Photos by Doug Barrett/@400northcreative for Politico Magazine. He led Barrett by just 145 votes. 5542%. Sheriff Paul Babeu of Pinal County Arizona has emerged as a Republican face for tougher US-Mexico border security. Please dont. FBI probe of Babeu and former Pinal County Attorney Lando Voyles. He asked the auditor general to recommend the best way to use those funds. Lamb, who oversees a medium-sized sheriffs office with 650 employees and a $39 million annual budget, sums up his core beliefs, on everything from immigration to policing to guns, as supporting the rule of law. He repeated the phrase often during our conversations. A federal grand jury is investigating how the Pinal County Sheriffs Office handled profits from seized property under former Sheriff Paul Babeu. Questions about the foundation also were raised in a 2015 federal lawsuitby attorneys from Perkins Coie and the American Civil Liberties Union. Become a member to support the independent voice of Phoenix Pinal County Sheriffs Office Director of Administration Tim Gaffney sent ABC15 a written statement denying that there is any open investigation into their office. For example, nearly $88,000 went to programs designed to boost morale or provide recreation for the Sheriff's Office such as golf outings or tickets to sporting events and banquets. A man with tattoos and well-groomed blond facial hair wearing a Proud American T-shirt (a design sold by the right-wing shock jocks the Hodgetwins) ran across the parking lot for a photo with the sheriff. Lambs advocacy follows in the tradition of constitutional sheriffs, who for decades have propagated the idea refuted by constitutional experts that sheriffs are the supreme legal authority in America, above even the president and the Supreme Court, and that they can choose not to enforce any law they consider unconstitutional. Forfeiture money paid for Voyles' personal security system, retirement contributions of employees in his office and fundraising for the Sheriff's Office, according to the lawsuit. [5][17], Babeu has been an outspoken critic of the federal government on the issue of illegal immigration. 4:00AM. As KJZZ's Dennis Lambert reports from Phoenix, Babeu will run for re-election as sheriff instead. Fight Night: How Phoenix Became a Hotbed for Mixed Martial Arts Champions, Super Fans, Mascot Mania, and All-Stars: Suns and Nuggets Get Ready to Rumble, Katie Hobbs Gets Singed After Unwrapping Tamale-tastrophe, New Attainable Not Necessarily Affordable Housing Coming to Downtown Phoenix, I Love the Rivalry: Fans Soak Up U.S.-Mexico Soccer Showdown in the Valley. Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu who became the face of Arizona border security nationally after he started stridently opposing illegal immigration threatened his Mexican ex-lover with deportation when the man refused to promise never to disclose their years-long relationship, the former boyfriend and his lawyer tell New Times. Forfeiture money paid for Voyles' personal security system, retirement contributions of employees in his office and fundraising for the Sheriff's Office, according to the lawsuit. ABC15 has learned agents in the FBIs Phoenix Division have conducted interviews with several people in recent weeks to talk about so-called RICO funds used by the sheriffs office. Join the New Times community and help support Babeu is vice president of the Arizona Sheriffs' Association[15] and was named the National Sheriff of the Year in 2011 by the National Sheriffs' Association. "Jose came to our firm because he felt he was being intimidated, and he was in fear for his life," Weiss-Riner says. Babeu served as the Police Association president for the Chandler Police Department and on the board of directors for the Arizona Police Association.[5]. (Asked about the report, Mack said CSPOA denounce[s] all racism and violence.), Mack said Lamb is not an official CSPOA member, but he clearly sees Lamb as one of his own. I asked Sean Kennedy, a professor at Loyola Law School who is on the oversight commission for the Los Angeles County sheriff, about Lambs involvement with Protect America Now and other outside activities, and he said he believes Lambs behavior violates the NSAs code. [11][12], Babeu joined the Massachusetts National Guard as a 21-year-old. Paul Babeu, Outed GOP Candidate, On Same-Sex Marriage: 'You Can't Stephen is a former staff writer and columnist at, Become a member to support the independent voice of Phoenix The audit found that for 39 of 82 awards reviewed, the county could not provide an application or written proposal from the organization that received the money. Another $63,772 distributed from the foundation went to public service announcements for both offices. Babeu was born on February 3, 1969, in North Adams, Massachusetts, to Raymond and Helen Babeu. They seemed unsurprised to see their sheriff talking to a reporter and flashing his TV-ready smile. But ABC15 remains unable to confirm Gaffney's statement. Orozco says he created and maintained Babeu's campaign websites, his Facebook page, and his Twitter account. Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu today ended his bid for Congress. For questions about programming, membership or anything else about KJZZ, please visit kjzz.org/contact. Paul Babeu says "drugs and stuff like that." Note: The following comments begin 1:00 into the clip. Two of Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu's siblings believe their brother is unfit to be a U.S. As KJZZs Dennis Lambert reports from Phoenix, Babeu will run for re-election as sheriff instead. Super Fans, Mascot Mania, and All-Stars: Suns and Nuggets Get Ready to Rumble, Katie Hobbs Gets Singed After Unwrapping Tamale-tastrophe, Fight Night: How Phoenix Became a Hotbed for Mixed Martial Arts Champions, New Attainable Not Necessarily Affordable Housing Coming to Downtown Phoenix, I Love the Rivalry: Fans Soak Up U.S.-Mexico Soccer Showdown in the Valley. No, no. He clearly has politicized law enforcement, and that covers a lot of territory, Reveles says, calling Lamb a self-centered, extremist, anti-immigrant individual. Some Pinal County residents have called for an audit of the sheriff offices finances. Pinal County Supervisor Jeff Serdy, who owns what he describes as a very high-volume gun shop in the area, told me, You could not ask for a better advocate for the Second Amendment than Sheriff Lamb. The back of Lambs black Chevy Silverado 2500 HD contains his workaday weaponry, including an AR-15 SBR. BABEU: Clearly theres a disconnect with the federal government enforcing the law, doing their job and what were doing on the ground. You can actually effect change as the sheriff, he says. Paul Babeu, Lando Voyles seek apology, retraction from new Pinal County Paul Gosar - Wikipedia He has called vaccine mandates garbage and spoke at a recent anti-vaccine rally in Phoenix, where he told supporters, Were going to find out what kind of patriots you are. Robert Anglen investigates consumer issues for The Republic. In public, Lamb commands attention. independent local journalism in Phoenix. Karns' scathing message -- addressed to 661 employees -- appears to be sparked by Babeu's request before the Board of Supervisors to reclassify command staff from "covered" employees to "at-will" workers. The back of Lambs black Chevy Silverado 2500 HD contains his workaday weaponry, including an AR-15 SBR. If Fox calls, what are they going to do for me? But it didnt take long for him to begin leaning into national issues. Orozco admits that he lashed out on news websites featuring stories about Babeu. The law requires prosecutors to get approval from county boards of supervisors before using RICO funds. Babeu campaigned for the office of Pinal County Sheriff in 2008 and defeated Democratic incumbent Chris Vasquez, 54% to 46%. The Goldwater Institute, a conservative watchdog group, raised concerns about the foundation last year and sought records to determine if Babeu was using it to bypass campaign-finance laws and promote his 2016 congressional campaign. Sources said agents also are interested in whether Babeu and other staff used any RICO funds or other public resources for campaign purposes since Babeu is currently running for Congress. Phoenix's independent source of Senator Jon Kyl draft their "10-Point Border Security Plan". If you're the victim of fraud, waste or abuse, reach him at robert.anglen@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-8694. and help keep the future of New Times, Use of this website constitutes acceptance of our. including yourself & your family. Auditors said Babeu and Voyles also sent$683,406 to a nonprofit called the Arizona Public Safety Foundationmanaged by members of the sheriff's staff, a potential violation ofconflict-of-interest laws. Brandon Bell/Getty Images. Typically, county employees have the right to appeal any discipline they receive to the Pinal County Merit System Commission, a five-member board that can uphold, modify, or overturn county officials' decisions. Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu's campaign launched a counterattack late Monday on a key source for a story broadcast Sunday by a Phoenix TV station. LAMBERT: Babeu says the federal government was refusing to allow Henry to both supervise federal funds in the Pinal County Sheriffs Office and run for sheriff. Paul Babeu was a 2016 Republican candidate who sought election to the U.S. House to represent the 1st Congressional District of Arizona. Gaffney points to Karns' past support of Babeu, including a letter he wrote recommending Babeu for the National Sheriff of the Year Award, and an e-mail commending Babeu for his leadership and stance on arming school administrators in response to the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre. Doug Barrett for POLITICO. When their