Arizona Corporation Commission Chair Susan Bitter Smith has maintained she’s free of conflicts of interests after KJZZ raised questions Monday, calling the allegations an “intimidation strategy” by a watchdog group.

In an Arizona Capitol Times article Wednesday, Bitter Smith reiterated that her outside ties are with the cable industry, not telecommunications, which is regulated by the Corporation Commission.

Thus, she said, there’s no reason to sever her ties with the Southwest Cable Communications Association, a 501(c)6 nonprofit trade group for the cable industry from which Bitter Smith earns a $150,000-plus annual salary as executive director, tax records show.

She told the Capitol Times that the Checks and Balances Project, a watchdog group that initially raised conflict questions to KJZZ, has been lodging attacks on several commissioners this year and she was “the last man standing.”

“Intimidation is not acceptable to elected officials and I’m just going to continue to do my job,” Bitter Smith told the Capitol Times.

Southwest Cable’s tax forms for 2013 and 2014 — Bitter Smith’s first years at the commission — state she worked 40 hours per week. That’s on top of the 40 to 50 hours a week she said she puts in as commissioner.

“I work 80, 90, 100 hours a week often doing multiple things,” she said. “I work multiple places, as most commissioners do. My fellow commissioners have other jobs as well and I think we’re all pretty good at balancing, making judgment calls, getting the job done.”

Checks and Balances initially raised questions about Bitter Smith’s lobbyist registration with Cox Communications, whose telecom business is regulated by the commission. Several experts told KJZZ that appears similar to the situation of Tony West, who was removed from the commission in 1999 for being a registered broker to a commission-regulated securities dealer, which the Arizona Supreme Court ruled was illegal under a commissioner-specific conflict of interest law.

“I do not get paid and I do not do any active lobbying. I am not a Cox representative, they have their own independent lobbyist,” she said, adding the registration is for transparency about the cable association.

Questions were also raised about the Southwest Cable Communications Association, whose board of directors includes employees of member companies such as Cox and Suddenlink Communications, which are regulated by the commission for telecom.

Tom Ryan, a prominent local attorney, said he expects to file a complaint with the Attorney General before the end of this week calling for her removal from office.

On Tuesday, Ryan delivered “litigation hold” letters — which demand various documents be preserved in anticipation of a potential lawsuit — to the Corporation Commission and Southwest Cable.

He delivered a third letter to Technical Solutions, a public relations and government affairs firm that Bitter Smith and her husband own and operate out of the same office as Southwest Cable.

Technical Solutions’ website highlights several past and present telecommunications clients, some of which bring matters before the commission for vote, records show. Bitter Smith said Technical Solutions worked with those clients 15 or so years ago.

Bitter Smith said she obtained a legal opinion from her outside counsel before taking office regarding her business ties and role as commissioner.

“I was just validating my belief to make sure that what seemed very clear on the face was exactly correct ... and that was certainly the answer,” she said.

Bitter Smith said she would check to see if she could provide KJZZ a copy of the opinion.

“I’d have to talk to my counsel. But I don’t know that it’s really important … it’s actually up to counsel if they want to share that,” she said. “That was not what I retained them to do, for a public opinion. I can certainly check. I don’t really know that it’s pertinent to this discussion.”

Bitter Smith did not respond to KJZZ’s follow-up requests for the document.

KJZZ did, however, obtain through a public records request a disclosure statement Bitter Smith submitted to the commission shortly after taking office in early 2013. In it, she disclosed her position as executive director of the cable association, which at the time was called the Arizona-New Mexico Cable Communications Association.

“This employment does not and will not create any conflicts of interest,” she wrote, citing Arizona’s general conflict of interest statutes for public officials. “However, to ensure transparency I am asking that this disclosure be filed in the official records of the Arizona Corporation Commission where it will be available for public inspection.”