Candidate Profile:Stephen Richer For Maricopa County Recorder

September 22, 2020

Watch the Supervisor video, Richer listening to Gates, he got awful uncomfortable, like he heard a lie as Gates said something

Occupation: Attorney (transactional law, Lewis Roca); Businessman (over the years, everything from a bar, to a tutoring outfit, to an online calendaring service to, currently, heavy equipment)

Previous elected experience: None. First time running for office. I won the primary in August.

Family members in government: Yes. Wife currently works for the United States Federal Court for the District of Arizona.

What are the critical differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?

I'm not the most arrogant person in the world; my opponent quite possibly is. I'd be respectful toward, and appreciate the input of, the Secretary of State, the County Attorney, the Attorney General, and the Board of Supervisors.

I've never messed up an election so badly that it led to voters being disenfranchised. My opponent did (see August 2018).

I've never had scores of articles with similar headlines written about me in The Arizona Republic by Elvia Diaz, Laurie Roberts, Abe Kwok, Jessica Boehm, and others: "Adrian Fontes is ruining his career – and our confidence in the midterm election."

I've never been subject to a temporary restraining order for impending violation of election law, even after having been told to stop by Secretary Hobbs, the Board of Supervisors, and the Attorney General. My opponent has been.

I've never had the following written about me by the Supreme Court of Arizona: "we are troubled by the opaqueness of the process evidence by Maricopa County Recorder Adrian Fontes…"

I've never been mocked by liberal Arizona Republic columnist Laurie Roberts as "Mr. Transparency." My opponent has.

I've never ignored a legitimate public records request for over a year. My opponent has repeatedly.

I've never insulted an Arizona elected official Democrat or Republican other than the one I'm currently running against. My opponent has called multiple state legislators "fascists" or "full of shit." This is inappropriate for the person who is supposed to be the neutral arbiter of election process.

I've never told a customer or a constituent to "F off" and then made a mom joke. My opponent has. The Arizona Republic: "Maricopa County elections boss tells voter criticizing mail-in ballot to 'go F- yourself'"

I've never been told a respected federal judge that I'm incompetent and that my behavior "borders on the egregious and stems from an apparent laxity and indifference toward his professional responsibilities." My opponent has been.

I've never been charged with a felony. My opponent has been.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

I'm a no drama guy. I just want to deliver fair, competent elections. I've started and managed multiple successful ventures and have never been the subject of controversy, complaint, or alleged wrongdoing…..

https://patch.com/arizona/phoenix/candidate-profile-stephen-richer-maricopa-county-recorder

Maricopa County Recorder Fontes May Have Misused Public Funds

This article indicates the commissioners knew there was fraud, so why are they opposing the audit

“Fontes appears to have either some warped hero complex, where he believes he can do no wrong, and must therefore always take the situation into his own hands – even when it’s not legally within his power to do so – or he truly does not understand the laws that govern our state. Both possibilities are deeply troubling and raise serious concerns about the handling and the integrity of our elections as long as someone like Adrian Fontes is in office.”

Richer claims that the documents he received from Hobbs “show that Adrian Fontes likely misused public funds in violation of state law and should be held individually liable.”

Richer points to A.R.S. § 35-196, which reads: “Any state officer or employee who illegally withholds, expends or otherwise converts any state money to an unauthorized purpose shall be liable , either individually or on his bond, for the amount of such money , plus a penal sum of twenty per cent thereof…” (emphasis added)

According to Richer, “in March 2020, Fontes misused approximately (by our estimate) $350,000 in county funds. That amount, multiplied by 20% is $70,000. That means Fontes is likely individually liable for approximately $420,000 in county funds.”

To receive a mail-in ballot, you must be on the Permanent Early Voting List (PEVL) or must request a one-time ballot from the Recorder’s Office.

Richer argues that the law is well-known but Fontes told his colleagues in mid-March that he would mail last-minute ballots to voters not on PEVL.

According to an article in the Arizona Capitol Times, “Fontes acted alone and planned ahead to mail out the ballots to voters with the intention that they would be in the mail before any legal action could be taken…”

Hobbs sternly responded to Fontes in an email, which reads in part:

“I want to reiterate what I communicated to you on the phone this morning. My Office’s position is that you do not have legal authority at this stage to mail a ballot to all voters who have not requested one. The lack of an express statutory prohibition is irrelevant. If your view were correct, counties apparently have had authority to conduct countywide all‐mail elections all this time. This is clearly not the law in Arizona …”

“In fact, just yesterday at 2:45 p.m., you tweeted: ‘If it were up to me, we’d have already mailed ballots to all our voters.’ Apparently, sometime between that tweet and this morning, you decided it is up to you , despite the fact that the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors determined otherwise.”

