Ep. 356 Katie Hobbs’ Pay-to-Play Questions Aren’t Going Away

The questions surrounding Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs and the Sunshine Residential pay-to-play controversy are back — and Chris and Sean dig into the new evidence raising even more questions about what happened inside the Hobbs administration.

Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes declined to bring bribery charges after a two-year investigation, but new testimony from former Department of Child Safety officials is putting the controversy right back in the spotlight. A former DCS deputy has backed claims that Sunshine Residential used its political connections to push for higher state payments after the company and people connected to it made major contributions benefiting Hobbs, the Arizona Democratic Party, her inaugural fund and her legal defense fund.

And there is another transparency problem: Hobbs still refuses to disclose who donated to that legal defense fund.

Chris and Sean break down what we know, what investigators concluded, what questions remain unanswered — and why this story could matter in the increasingly nasty Katie Hobbs vs. Andy Biggs race for Arizona governor.

Then they turn to the war of attack ads between Hobbs and Biggs over protecting women and children. Hobbs is attacking Biggs over his actions involving Colorado City and the Warren Jeffs-era abuses, while Biggs is firing back by highlighting several bills aimed at sex offenders and sexually explicit material that Hobbs vetoed as governor.

Plus:

• The Lindsay Clancy murder trial, where a deadlocked jury is wrestling with one of the most difficult questions in criminal law: mental illness, criminal responsibility and postpartum psychosis.

• The latest in the Tyler Robinson case involving the killing of Charlie Kirk, after a Utah judge ruled Robinson will stand trial and could face the death penalty if convicted.

• A new Arizona Attorney General investigation into three candidates accused of improperly obtaining millions of dollars in taxpayer-funded Clean Elections money, including allegations involving questionable $5 qualifying contributions.

Arizona politics, campaign money, accountability, criminal trials and a governor’s race that is getting uglier by the day.

All this and more on the latest episode of Light Beer Dark Money with Chris and Sean.