Judge Refuses To Stop Investigation Into Horne Campaign Violations

By Nick Blumberg
Published: Wednesday, August 20, 2014 - 5:05am

A judge has denied Attorney General Tom Horne’s request to halt one of the investigations into illegal contributions to his re-election campaign.

A former staffer in the Attorney General’s office said Horne had his employees doing campaign work on state time. Several agencies are investigating that claim, including the Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Commission.

Attorneys for Horne asked a Maricopa County Superior Court Judge for an injunction to stop the Clean Elections investigation. They argued the Commission has no jurisdiction because Horne isn’t using any public money in his re-election bid.

But Judge Dawn Bergin denied Horne’s request. Bergin wrote in her ruling Tuesday that Horne didn’t demonstrate his arguments were likely to hold up during a trial, or that public policy favors granting Horne’s request.