Congressman Paul Gosar is raising questions about campaign finance issues that have been dogging Arizona Attorney General candidate Abe Hamadeh. At issue is whether or not Hamadeh disclosed the fact that his campaign coffers were largely empty before securing former President Donald Trump’s endorsement. Hamadeh had publicly bragged about his bloated cash-on-hand numbers without disclosing that the money was just for show and had already been returned.
According to tweets from Gosar and campaign finance documents filed with the Arizona Secretary of State’s Office, Hamadeh reported receiving a loan for $1,000,000 on March 21st, just in time to qualify for his 1st Quarter campaign finance report. As a result, his coffers on March 31st, 2022, looked very healthy to anyone trying to determine who were the viable candidates for Attorney General. But approximately two weeks later, on April 4th, the money was repaid to his brother, and Hamadeh was nearly out of cash.
@DrPaulGosar tweeted out a string explaining his concern:
We are blessed in Arizona to have a deep bench of excellent candidates. In the AG race I endorsed @rodneyglassman because of his extensive trial experience and his rule of law philosophy. But I recognize other people prefer Tiffany Shed or @AbrahamHamadeh
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All primary candidates can rest assured I will back and vigorously support the winner.
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I have been made aware of a transaction, however, from @AbrahamHamadeh that puzzles me.
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On March 21 he reported a $1,000,000 loan and $1.2 cash on hand, which is an excellent quarterly report (which came out on March 31). The next report would come out June 30.
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On April 4th he tweeted his cash on hand at $1,062,000.
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But later that same day he returned the $1,000,000 loan thus leaving a cash on hand of $62,000.
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This would not be known until the end of June disclosure. On June 15, however, the President endorsed Abe.
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If full disclosure to President Trump was made of the actual cash on hand balance then this is no big deal, but still unusual. But if not, it could be seen as misleading.
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I am not saying anything was done wrong. Only that (a) this is unusual and (b) I am asking if this was disclosed to the President prior to the endorsement? I personally don’t care about a candidate’s cash situation. I endorse based on principle. But most do care.
Hamadeh has not offered an explanation as to why the loan was returned shortly after it was reported. His latest finance report shows he has less than $15,000 cash on hand, the least of any Republican candidate running for AG.
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