Newly uncovered information based on a tip from a reader shows that not only was former Chairman Bob Stump of the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) texting with four key players in the dark money electoral scheme prior to the August 26, 2014, primary election, he was also in contact with Alan Heywood – the campaign manager of pro-utility candidates Tom Forese and Doug Little.
In fact, the day after Stump exchanged a last text message with Sean Noble, who in the past has served as a conduit for the Koch Brothers dark money network, Stump exchanged 18 texts in just 24 hours with Heywood.
Then, his texts with the other central players soon stopped. According to Stump’s text message log, the following day, he texted for the last time with Scot Mussi, president of the Arizona Free Enterprise Club and candidate (now Commissioner) Forese. Several days later, Stump stopped texting with his Arizona Public Service liaison, Barbara Lockwood, for nearly two months.
This was one month before the primary – what could be plenty of time to flush money into the campaigns of winning candidates Forese and Little. The ultimate origins of more than 75% of the spending on the ACC race that benefited Forese and Little has been a secret. But it should be noted that Noble’s largest client last year was Arizona Public Service.
We charted the texting frequency below, and the distribution pattern hardly looks like what you would expect for arranging a social function, unless Stump was planning something like a small wedding with just these six people attending:
(July 7-August 16, 2014)
(May 5-December 29, 2014)
Arizona election law prevented candidates Forese, Little, and their campaign manager Heywood from directly coordinating with APS, the Free Enterprise Club, and the Koch network. But it appears that Stump may have been doing it for them – communicating with the dark money electoral funders, APS, the candidates, and, now we know, their campaign manager.
This new information about Heywood deepens suspicions that the former Chairman may well have been at the very center of a dark money electoral scheme to elect pro-APS, anti-solar Republicans. If true, Stump’s actions may be a violation of Arizona election law.
Criticism of Publishing Text Log
Our decision to publish Bob Stump’s full text log, a public record provided to us by the Commission in response to our March 11 records request, has not been without criticism (here and here). Commissioner Stump has blamed us for his failure to have the ACC staff redact purely personal contacts – which we didn’t seek, didn’t want, and have no way to identify – and for his choice to conduct public business via text messages on his cell phone. Our offer to Stump to remove the purely personal contacts stands. ACC outside counsel, David Cantelme, has not sent those personal contacts, as he committed to doing.
All that said, our invitation to C&BP readers to identify others on the list has paid off. And, the results aren’t helpful to Commissioner Stump’s credibility.
Remember that when the news first broke of Stump’s extensive texts, Stump asserted the contacts were of a nature that was either personal or universal, i.e., he texts with everyone. Stump now-famously said:
“We have been trying for months to coordinate a double-date to the Phoenix Symphony.”
This dismissal line is now considerably harder to make, thanks to sources who provided us with names matching up to a dozen additional numbers on the full logs.
Heywood’s Phone
Heywood’s cell phone number was wrongly identified in a recent post as belonging to Investment Prime, where he is President and CEO. He is also chairman of the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry. We confirmed through multiple sources that the number is Heywood’s personal cell. Another number previously labeled as Investment Prime we now know belongs to former ACC Chair Gary Pierce – a business associate of Heywood.
Unnecessary Taxpayer Expenses
The Commission has subpoena authority to ask Verizon for the content of the text messages. Any one of the five commissioners could do so today, free of charge. Instead, Stump and the ACC have:
- Hired a high-priced lawyer, David Cantelme, to obfuscate the right by law of public access to public records for a cost in May alone of $5,428.
- Contracted a high-profile public relations firm, Marson Media, to represent the ACC after firing its staff spokesperson Rebecca Wilder.
- Hired the mediation firm of Scott, Skelley and Muchmore to “supervise” the download of text messages – assuming they haven’t been tampered with – at the cost of $475 per hour.
- Secured the Arizona Dept. of Public Safety’s forensic unit to do the cell phone exam.
Public Accountability
The revelation about Commissioner Stump’s 18 texts with Alan Heywood during same period of a flurry of text activity with Scot Mussi, Tom Forese, Doug Little, Sean Noble and Barbara Lockwood raises obvious questions about Commissioner Stump’s actions that must be answered. Members of the public should demand answers from the four other Corporation Commissioners as to whether they are concerned about Commissioner Stump’s conduct, and if so, what they plan to do about it. All of them have subpoena power to get to the bottom of these questions if they desire to discover the truth.
Scott Peterson is executive director of the Checks and Balances Project, a national watchdog blog that seeks to hold government officials, lobbyists, and corporate management accountable to the public. Funding for C&BP comes from pro-clean energy philanthropies and donors.
Recent Comments