relationship soured, Orozco claimed Babeu had threatened to have him deported unless he signed a contract swearing him to secrecy. The Cognitive Dissonance of Being Gay and Republican: Paul Babeu Speaks Senate. Pinal County Sheriffs Office spokeswoman Navideh Forghani said Friday that the sheriff already has complied with the demand and has turned over the records. . Forfeiture laws, in general, created a multimillion-dollar "slush fund available to (law enforcement) with little or no oversight," the lawsuit said. PAUL BABEU: We were notified just recently that he had to make a decision today either to resign from chief deputy, to run, or to pull out of the race, today. The subpoena comes on the heels of an FBI probe of Babeu and former Pinal County Attorney Lando Voyles and whether they inappropriately used profits from seized property for personal and professional expenses. If hes re-elected as sheriff, Babeu says he plans to continue to battle drug trafficking in the county. The audit said those expenditures effectively bypassed the county's purchasing procedures, which require various levels of approval. Orozco claimed that Babeu had known that he was an illegal alien while they were lovers, at odds with Babeu's views on immigration policy. Compared with climbing on roofs all day to pick up bird poop, he says, law enforcement seemed safer. The new FBI interviews are the latest issue to hit Babeu as he attempts a second run for Congress. Outside his day job in Pinal County, Lamb, shown here at a cafe in Florence, Ariz., is involved with a new nonprofit coalition of sheriffs and a streaming network highlighting the work sheriffs do as they respond to calls for service. If approved, the change effectively would strip those affected PCSO employees, primarily PCSO lieutenants, of their ability to appeal to a review board any decision Babeu made to discipline or terminate them. Lambs first law enforcement job was with the Salt River Police Department in neighboring Maricopa County beginning in 2006. . Babeu pulled out of the 2012 race in the middle of the debacle and set his sights lower, vying for - and winning - re-election as sheriff. Can we start calling you senator? the man asked. The latest of the alleged threats were made through Babeu's personal attorney, who's also running the sheriff's campaign for Congress in District 4, the ex-lover says. In an email, he wrote that Lamb is a Constitutional Sheriff and is one of the best sheriffs in America. Lamb, for his part, says he respects Mack and has a good relationship with CSPOA. But he emphasized to me that Protect America Now and CSPOA are different groups, and said he also does not support any form of white supremacy. "[10] Babeu was not named in any allegation during the investigation by the state. Some locals here say he is focused more on playing a sheriff in the national spotlight than serving his constituents. Another man walking by said, The sheriff is a good dude. Everyone gathered for a picture, just one more. Lamb often invokes the importance of the rule of law but says of the Jan. 6 rioters, I guarantee you those people are very loving, Christian people. The Arizona Attorney General's Office said Wednesday it would not prosecute former Sheriff Paul Babeu and former County Attorney Lando Voyles for what it described as "eyebrow-raising". While it is unclear what transpired between Karns and Babeu or other high-level PCSO staff, Karns -- who says he was planning to retire in April -- hints at lawsuit against the Sheriff's Office. Yet he styles himself as the American Sheriff a moniker around which he has spent the past several years trying to build a national brand as a fervent defender of law enforcement. The FBI issued a subpoena last year to the Arizona Public Safety Foundation, which for years operated out of the Sheriff's Office and was staffed by sheriff's deputies. Shutterstock. The county also enjoys relatively low levels of crime. On Jan. 6, the day rioters stormed the Capitol in Washington, Lamb appeared at a rally in Phoenix to protest the presidential election results. By 2016, he had moved to Pinal County and decided to seek the sheriffs job, running as a Republican and, in his words, a constitutional conservative; he made a point of opposing abortion rights in his campaign, but he ran without the same cowboy image he has today. and help keep the future of New Times, Use of this website constitutes acceptance of our, Babeu's Mexican Ex-Lover Says Sheriff's Attorney Threatened Him With Deportation, Babeu's Suspicious Past as School's Headmaster, Babeu Turns Distortion of Truth Into an Art Form, Babeu Sticks It to Taxpayers and a Volunteer Rescue Team. Under Babeu and Voyles, Pinal County became the poster child for abuse of RICO funds, prompting lawsuits and legislative reforms. | According to Babeu's website, "Pinal County is the number one pass through county in all of America for drug and