A press conference held by attorney Tom Ryan, regarding CD8 candidate Steve Montenegro and his relationship with a former Arizona Senate staffer has left reporters with more questions than answers.
Ryan called the press conference in response to a report that revealed the identity of the staffer, Stephanie Holford, with whom Montenegro exchanged texts. In the bizarre news conference in front of the Arizona Senate building, Ryan claimed that Holford was a victim of revenge porn by her former boyfriend Kent Lyons.
According to Ryan, Lyons drove Holford to Ryan’s office for legal assistance after the News Times revealed that Holford had spent 7 years in prison prior to taking a position as a digital media coordinator in the Arizona Senate.
Ryan claimed that he had talked to Lyons twice to arrange the meeting with Holford. Ryan claimed that Lyons told him that Holford was a “whistleblower.” “When I met with her,” Ryan told reporters, “within a matter of seconds, she told me, ‘I’m not willingly here.’”
It appears, according to the texts, that her statement was true and the truth is chilling.
According to texts, Arizona State Senator Bob Worsley texted her the night of January 31, 2018: “We would love to talk to you. Can you make this work?” Worsley did not identify the other person or persons he included in the “we” in his invitation to Holford for breakfast meeting the next morning.
It turns out that Lyons is listed as Worsley’s campaign consultant. Worsley and Lyons are partners in a large Mesa development in Mesa and run several LLCs together.
According to the texts, after the breakfast meeting, Holford urgently texted Montenegro: “You need to call me right now. Now.”
On Friday, Arizona Republic columnist Laurie Roberts noted that Holford “never complained that Montenegro was harassing her or that she felt forced to engage in their e-ffair.”
“I was stunned to find out that an ex-boyfriend, Kent Lyons, snuck onto my computer and stole my private information and began to shop it around to the media. I am considering what legal actions I may have for his involvement in this matter,” said Holford in a written statement.
“In addition to naming herself, Holford said her ex-boyfriend obtained the messages and photo to show to the press. Kent Lyons, the ex-boyfriend, stole her private information off her home computer and social media accounts, and Holford is now considering legal action against him, according to her statement. She believes she has been the victim of revenge porn. Lyons did not immediately respond to a request for comment,” reported the Arizona Capitol Times.
Despite having voted for HB2001 in 2016, which outlawed revenge porn, there is no evidence that Worsley contacted authorities to report the crime perpetrated by Lyons against Holford. Worsley later claimed that he sent Holford to Ryan to protect her. Given that Ryan is a flame thrower who Montenegro and other have referred to as the “Gloria Allred of Arizona,” Worsley’s claim of assistance is incredible.
Lyons deleted his twitter page sometime between February 6 and February 22, 2018. A search of cached tweets uncovered a “mention” of @KentLyons by Tyler Montague:
On January 10, 2018, Tyler Montague Tweeted: “It’s Going To Be Fun.” (TylerJMontague)
Montague first came into the public view during the recall campaign against former state Senate President Russell Pearce. Jerry Lewis, Montague and others had targeted Pearce, a conservative like Montenegro. The group joined forces with progressive community activist, Randy Parraz, and extremists to remove Pearce from the Senate.
Montague, through his shady Arizona Public Integrity Alliance, also targeted former Attorney General Tom Horne. “Montague raised more than $600,000 to run ads statewide against the embattled AG, an impressive amount for someone who only draws a salary on his day job,” reported the Phoenix New Times.
The Arizona Public Integrity Alliance was forced by a judge to apologize to Horne for their dishonesty. The ADI reported in December 2013, that Horne sued the Arizona Public Integrity Alliance for publishing its ads, it “knew that any FBI investigation (whatever its merit was, if any) had ended more than a year earlier with no criminal conduct alleged.”
Related article: Arizona Public Integrity Alliance Apologizes To Horne For Lack Of Integrity
“As part of that settlement, Arizona Public Integrity Alliance issued an apology for saying in their ads that Horne is still under investigation by the FBI, reported the ADI. “That statement was not true when made; Horne was not under investigation by the FBI at the time of the ads airing. The Arizona Public Integrity Alliance, Inc. apologizes to Horne for the statement,” read the group’s press release.”
A judge later found that the FBI agents had also lied about Horn, but that truth came out too late to save his campaign.
With Worsley’s history of targeting conservatives, few are surprised that he is emerging as a player in what many describe as a political hit job against Montenegro.