“We have communicated with Runbeck and they have assured us that your Office instructed them to print and hold ballots, but no ballots have been mailed. We made clear to Runbeck that our Office’s position is that if they mail any ballots at your direction today or in the coming days, they will be facilitating a violation of the law. “

Fontes was stopped ultimately by the Attorney General who obtained a temporary restraining order by the Maricopa County Superior Court.

The Attorney General argued that “the Maricopa County Recorder cannot unilaterally rewrite state election laws.” The court agreed.

The Board of Supervisors then ordered the secure destruction of the ballots Fontes unlawfully printed. Taxpayer funds were used for the destruction.

https://arizonadailyindependent.com/2020/06/04/maricopa-county-recorder-may-have-misused-public-funds/

I found where Richer’s money and backing is coming from, now it’s obvious why he’s opposing the audit

Stephen Richer

Republican Party

Why are you running?

Judged objectively by nearly any metric—competency, transparency, fairness, civility, lawfulness—Adrian Fontes has failed. He has further eroded public confidence in the important functions overseen by the Recorder’s Office (namely elections, voter registration, and recording). And he has inappropriately leveraged the office for his own policy and partisan ends.

How will your campaign embody the values of the Chandler Chamber?

(I allocated words from the next answer to this one; hope that’s OK) I have long been a member of various chambers of commerce, and I have long interacted with various chambers on many different levels.In Washington, DC I worked on various amicus briefs and issue advocacy efforts in tandem with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. I remain in communication with employees of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce

It was the US Chamber of Commerce that backed Biden, to oust Trump

I am a business person. I have owned and operated multiple businesses including a restaurant and a calendaring service. I always either joined, participated in, or benefitted from my local chamber of commerce. My family’s business – Arnold Machinery Company – is a member of multiple chambers of commerce in the western United States.

I am a lawyer. My firm – Lewis Roca Rothgerber Christie LLP – is an active member of both the Phoenix Chamber and the Arizona Chamber, and I have been an active participant in both. I was even a fellow in the inaugural class of the Arizona Chamber’s Industry Fellows Program. Garrick Taylor of the Arizona Chamber can vouch for me.

I am unapologetically pro market, and I believe the business of America is business. I think that those who run businesses and create jobs are the greatest heroes of society, and they should be viewed as such.

My opponent by contrast is a Bernie Sanders supporter and activist who regularly tweets hostile remarks to the business community. He has been irresponsible in his personal business efforts (foreclosures, unpaid debts, etc.) and is not a friend to a healthy economic environment.

https://www.chandlerchamber.com/maricopa-recorder-candidates/

Shredded Ballots Found in Arizona from 2020 Presidential Election, Reports Claim

Pray for all involved, you’ve heard of the AZ mafia under Napolitano This is much bigger than a four year election.

Borrelli told Staci Burk and another, unnamed woman that she should provide the shredded ballots to him and to the Senate’s sergeant-at-arms.

“If they seize that stuff from you, that stuff could disappear,” Borrelli said of the Attorney General Mark Brnovich’s office, which he said was uninterested in ferreting out election fraud. “If you turn it over to them, it’s going to evaporate.”

But Borrelli told the Arizona Mirror on Wednesday that he was merely exaggerating in an attempt to convince the woman to trust him.

Burk claims to have found shredded ballots from the 2020 general election in a Dumpster behind the Maricopa County Tabulation and Election Center on Saturday. She provided a recording of the call to the Arizona Mirror on Tuesday.

Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer and elections department spokeswoman Megan Gilbertson say the ballots Burk found were not cast in the 2020 general election. It’s unclear where the ballots came from. Surveillance camera footage of the Dumpster from Friday and Saturday, when Burk visited the building, doesn’t show who put the bag into the trash bin.

Borrelli told the Mirror that he spoke with Burk on Sunday after being bombarded with calls about her allegations. She was “all over the place” and made it clear that she didn’t trust the attorney general, whom she claimed had ignored other alleged evidence of election fraud she has, so Borrelli said he tried to convince her to hand over the ballots she said she found. Borrelli said he might have gone a little overboard and been a little overzealous, but if he’d told her she should trust the attorney general, she wouldn’t have provided the shredded ballots.

“If it’s evidence of a crime, it’s got to be turned over to law enforcement. So, I’m trying to convince this lady who doesn’t trust anybody, so I’m trying to use whatever communications skills I can to convince this lady to trust me to at least let me take a look at them, verify what she’s got is true and correct,” Borrelli told the Mirror.