human smuggling. Robert Tsai, a constitutional law professor at Boston University, told me he sees Protect America Now as political in nature an effort to leverage sheriffs in mainstream Republican politics, while also branding [sheriffs] for future political careers. Lamb says Protect America Now is not a political organization, but that its efforts are viewed as political sometimes. Yet Protect America Now, a 501(c)4, was founded in June 2020 by a group that includes Nathan Sproul, an Arizona-based Republican strategist. Arizona's forfeiture laws direct proceeds into the coffers of the prosecutors and law-enforcement agencies involved in seizing the items. [24], A spokesman for Babeu denied the allegations and described them as "sensationalist". and help keep the future of New Times, Use of this website constitutes acceptance of our. | local news and culture, Monica Alonzo According to sources with knowledge of the interviews, agents have asked about Sheriff Babeus use of a non-profit foundation run by some PCSO employees that received hundreds of thousands of dollars in funds that come from this seized criminal money. Both could face federal criminal charges. has expressed sympathy for the Jan. 6 rioters, spoke at a recent anti-vaccine rally in Phoenix, along with an estimated 138 currently serving sheriffs, unabashed member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, defeated Babeus anointed successor in the primary, promised he would focus on building relationships within the county, has appeared with the Federation for American Immigration Reform, 650 employees and a $39 million annual budget, with a stated mission of educating Americans, The Arizona Republic investigated his charity, The state ethics committee investigated Lamb, A local newspaper also accused him of having an affair, a design sold by the right-wing shock jocks the Hodgetwins. Lamb says he was always interested in guns but didnt plan for a law enforcement career. Sproul, who has a long history in GOP political consulting, was accused of voter fraud between 2004 and 2012, allegations he denied and for which he was not charged. He also holds a bachelor's degree in history and political science from Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts and a summa cum laude master of public administration from American International College. "What we're focused on is making sure we're as transparent as possible," he said. Two top former law-enforcement officials in Pinal County won't face state criminal charges over their questionable use of profitsfrom property seized during arrests and investigations. The district's incumbent representative, Democrat Ann Kirkpatrick, did not seek re-election as she instead ran for the U.S. local news and culture. It could be his size hes 63, 240 pounds, or so he writes in his self-published book, American Sheriff: Traditional Values in a Modern World. . If you didn't know better, you might think Babeu is still sheriff, based on his website. Join the New Times community and help support Babeu could not be reached for comment on Wednesday. If it doesnt benefit Pinal County, I dont need to be on the news, he said at the time. In a February interview with ABC15, Goldwater attorney Jared Blanchard said they decided to look at Pinal County after questions were raised about funds being used to promote Babeu in a way that could benefit his congressional campaign. There are restrictions about how these funds can be used. Gaffney did not identify the other Sheriffs Office or the FBIs top level supervisor. A group of kids gathered around Lambs truck for sheriff-branded stickers. He insists he doesnt have political ambitions beyond the sheriffs office, though. Unless like today. 6:00AM. Babeu was born on February 3, 1969, in North Adams, Massachusetts, to Raymond and Helen Babeu. Pinal County Sheriff's Office Captain Jeffrey Karns, who retired today, lambasted Sheriff Paul Babeu in an e-mail he sent not only to Babeu, but to all PCSO staff. Become a member to support the independent voice of Phoenix I dont know how loud we have to get before they start to listen to us and know that we will no longer tolerate them stripping our freedoms away, he said. | Voyles said any suggestion that he and Babeu did something unethical or illegal is unfounded.. Wont work. "We're doing the best we can," Lamb said. Paul Babeu was the tenth of eleven children born into the family. Congress. They just happen to support President Trump a lot. When I asked about the roughly 140 law enforcement officers who had been injured or killed while on duty at the Capitol doing a job Lamb also professes to cherish he demurred, saying he hadnt been there and couldnt say what was or wasnt true. All rights reserved. And on Facebook, Babeu is still Pinal County's top law dog. and help keep the future of New Times, Use of this website constitutes acceptance of our. "He wanted his legal rights protected.