Judge Allows Loftus, Jeffries Lawsuit To Proceed

This week, a Maricopa County judge refused to dismiss a case against the State of Arizona brought by Charlie Loftus and Tim Jeffries for defamatory statements made in a DPS audit of the Arizona Department of Economic Security. The judge did find in favor of the State on its argument that many of the claims made in the report were not about Loftus, but the Department as a whole.

The audit was conducted last year in response to false claims that Jeffries, who at the time served as director of the Department of Economic Security, had ordered and Loftus, as the Chief Law Enforcement Officer, to stockpile weapons and ammunition and that Loftus had done so.

Jeffries, Loftus and others were relieved of duty by Governor Doug Ducey based in part on the baseless claims. There are allegations that Jeffries and Loftus were investigating highly questionable technology purchases and practices and Medicaid fraud by politically connected individuals.

Earlier this year, ousted Rep. Don Shooter made similar allegations regarding technology procurement practices. Shooter alleged that he was targeted by the governor for his insistence on questioning the actions of the governor’s staff.

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