Borrelli said he’s the primary reason why the Senate has sought to investigate the 2020 election, describing himself as the “instigator” who prodded his colleagues to action. He added that it would be harder for his “high-level” enemies to silence him than Burk.

“If anything freaking happened to me in the Senate, if I got hurt, if I got killed, this whole thing would go away because there’s nobody in the Senate that would push,” he said.“They can try to silence you – you’re a private citizen. They can’t do anything to me. They can bully me all they want, but they know they can’t take me out… unless they whack me out or if I have a suicide.”

It is unclear exactly when the call took place. Burk claims to have found shredded ballots from the 2020 general election in a Dumpster behind the Maricopa County Tabulation and Election Center on Saturday. Burk provided a recording of the call to the Arizona Mirror on Tuesday.

Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer and elections department spokeswoman Megan Gilbertson say the ballots were not cast in the 2020 general election. It’s unclear where the ballots came from. Surveillance camera footage of the Dumpster from Friday and Saturday, when Burk visited the building, doesn’t show who put the bag into the trash bin.

The Senate, motivated by the baseless and thoroughly debunked conspiracy theory alleging President Joe Biden defeated former President Donald Trump through widespread election fraud, is preparing for an audit of the 2020 election in Maricopa County. It has subpoenaed all 2.1 million ballots cast in November, as well as tabulation machines and other materials. Senate President Karen Fann has not yet chosen an auditor, and the ballots and machines are still being held by county election officials.

He also referred to the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, who fought the Senate in court for two months in a legal challenge to the subpoenas, as “corrupt bastards.”

“I want them in freaking jail,” Borrelli said of the supervisors.

https://welovetrump.com/2021/03/12/shredded-ballots-found-in-arizona-from-2020-presidential-election-reports-claim/

Meet the Arizona Mafia; ties to Raniere-Bronfman-Salinas further exposed

July 23, 2018

This might be why the Board of supervisors are scared shitless

One of the reasons why I am now writing about the Arizona Mafia is that I find it astonishing that Dennis Burke, a charter member of the Arizona Mafia, is Clare Bronfman’s attorney,

Since Burke is close to their Mafia compadres on the other side of the border – especially the Salinas crime organization – it puzzles me why Clare Bronfman would select him to represent her in what could result in a significant prison sentence for her.

Before we try to figure that out – I think it is about time we look at just who is the Arizona Mafia and how it may be connected to both Salinas – and the Bronfman-Raniere crime syndicate.

First of all – it is called the Arizona Mafia – but it is not connected to the Sicilian Mafia. It is a political-social group known colloquially in Washington, D.C. and beyond as the “Arizona Mafia.”

This Arizona-based group is known to include some of the most ruthless political operators within the U.S. Democratic party or to phrase it better, they are “the strong arm of the Democratic party,” and are tied to the Salinas political family in Mexico.

The ties are clear, real, and verifiable from multiple sources. The ties of the “Arizona Mafia” within the United States Democratic party and their rapidly increasing business dealings, social friendships, and interests in Mexico suggest and reveal other current and past ties between the Democratic Party and former Mexican President Carlos Salinas.

There are significant sub-members and branches of the “Arizona Mafia” political-social group of friends. However, to include those names, at this time, as members of the “Arizona Mafia” would not be as relevant to readers at this time as the top 10 members.

Although there are big, “A-list” names in the United States Democratic Party who are doing corrupt business with the Arizona Mafia – members in the U.S. and Mexico – they are not directly in the “Arizona Mafia” themselves and so the distinction must be maintained.

The names and connections will be revealed soon. This is an important, timely disclosure to make to the American people.

First off – the leader of this group is Janet Napolitano. She is the boss.

And the history of the Arizona Mafia is the history of how a group of Napolitano’s friends gained political experience, moved from Arizona to Washington, D.C., and became the social group known as the “Arizona Mafia.”

Napolitano won an extremely close election as governor of Arizona in 2003 against Republican Matt Salon

==Napolitano credited former Nogales, Arizona Mayor Marco Lopez, “the youngest Mayor in America,” for

delivering the votes late that night of the election==, that she said pushed her over the top and made her

the Governor of Arizona.

In August of 2008, Janet Napolitano, her right-hand man, Dennis Burke, Noah Kroloff, and Arizona-Mexico

Commission Director Marco Lopez, flew together with Jeffrey Peterson on Peterson’s Cessna Citation X

private jet, from Phoenix, Arizona, to Denver Colorado, where Napolitano gave a speech endorsing

presidential candidate Barack Obama. At that convention, Hillary Clinton nominated Obama as the official

candidate of the Democratic Party for President of the United States.

