An Arizona senator has stepped back from a fourth investigation of Gov. Katie Hobbs and her ties to a state contractor after The Arizona Republic questioned the senator's work to help elect Rep. Andy Biggs, Hobbs' political opponent this November.
Sen. Jake Hoffman, a Queen Creek Republican, handed off the investigation on Sept. 21, five days after he announced it and before many of the subpoenas he warned about could be served.
He will no longer be involved, Hoffman said, and the inquiry will proceed under the oversight of the Senate Appropriations Committee. Committee Chair David Farnsworth and Hoffman chose former Arizona Supreme Court Justice Andrew Gould to oversee the investigation as special counsel, according to Senate GOP spokesperson
Kim Quintero.
Still, Hoffman's involvement has deepened conflict of interest questions related to his political consulting work, and uncertainty remains about whether the investigation can escape the partisan shadow cast over how it began. One government ethics expert described a high bar for restoring its credibility.
Hoffman did not acknowledge what critics called a conflict between between his work leading the Senate Government Committee, which gives him subpoena power, and the political consulting and advertising businesses he runs. He has said he could separate the jobs.
He blamed "the corrupt political media" for a "predetermined political narrative" because The Republic asked him about the over $1 million he has been paid this year to help elect Biggs. Did he have a conflict?
"I did not, no," Hoffman told The Republic in a brief interview on Sept. 21. He referred further comment to Quintero or Farnsworth and abruptly hung up the phone.
Newer disclosures show Hoffman's companies were paid even more than previously reported. Turning Point PAC paid Hoffman's advertising companies over $350,000 to help Biggs in the two days before he announced the investigation of Hobbs on Sept. 16.
This year alone, Hoffman's companies have been paid more than $1.5 million to help Biggs defeat Hobbs in November, state disclosures show.
The Senate's investigation will scrutinize allegations, first reported in mid-2024, that a major donor to Hobbs' political operation pushed for and received a special rate increase from the Department of Child Safety in 2023. The company, Sunshine Residential Homes, had not made political contributions in Arizona in the decade before it began supporting Hobbs.
Hobbs and a former DCS director who approved the rate hike have said the governor was not involved. An investigation by Attorney General Kris Mayes found no evidence to support a charge bribery.
But Biggs and his allies have sought to keep the ties in the public spotlight, accusing Hobbs of corruption. Now, the Senate is joining the scrutiny with Election Day just over six weeks away.
Shifting the investigation appears to have scrambled its opening steps. Hoffman carried paper copies of subpoenas for Hobbs, Mayes and their aides during his Sept. 16 news conference, but most people named said they never received them or they were withdrawn days later. And a hearing set for Sept. 29 has been canceled.
“After political consultant Jake Hoffman was exposed for profiting from these shameless attacks on behalf of the Biggs campaign, partisan extremists are now scrambling to keep this taxpayer-funded sham alive," Hobbs campaign spokesperson Michael Beyer said in a statement.
Questions over Hoffman's day job, Capitol work
Hoffman's dual role raised a red flag and deserved more scrutiny so the public could be confident the investigation wasn't conducted for his own financial gain, according to Davina Hurt. Hurt is the director of government ethics at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University.
“These are substantial payments arriving days before the subpoenas were announced,” Hurt said. “And that doesn't prove anything about the motive, again, but it makes the appearance problem hard to dismiss.”
Conflict of interest rules exist to assure the public that officials aren't acting for their own financial benefit and that government oversight is credible, she said.
Public officers and state agency employees and their relatives aren't supposed to be a part of any financial deal with the state if they have a "substantial interest" in it, and the potential conflict also should be made public.
“The investigation launched with a paid political operative at the center,” Hurt said. “That first impression with the public can't be recalled. But there are ways to mitigate."
She said Hoffman should not have been involved in helping to select Gould if the investigation is intended to move forward independently. His involvement could further the perception that the subsequent investigation was just handed off to an ally.
“The credibility damage can be limited ... but only with real barriers and real independence and announcements alone won’t do that,” Hurt said.
Farnsworth has endorsed Biggs' campaign and is related to Biggs by marriage, Republic reporting has previously shown. He did not respond to a voicemail seeking comment, but Gould pledged to conduct an independent review.
"This investigation will be conducted dispassionately and according to the law, with respect for individual rights, due process, and a disciplined review of the evidence," Gould said in a statement.
Another investigation at taxpayer expense
Gould will be paid for his work as the Senate's special counsel, though it was not immediately clear how much. Quintero did not say, and the Senate did not respond to a public records request submitted Sept. 21 seeking more details. Quintero said Hoffman began the conversation about transferring the investigation.
Hiring a special counsel will drive up the cost of the Senate's new investigation, even as three others have been started or are underway.
House Republicans hired a Trump-connected firm earlier this year to investigate and seek policy changes to prevent corruption and the appearance of it, the stated goal of the Senate's work. Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell and the Arizona Auditor General are also investigating, with no publicized timelines for completing their work.
"No factual or policy conclusion should be predetermined," Gould said. "The evidence will determine where this investigation leads, and which reforms if any are ultimately recommended to the Committee."
Gould served on the Arizona Supreme Court from 2017 to 2021, when he resigned to run as a Republican for attorney general. He was named to the court by former Gov. Doug Ducey, a Republican.
Richie Taylor, a spokesperson for Mayes' office, called on the Senate to disclose how much the review would cost.
"Hoffman clearly has a conflict of interest here," Taylor said. "He didn't disclose until he was asked by the media at his press conference the payments he had received from Turning Point and I think that is clearly a conflict of interest and now they're trying to backtrack because of that."
Hoffman's businesses raise concern
Hoffman's political activity drew questions from ethics experts even before he launched the probe into the governor.
Hoffman has downplayed the ethics questions. He told The Republic in September he is subjected to a double standard, since most Arizona lawmakers have a second job in addition to their part-time work at the Legislature, and that only a fraction of his companies' revenues become his personal salary.
"We build campaigns for candidates and causes who defend the forgotten men and women of this country," he previously told The Republic. "I am proud of my team's incredible work."
It's not unheard of for politicians to do campaign or even lobbying work. But the scale of the activity is unusual for a sitting public official, a campaign finance expert previously told The Republic.
His book of business relies heavily on candidates endorsed by Turning Point, an organization he used to help lead as a spokesperson.
One company owned by Hoffman has collected $120,000 from Arizona superintendent of public instruction candidate Kimberly Yee, $88,000 from secretary of state candidate Alex Kolodin, and $4,000 from James Rogers, a lawyer with ties to President Donald Trump who is running for the state House. All three candidates are also endorsed by Turning Point.
The same company has collected almost $40,000 supporting Kolodin, Yee, Arizona attorney general candidate and Senate President Warren Petersen, and treasurer candidate Elijah Norton through independent campaigns run by Turning Point's campaign wing.
Reach reporter Stacey Barchenger at stacey.barchenger@arizonarepublic.com or 480-416-5669.
Laura Gersony covers politics for The Arizona Republic. Contact her at 480-372-0389 or Laura.Gersony@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona senator exits Hobbs probe after conflict of interest questions
