Andrew Gould to lead Katie Hobbs investigation as Democrats question Hoffman’s role

Former Arizona Supreme Court Justice Andrew Gould will lead the state Senate’s investigation into Gov. Katie Hobbs and Sunshine Residential Homes, Senate Republicans announced Monday.

The probe, which Republicans call a “pay-to-play scandal,” is moving from the Senate Government Committee, led by Sen. Jake Hoffman, to the Senate Appropriations Committee, chaired by Sen. David Farnsworth. Gould will serve as special counsel.

At issue is more than $500,000 in political donations tied to Sunshine, a group home operator, and taxpayer-funded rate increases the company later received. The Senate also wants to examine how Attorney General Kris Mayes handled the matter.

After a monthslong investigation, Mayes declined to file charges. Republicans say she did not release her evidence to support the decision.

Katie Hobbs, Kris Mayes among those subpoenaed

The handoff changes who is running the investigation, not its scope, said Republican lawmakers.

“This transfer does not narrow the issues under investigation or diminish the Senate’s resolve,” Farnsworth said in a news release.

“The evidence will determine where this investigation leads,” Gould said, promising a fair and dispassionate review.

Hoffman said the change “takes away their excuses for non-cooperation” and accused the “crooked political media” of protecting democrats Hobbs and Mayes.

“They are more interested in attacking the investigator than investigating the scandal and the necessary policy changes,” Hoffman said.

The move came three days after Senate Democrats sent a letter to Senate President Warren Petersen questioning Hoffman’s role, citing possible conflicts of interest and the probe’s potential to sway voters weeks before the election.

Hoffman’s company, 1TEN LLC, has received more than $1 million from Turning Point PAC, according to state campaign finance reports.

Campaign finance reports also showed Hoffman’s communications company, Forged Communications, collecting more than $200,000 for work supporting Republican candidates Kimberly Yee, Alex Kolodin and James Rogers.

“Our concerns [are not] allayed by this morning’s switch of committee,” Octavio Pulido, spokesman for the Senate Democratic Caucus, said in a statement, adding that Petersen has not directly responded.

No new hearing date has been set.

The investigation is expected to end with a written report recommending changes to state law. It is unclear whether that report will be issued before the Nov. 3 election, which is 43 days away.

Who is Andrew Gould?

Gould served on the Arizona Supreme Court, the state Court of Appeals and as a prosecutor in Maricopa County. He left the high court to run for attorney general in 2022 and lost the Republican primary.

Earlier this year, Gould represented Republican congressional candidate Mark Lamb, a former Pinal County sheriff.

Gould campaigned on border enforcement and election integrity.

In a 2021 Arizona Daily Independent op-ed, Gould wrote that “many Arizonans believe there was fraud” in the 2020 election and pledged to expand the attorney general’s Election Integrity Unit to at least 10 lawyers to counter “the Democrat’s large, well-funded team of election lawyers.”

He also said Democrats “tried to weaponize COVID-19 to remove virtually all voting restrictions.”

Additionally, his campaign site emphasized the rule of law “should never be politicized.”

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