On November 4, 2008, Barack Obama won the presidential election.

The next day, November 5, 2008, Napolitano and her right-hand man, Dennis Burke, joined the Obama-Biden

Transition team in Washington, D.C.

The following month, in December of 2008, newly elected President Obama nominated Napolitano as his

candidate for Homeland Security Secretary.

Napolitano remained governor of Arizona until January 2009, when she became the 3rd Secretary of the

United States Homeland Security (DHS). DHS Offices include the Secret Service, Customs and Border

Protection, FEMA, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), United States Coast Guard, the Domestic

Nuclear Detection Office, and the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center.

https://frankreport.com/2018/07/23/meet-the-arizona-mafia-ties-to-raniere-bronfman-salinas-further-exposed/

, >>13691268 AZ GOP election official trashes Maricopa County election audit: 'Stop indulging this' - Maricopa can't Maricope - Arizona Election Audit Panic

This is from the last post above, I decided to see ifGarllado has any relationship to Napalotano, and bingo, see wiki info below. So the AZ mafia is on the Board of Supervisors

The letter – signed by Republican supervisors Steve Chucri, Bill Gates (no, not the one you’re thinking of), Clint Hickman, Jack Sellers and DemocratSteve Gallardo, as well as the Republican Recorder of Maricopa County, Stephen Richer and Democratic county sheriff Paul Penzone – blasts the audit and Fann for spreading misinformation.

The connection:

Janet Napolitano, former Governor of Arizona, appointed Gallardo to the Arizona Civil Rights Advisory Board, where he served from 1998 through 2002. In 2001, Gallardo was appointed to the Maryvale Village Planning Committee by the Phoenix City Council.[2] Gallardo served on the Governing Board of the Cartwright Elementary School District beginning in 2001.[3] He served through 2004, and was elected in 2010 to another four-year term. He also served on the Governing Board of the Phoenix Union High School District from 2004 through 2008.[citation needed]

In February 2002, Gallardo resigned from Maricopa County Election Department and announced his candidacy for the Arizona House of Representatives. He was elected in November 2002 to represent Legislative District 13 covering areas of Maryvale, Glendale, Tolleson, Cashion, and Avondale.[citation needed] Gallardo was elected to the Arizona House of Representatives in 2002, 2004, 2006 and 2008. In January 2009, Gallardo stepped down from Arizona House of Representatives to work for a consulting firm.[4] Shortly after the enactment of Arizona SB 1070, the broadest and strictest anti-illegal immigration measure in the U.S., he announced his candidacy for Arizona State Senate for Legislative District 13. He was elected in November 2010 and reelected in 2012.[5] In 2012 he sponsored legislation to repeal the anti-immigration legislation.[6]

In December 2013, Gallardo became one of the plaintiffs in Gallardo v. Arizona, a lawsuit that challenges the addition of two at-large seats to the Maricopa Community College District as a violation of the state constitution.[9]

In 2014, Gallardo again introduced legislation to repeal Arizona's anti-immigration law. He noted that the legislation he wanted to repeal took four years to pass and "It may take us longer to get it repealed. But we are not going to stop until we get it repealed."[10]

Following the passage of Arizona SB 1062 in February 2014, which sought to allow businesses to deny services to LGBT people, especially same-sex couples, based on religious beliefs, and its veto by Governor Jan Brewer, Gallardo came out as gay.[11] He referred to the bill as a "game changer," and noted the national controversy surrounding its passage, as prompted his decision to come out.[5]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Gallardo

It’d be interesting to find out if Penzone beat Arpaio with the help of Napolitano

How former Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio became the most hated lawman in America

ERIN FUCHS, MICHELLE MARK

JAN 11, 2017, 12:33 PM

The Justice Department gave Arpaio a barely perceptible tap on the wrist. He agreed to a settlement in which he limited use of pepper spray and improved inmates’ grievance procedures.

Then-US Attorney Janet Napolitano led the Justice Department investigation and later got Arpaio’s endorsement when she ran for governor. Napolitano took a largely hands-off policy toward Arpaio after she won her election.

But Arpaio began to make other enemies, including legal ones. The jail system run by Arpaio was hit with a staggering number of lawsuits by inmates and their families. From 2004 through November 2007, Sheriff Joe and his jails were targeted by 2,150 lawsuits, some of which alleged brutality against inmates, the Phoenix New Times reported.

To put this in perspective, the Phoenix New Times noted that the jail systems in New York, Houston, and Chicago combined were hit with 43 lawsuits that same period.

https://www.businessinsider.com.au/maricopa-county-sheriff-joe-arpaio-pardoned-by-trump-2017-8