Arizona CD2 Candidate Files Ethics Complaint Alleging Wendy Rogers Ordered Hit On Him

rogers
Wendy Rogers

Congressional candidate Ron Watkins has filed a multi-item ethics complaint against State Senator Wendy Rogers, after the latter posted a comment on social media which Watkins fears could be construed as soliciting a threat on his life.

Watkins hopes to be the Republican nominee for District 2 of the U.S. House of Representatives. His June 10 notarized complaint cites six reasons the Senate Ethics Committee chaired by Sen. Sine Kerr (R-Buckeye) should commence an investigation into whether Rogers “is fit for service” based on “a pattern of behavior that is unbecoming of a Senator.”

The first item on the list directly involves Watkins, one of seven candidates running in the Aug. 2 Republican primary for the chance to take on Democratic incumbent Rep. Tom O’Halleran in the 2022 General Election.

According to Watkins’ letter, Rogers posted a message on her Telegram group in February which read “Dear Groyper army, please hit Ron Watkins. Love, Wendy.” Watkins added that a Groyper is a member of the alt-right white nationalism movement.

“As an Asian-American, I am now concerned about my safety, as I believe that someone in this group would interpret this posting to mean a ‘hit’ on my life,” Watkins told Kerr. “This careless attack on me should not go unnoticed and she should be held accountable.”

Rogers reportedly made the Telegram post after Watkins criticized the senator, according to the letter. Like Rogers, Watkins is no stranger to controversy and is considered a key figure in QAnon conspiracy movement.

What caused the breach between the two is unclear, given that both are adamant believers that Donald Trump’s second term was stolen in November 2020.

Watkins also cites an ethics complaint filed last month against Rogers related to a message she posted after the May 14 mass shooting in Buffalo, New York which left 10 people dead and three injured. Her message simply reads “Fed boy summer has started in Buffalo.”

She has insisted her comment -which was widely interpreted as meaning the livestreamed shooting in Buffalo was not committed by the 18-year-old who surrendered to police- was taken out of context.

“Her intended context has not yet been explained,” Watkins noted to Kerr.

The five-member Senate Ethics Committee unanimously voted on May 25 to initiate an investigation into Rogers’ conduct related to that message. That investigation is ongoing.

Another item Watkins described to Kerr is an anti-Semitic image Rogers posted to social media in February. The image shows  Rogers and White Nationalist leader Nick Fuentes next to an apparently dead Rhinoceros. Fuentes is considered one of the leaders of the Groyper movement.

The word CPAC, which is short for Conservative Political Action Conference, is superimposed on the image with what appears to be a Jewish star within the letter A.

“The message is clearly that CPAC is run by Jewish RINOs and that she has short and killed it,” Watkins noted.

Watkins also refers to an ethics complaint previously filed by one of Rogers’ former staff members claiming abusive treatment. The fifth example is Rogers’ fundraising effort asking for money to fight “the commies” who oppose her.

“Wendy Rogers has already had ethics violations and has been censured, and those actions have not brought about positive change, and in fact, quite the contrary,” Watkins wrote to Kerr.

  • Public records show Watkins initially filed his complaint via email on June 7 but it was not in proper format, according to a notice by Chris Kleminich, the attorney for the Senate Ethics Committee which has subpoena power to demand the production of documents as well as the taking of sworn testimony.

Kleminich informed Watkins that to officially file an ethics complaint under the Committee’s rules of procedure the complaint needs to be signed and notarized. That rule has now been complied with, so Kerr must evaluate the complaint to ensure it alleges conduct which falls under the Ethics Committee’s purview.

  • “If the allegations do not constitute conduct alleged to be unethical under these rules, the Chairman shall dismiss the complaint and notify the other Committee members and the Complainant of this action by mail or electronic mail,” according to Committee Rule 9.

In addition to Kerr, the other Republican members of the Senate Ethics Committee are Sens. Warren Petersen and Rick Gray. The Democrats on the committee are Sen. Martin Quezada and Victoria Steele.