On Monday, Arizona businessman Will Graven, joined Rep. Bob Thorpe on the floor of the House of Representatives. Fellow legislators busied themselves as Thorpe recited allegations of public corruption and the toll Graven and others have paid due to it over the years.
By the time Thorpe had finished his recital, you could hear a pin drop. The dramatic facts of Graven’s case silenced even notoriously chatty lawmakers.
In May 2016, revered constitutional scholar, Ronald Rotunda, advised Graven in an email, that his travails could be “made into a very interesting movie.” Rotunda concluded, “You have won some significant victories already, but there is more to go.” At the time of the email exchange, neither man could have imagined how the plot thickened and that Graven would end up standing on the floor of the House nearly two years later.
Thorpe’s statement reads in its entirety:
Members, I’d like to introduce my constituent, Will Graven, who has a compelling legal problem.
Mr. Graven’s employees, his corporate attorney and his Phoenix outside legal counsel conspired to steal his companies, which caused him to lose his companies and millions of dollars.
Approximately 8 years ago, the Arizona Attorney General’s Office, under Tom Horne, began a 4 year criminal investigation, which culminated in 8 individuals being charged, where 5 pled guilty with promises to pay restitution to Mr. Graven. The 4-year investigation, which had been approved by AG Horne and his staff, including Criminal Division Chief Don Conrad, was 98% complete, with a legal cost to the state of approximately 1.6 million dollars. However, under the new AG, Mark Brnovich, the lead investigator continued to insist upon prosecuting Mr. Graven’s Phoenix outside council, which had already been approved during the prior 4 years.
Shockingly, AG Brnovich unexpectedly closed and dismissed all the cases, including the guilty pleas and restitution agreements for Mr. Graven, and then fired the lead investigator. Now, one of the defendants, who had agreed to a guilty plea and pay restitution, is threatening to sue the state for between $2-5 million dollars.
After dismissing the pleas and convictions, and throwing away a 4 year investigation and millions of state dollars spent on these cases, it is now unclear whether AG Brnovich will actually defend the state against this latest unjust action. So Mr. Graven has taken the unusual step in petitioning the Arizona Supreme Court to assign a Special Defender in order to protect the interests of the state against his former employee, a defendant who had pled guilty.
My question to AG Brnovich is: why in the world did you waste millions of dollars when you dismissed these completed criminal cases, fire your lead investigator, and deny Mr. Graven his Constitutionally protected due-process rights?
In March, the Arizona Supreme Court agreed to hear Graven’s request for a Special Defender. [View Petition for Special Defender]
In his filing with the Arizona Supreme Court, Graven requests the appointment of a “Special Defender” who will protect the State from paying millions of dollars in claims/hush money to suspects whose cases were dismissed to protect Brnovich” and others including members of the Snell and Wilmer law firm.
The Arizona Attorney General’s Office’s actions in the Graven matter have been a subject of a larger FBI investigation, according to numerous sources familiar with the case.
Currently, Graven’s case is also under consideration by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. “I hope that lawmakers, who heard of my plight today will consider contacting the courts in support of my fight. The Special Defender filing was made on behalf of the people of Arizona. I cannot sit by and watch the taxpayers bear the cost of criminals who pled guilty and the politicians who facilitating their crimes. I am eternally grateful to Rep Thorpe for being willing to bring this public corruption to light.”
Related articles:
Former Special Agent Tells Arizona Supreme Court Of Brnovich Corruption
Snell And Wilmer Case Was Approved To Proceed, Brnovich Under Scrutiny