According to Arizona State Representative Joseph Chaplik, a disagreement with the House Majority Leader became so heated that the Leader, Michael Carbone, grabbed items from Chaplik’s desk on the House floor and threw them on the floor. Chaplik’s accusation was quickly circulated throughout the Capitol by those looking to portray the Republican caucus in disarray.
The charge prompted a House investigation that included a review of video of the House floor, which revealed Chaplik made up the charges. Carbone never grabbed or threw any of his items.
“Chaplik lied, and it was a dumb lie, because of course there is video, so he got busted lying in full color,” said one Capitol insider.
Chaplik ran for Speaker in 2022 and was defeated by Ben Toma, then he ran again in 2024 and was defeated by Steve Montenegro. He continues to battle members of the party he sought to lead, leading some to speculate his attacks were driven by bitterness of his back-to-back defeats.
“While Republicans are mostly focused on doing battle with Katie Hobbs and the Democrats, we still have a couple of Republicans who won’t stop shooting at other Republicans,” complained one House member.
The video evidence ends any further investigation into the matter, but there is some speculation that the House Ethics Committee could get involved, as it is a likely breach of House rules to make false accusations about other members.
Chaplik was the chair of the Ethics Committee when it found former Arizona State Representative Liz Harris guilty of damaging the “integrity of the institution.” A resolution to expel Harris outlined her actions, and her attempts to avoid the consequences of those actions by lying to the Ethics Committee.