An all-Republican committee of the Arizona House of Representatives has decided to call for the impeachment of Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes.
Thus providing the latest example of how and why the Arizona Republican Party, and with it the majority of the Legislature, has lost a great deal of credibility.
Recent examples in the U.S. House of Representatives have shown the folly of political animus substituting for good judgment, and the difference between high dudgeon and actual “high crimes and misdemeanors.” Such examples of misguided impeachment over political differences, not crimes, seem to be guideposts for the state’s GOP representatives, who apparently see themselves as mini-James Comers and Jim Jordans.
According to an overwrought 102-page report produced by the committee — Democrats refused to participate in this political cross-burning disguised as actual governance — Mayes has earned impeachment by doing things like filing lawsuits, threatening to file lawsuits and failing to provide sufficient obeisance to the committee itself.
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The lawmakers are incensed, in short, that Mayes has the temerity to do her job.
Among the supposedly impeachable offenses the committee says Mayes has committed:
— indicting Cochise County’s Tom Crosby and Peggy Judd for charges relating to their efforts to delay certification of election results;
— issuing a consumer alert about “crisis pregnancy centers,” alleging deceptive practices;
— threatening to bring charges against large farms in rural areas that are depleting groundwater supplies;
— refusing to defend a state law that prohibits those born as boys from participating in girls’ sports;
and “failing to accurately respond” to the committee’s requests for information.
That’s not to say we agree with every step Mayes has taken as attorney general. While we absolutely disagree with the election-denying rhetoric and actions of Judd and Crosby in Cochise County, we also believe it is an overreach to indict the pair.
But does Mayes have the legal right to obtain grand jury indictments against them? Of course she does.
These are not impeachable actions. They are things with which the GOP committee members strongly disagree.
To devalue impeachment from its function as a tool for good governance to a political smackdown tactic is to devalue our Constitution.
From the election-denying prelude to the Hobbs administration, to refusing to confirm the governor’s department heads, to calling for the impeachment of the attorney general, the state’s Republican legislators have done all they can to thwart a democratically elected executive-branch administration. Doing so reflects very poorly on them and on our state.
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