29 December 2019

Maricopa County Board of Supes Turns Assessor Petersen Suspension Prosecution Over to Adel Allister

This case gets more suspicious and more intriguing all the time! Does the new County Attorney look up to the new responsibilities now thrown at her? It sure doesn't look like it in the opening image cropped from her swearing-in ceremony with Steve Chucri looking over her shoulders in the background. Her own expression doesn't appear to exude any confidence, but rather a restrained sense of purpose after she got propelled into the position when former county attorney Bill Montgomery resigned to gain a seat on the Arizona Supreme Court. Arizona politics at its best!
O Lordy!! This case is getting more suspicious all the time ... there are now more "revelations" brought into the light of public scrutiny that appears be missing on salient data and details and the skewed focus of media attention.
Last Friday reports were in that Paul Petersen's county-owned Microsoft Surface Pro notebook had been 'wiped-clean' of data not just once but on two occasions - in the office! 
In a sprawling county where Rampant Unrestrained Real Estate Speculation is King - and the Main Driver of The Economic Engine - attention has instead turned to the allegations of private for-profit adoptions by Maricopa County Assessor Paul Petersen whose public office [daytime job] is responsible for valuations and recordings exceeding over $508,000,000,000 in transactions.
Media reporting have somehow stayed clear of the 'Big Elephant' and the BIG TEMPTATION that runs with getting appointed and elected to the office of the Maricopa County Assessor's Office.
There's just too much at stake . . .but let's leave that to another day.
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(Image insert: Group photo opp with Steve Chucri, and newest member Jack Sellers to the left >)
Supervisors uphold Petersen’s suspension, ask county attorney to seek his removal from office
By Jeremy Dude  
The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors upheld indicted assessor Paul Petersen’s suspension and took things a step further by asking the county attorney’s office to seek his removal from office based on information gleaned Petersen’s laptop computer.
Board Chairman Bill Gates on Friday said “shocking” documents and messages related to Petersen’s private law and adoption practices demonstrated that the assessor had neglected his official duties, as the supervisors concluded when they suspended him in late October. That information also showed that Petersen was guilty of “willful misconduct in office,” Gates said, for which the county attorney can seek an official accusation from a grand jury. If convicted, Petersen would be removed from office. . .
The supervisors had been waiting to decide on Petersen’s appeal until they received a final report from an outside law firm hired to investigate the matter. The county on Friday released that supplemental report, which featured information about what investigators found on Petersen’s laptop,
Evidence indicates that several USB devices were connected to the laptop after the second reset or upgrade, which could have been used to copy information from the laptop, the report said. Because someone wiped the information from the computer, the report said investigators were limited in the amount of data they could retrieve. Gates told reporters after the meeting that there were likely other relevant documents on the laptop that couldn’t be retrieved as a result.
The report concluded that Petersen had violated four state laws by destroying or tampering with public records. Some of those laws could constitute criminal violations, the report said. Gates said the county is providing the supplemental report to the Attorney General’s Office. . . "
LINK: The county on Friday released that supplemental report, which featured information about what investigators found on Petersen’s laptop
"If County Attorney Allister Adel doesn’t seek Petersen’s removal from office, he will be reinstated as assessor after the 120-day suspension ends in late February.
In a press statement, Adel said she’s “taking the motion by the board under review and determining next steps.”
Supervisor Steve Gallardo said he kept an open mind on Petersen’s appeal while he waited for the final report. What it contained, he said, was outrageous. . ."
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This was the news published in The Salt Lake City Tribune  for this headline story:
Panel backs suspension of Paul Petersen in Arizona adoption case
By Terry Tang | The Associated Press  ·  Published: 1 day ago | Updated: 1 day ago
The Salt Lake Tribune                         
Phoenix • The discovery of thousands of files related to an Arizona elected official’s adoption business on a government laptop cemented a panel’s decision Friday to uphold his suspension and push for his removal.
Members of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors spoke with disgust at times about County Assessor Paul Petersen during a meeting in Phoenix . . ."
BLOGGER NOTE: WHO'S THERE AND WHO'S NOT THERE?
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(Terry Tang | AP) The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors meets in Phoenix on Friday, Dec. 27, 2019. The board on Friday unanimously voted to uphold the suspension of County Assessor Paul Petersen and push for his removal from office. Petersen has pleaded not guilty in Arizona, Arkansas and Utah to charges involving the adoption of babies from the Marshall Islands through his law firm.
 
 

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What don't we get?
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