Liberal Republican Tom Horne reaches settlements over his alleged wrongdoing; taxpayers left on the hook

We find the timing suspicious, liberal Attorney General Tom Horne reaches settlements over his alleged wrongdoing this early into his reelection campaign, in order to avoid the ongoing scrutiny leading up to the primary election. Meanwhile, taxpayers are left holding the bag as the government picks up the tab for his alleged wrongdoing. Remember this is the married guy who went over to his mistress's house during lunch, hit a parked car, then left without leaving a note, all witnessed by the FBI which was staking him out over the campaign finance allegations - and the hit and run isn't even what the settlements were over! How much are the settlements for? An excerpt from the Phoenix New Times article about the settlements, this should give you some idea how much the settlements will end up being:

The first involves AG investigator Meg Hinchey, who sued Horne, the state, and Horne chief deputy Eric "Rick" Bistrow last year after filing a notice of claim for $10 million in 2012 for retaliation, slander, and harassment.

The other is a campaign finance case against Horne and former campaign operative Kathleen Winn (now the AG's outreach director). In October, Yavapai County Attorney Sheila Polk ordered that the pair pay back nearly $400,000 in ill-gotten campaign contributions or face triple damages.

Mark Brnovich, a real conservative who is challenging Horne in the primary, had this to say, "Tom Horne is a classic bully and the only way to stop a bully is to fight back. Meg Hinchey fought back and blew the whistle on Horne and his staff when she believed he was covering up campaign state finance law violations and attempting to destroy records. The problem is that while Tom Horne settles with Meg Hinchey, Arizona taxpayers are left holding the bill."

It's time to clean house and elect someone with ethics. Click here to read about Brnovich, who I've known well since had offices next door to each other at the Attorney General's Office.