The House Ethics Committee Chairman announced Friday he isn’t pursuing a complaint filed by four Democrats against a Republican representative accused of forging signatures on his nomination petition.
Committee Chairman Rep. Joe Chaplik, R-Scottsdale, sent a letter to complainants explaining his decision and responding to the complaint filed against Rep. Austin Smith, R-Wittmann. He wrote in the letter that he didn’t want the committee to engage in a “speculative inquiry” or interfere with law enforcement that may already be investigating.
Smith withdrew his candidacy for reelection after an election challenge was filed against him in April. Legislative District 29 Democratic Precinct Committee board member James Ashurt filed the challenge against Smith and accused him of forging petition signatures.
“You contend that, ‘if true,’ the allegations in that legal complaint ‘likely constitute disorderly behavior in violation of House Rule 1,’” Chaplik wrote. “But the Plaintiffs voluntarily dismissed that legal complaint two weeks before you submitted your complaint to the Committee.”
The secretary of state’s office has referred the allegations against Smith to the Attorney’ General’s Office. A spokesman for Attorney General Kris Mayes didn’t comment on the referral Friday and said the office doesn’t generally comment on potential criminal investigations.
The complaint was filed by Reps. Laura Terech, D-Scottsdale; Mae Peshlakai, D-Cameron; Charles Lucking, D-Phoenix; and Stephanie Stahl Hamilton, D-Tucson. They alleged that Smith violated House rules by engaging in disorderly behavior and questioned his ability to serve as he faces a potential criminal investigation.
Ashurt’s election challenge is included in the ethics complaint against Smith. The legal filing contains several signatures from Smith’s nomination petition that Ashurst alleges bear a “striking resemblance” to Smith’s signature.
Two voters on Smith’s petition signed affidavits that they never signed a petition from Smith.
“Even someone with no handwriting analysis training can tell that they are identical handwriting,” the Democrats wrote in their complaint. “And what’s more, the handwriting of the voters’ signatures appears to be an exact match to Rep. Smith’s handwriting when he signed some of the petitions as the circulator.”
In a written statement following his withdrawal of candidacy, Smith called the forgery allegations “silly on its face” and said he chose not to defend the validity of the signatures because he didn’t want to rack up “tens of thousands of dollars” legal expenses.
Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer has confirmed that the county will issue a report that confirms the validity of signatures at no expense to a defendant of a ballot petition challenge if the signatures are valid.
House Minority Leader Lupe Contreras, D-Avondale, questioned in a written statement Friday why Chaplik took two weeks to respond to the complaint that Democrats submitted on May 1.
“It was puzzling why it has taken so long to be released to the public when the Chairman didn’t intend to provide accountability anyway,” Contreras said. “We gave Republicans ample time to hold their member accountable, but it became clear today that they have no intention of doing that. I thank our members for stepping up for accountability.”
Chaplik also referenced a House rule in his response letter that requires House members to have “personal knowledge” of the conduct in question.. He argued none of the complainants have personal knowledge of alleged improper behavior from Smith.
The decision from Chaplik to not pursue Smith’s complaint comes two days after Republicans on the Ethics Committee amended rules to require members who are the subject of an ethics complaint to be present for evidentiary hearings.
Chaplik expressed frustration that House Assistant Minority Leader Oscar De Los Santos, D-Laveen; and Analise Ortiz, D-Phoenix, didn’t attend a Wednesday evidentiary hearing for complaints filed against them. Instead they chose to be represented by outside legal counsel.
Chaplik said Wednesday there is another ethics complaint that has been submitted to the ethics committee that he hasn’t distributed to members yet. The House hasn’t completed a public records request The Arizona Capitol Times filed asking for a copy of the complaint yet.
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