Federal authorities are investigating Attorney General Tom Horne over allegations that he illegally collaborated with an independent expenditure committee that spent more than a half-million dollars on negative ads against his Democratic opponent in 2010, the Arizona Capitol Times has learned.

A complaint filed in February by a prosecutor in Horne’s own office - and a onetime political ally of Horne - alleges that the attorney general collaborated with an independent expenditure called Business Leaders for Arizona, which received $115,000 from Horne’s brother-in-law in California.

The complaint, filed with the Arizona Secretary of State’s Office, also alleges that Horne rewarded the chairwoman of the campaign group with a high-paying job at the Attorney General’s Office.

James Keppel, the head of the criminal division of the Arizona Attorney General’s Office, resigned his post after more than a year with the office.

TUCSON a�� A federal judge has taken under advisement an argument to strike down a law targeting the Tucson Unified School District's ethnic studies program. The case challenges the constitutionality of the law formerly known as HB 2281. The plaintiffs are two current TUSD students.

Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne joined other attorneys general Monday to criticize the Obama administration’s “unprecedented” overreach of federal authority that they said have led to a torrent of lawsuits over immigration, voting rights, health care and more.

Attorneys for the ex-boyfriend of Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu proclaimed their client’s innocence today, saying he never hacked into the lawman’s campaign websites.

Adnan Horan, attorney for Jose Orozco, a Mexican citizen who claimed in a news article that Babeu threatened him with deportation after their relationship disintegrated, held a news conference announcing Orozco’s denial of any wrongdoing, but Orozco was absent and Horan answered few questions.

In the wake of the allegations late last week, Babeu has seen his support in the CD4 race begin to erode, most noticeably in Pinal County.

After a flurry of announcements and a press conference late today, confusion reigned over who would investigate allegations involving Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu’s and his gay ex-lover.

The Pinal County Sheriff’s Office announced today that Attorney General Tom Horne will handle the investigation. Earlier in the day, Babeu said he wanted Gila County officials to conduct the investigation, but they declined.

Arizona will get more than $1.6 billion to relieve underwater homeowners in settlements for two mortgage fraud lawsuits.

A bill advancing in the Arizona Legislature would abolish the police department in Colorado City, a northern Arizona community where state Attorney General Tom Horne says officers who are followers of polygamist leader Warren Jeffs flout the law.

Arizona is one of a handful of states that have not yet agreed to a potential $25 billion mortgage settlement for suffering homeowners, but the state hopes to join soon, officials said.