The state attorney general is investigating allegations that the Arizona Republican Party broke campaign finance laws by failing to identify who provided $105,000 in contributions after the secretary of state determined there was reasonable cause to believe a violation had occurred.
The investigation stems from a complaint filed in mid-October by the Arizona Democratic Party regarding two contributions the Republican Party disclosed on an Oct. 7 campaign finance report. The contributions, made Aug. 21 and Sept. 10, totaled $105,000 and were listed as coming from a group identified only as SCA.
The report called SCA an “unincorporated association of individuals,” but provided no other information.
A Republican Party attorney later told Arizona Capitol Times that SCA stood for Sheriff’s Command Association. State and county records show no group with either name registered as a political committee.
On Nov. 12, Secretary of State Jan Brewer informed the Attorney General’s Office she believed there was cause to believe the Republican Party violated a statute requiring political committees to identify their contributors.
“It has been sent to our office, and it is currently under review,” said Anne Hilby, a spokeswoman for Attorney General Terry Goddard.
In a statement, Arizona Republican Party Executive Director Sean McCaffrey said he hoped the investigation would be resolved soon.
“We thank Secretary Brewer for her swift action in this matter,” he said.  “As Secretary Brewer’s finding notes, we were unable to obtain the information needed to complete our filing. Consequently, we proactively returned the contributions in question.”
The Democratic Party’s complaint was also filed with the Maricopa County Recorder’s Office because it alleged the Republican Party used the SCA contributions to pay for a campaign against two Democratic candidates for Maricopa County offices.
The money paid for negative TV commercials against Dan Saban, a candidate for Maricopa County sheriff, and Maricopa County attorney candidate Tim Nelson.
The Maricopa County Recorder’s Office hired law firm Poli & Ball to conduct a review of the complaint to avoid conflict of interest. Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas was one of the candidates who benefited from the SCA contributions and subsequent independent expenditure campaign against the Democrats.
Jeffrey Messing, the attorney handling the review for the county, sent a letter Nov. 12 to Joel Fox, the only known member of SCA, asking him to respond to the complaint.
Fox is a captain in the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office and is a member of Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s special operations unit, which is tasked with ensuring the sheriff’s safety and investigating threats made against the sheriff.
Fox is, a longtime supporter of Arpaio, filed nominating petitions for Arpaio’s 2004 re-election campaign. Three weeks after that election, Fox was promoted to lead the SWAT unit.
Messing has requested that Fox and SCA respond to the complaint by Nov. 21.
The Republican Party did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Brewer’s decision to forward the complaint to the attorney general. But in an Oct. 31 letter to Brewer’s office, Republican Party Chairman Randy Pullen said the party did not break the law and had already returned the $105,000 to SCA because it could not obtain the required information.
“When we were unable to obtain this contributor information, we returned the funds,” Pullen wrote.
In the letter, Pullen placed the blame on Fox, whom he said was the party’s only point of contact with SCA. Fox, the signatory on the checks given to the party, initially agreed to provide the names, addresses and employer of each contributor to SCA, Pullen wrote. However, Pullen wrote that in a later conversation, Fox balked at providing the information required by state law.
The Republican Party then sent a letter by certified mail requesting the information. There was no response. Pullen wrote that the party returned the money Oct. 18.