Paul Babeu

Small Payment Could Be Big Problem For Babeu And His Immigrant Ex-Boyfriend

Nick R. Martin | February 23, 2012, 11:03PM

As he deals with fallout from a scandal involving a campaign volunteer who turned out to be his secret boyfriend, conservative Arizona Sheriff Paul Babeu has insisted time and again that whatever work the man did for his campaign was strictly unpaid.

While Babeu's campaign finance reports initially appear to back up his claims, TPM has uncovered an unusual entry on a 2010 disclosure that deserves more explanation but which so far the sheriff has declined to discuss.

The entry is bound to raise eyebrows in light of revelations that Babeu's own brother, who is also a politician in Arizona, paid the man with campaign funds from his own account during the same time frame in early 2010.

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Paul Babeu

Babeu Could Face Trouble Over Ex-Lover's Uncertain Legal Status

Nick R. Martin | February 22, 2012, 3:47PM

In an unusual letter to two of his fellow local law enforcers this week, conservative Arizona Sheriff Paul Babeu laid out a list of crimes alleged to have been committed by him or his former lover in the wake of their romance that soured last year.

The list was seven items long: "human rights violations, threatening and intimidating, misuse of public resources, theft of property, theft of identity, fraud and impersonation."

But now one prominent attorney tells TPM that the sheriff, who has made a name for himself as one of the nation's top hawks in the border debate, should be worried about one more: harboring an illegal immigrant.

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Paul Babeu

Arizona Sheriff Paul Babeu Wants His Ex-Boyfriend Investigated

Nick R. Martin | February 21, 2012, 6:54PM

Pinal County AZ Sheriff and Congressional candidate Paul Babeu

Days after being outed as gay and accused of threatening his former boyfriend, conservative Arizona Sheriff Paul Babeu on Tuesday called for independent investigators to look into claims that the man stole from and impersonated him.

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Paul Babeu

Arizona Sheriff Paul Babeu Angrily Denies Ex-Boyfriend's Accusations

Nick R. Martin | February 18, 2012, 3:54PM

Pinal County AZ Sheriff and Congressional candidate Paul Babeu

Updated: February 18, 2012, 5:01 PM

While saying for the first time publicly that he is gay, rising Republican star Sheriff Paul Babeu used a dramatic news conference on Saturday in Arizona to angrily deny allegations that had been leveled against him by an ex-boyfriend in a newspaper report a day earlier.

"I'm here to say that all these allegations that were in one of these newspapers are absolutely, completely false," the sheriff said while while surrounded by a number of his deputies and fellow elected officials. "Except for the issues that refer to me as being gay. Because that's the truth. I am gay."

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Paul Babeu

Arizona Sheriff Rocked By Accusations Of Alleged Immigrant Ex-Boyfriend

Nick R. Martin | February 18, 2012, 12:00PM

Updated: February 18, 2012, 2:09 PM

Rising Republican star and well-known border hawk Sheriff Paul Babeu, who's now running for Congress in Arizona, was hit Friday night with bombshell accusations from a Mexican immigrant who said he dated the sheriff for years and was threatened with deportation if he ever told anyone about their romance.

The Phoenix New Times newspaper broke the story on its website in a piece written by veteran journalist Monica Alonzo. The accusations came complete with text messages said to be between the two men as well as compromising photos purportedly of Babeu that are reminiscent of recent sex scandals that ended the careers of Congressmen Anthony Weiner and Chris Lee.

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Jan Brewer

Brewer Pledged Cash For Immigration Fight, Instead Spent It Buying Copies Of Her Own Book

Nick R. Martin | February 2, 2012, 11:47AM

Gov. Jan Brewer (R-AZ) signing copies of her book, "Scorpions for Breakfast," in Irvine, CA in November 2011.

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer (R) launched a special fundraising political action committee in October, pledging to use the money to fight illegal immigration and take on other issues she believes in. But based on financial disclosures filed this week, she has so far used it to do little more than buy copies of her own book.

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