The 2018 event brought in cash by selling off special seats. Acquiring a pair of VIP seats costs a minimum of $10,000, which also got entrance to a special reception. Bigger checks added a photo with Ducey, and a $25,000 payout netted six seats in the front rows, three parking passes, the reception and photos, inaugural pins for all six and corporate logos on programs and the inauguration website.
Arizona State Senator Wendy Rogers published a poll on Twitter asking, “Should the Arizona Senate conduct an investigation?”
Over 3,600 votes were cast in the poll, with an impressive 97.3% voting yes and just 2.7% voting no.
This is a developing story…
The Gateway Pundit will continue to provide updates on Arizona’s 2022 Election and ongoing lawsuits!