We don't fight the battle for government transparency to win awards. But it's nice when it happens!
In April, Judicial Watch received an award from The Valley of the Sun Chapter, Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ), Phoenix's "premiere journalism association." While we've been involved in a number of efforts in Phoenix, this specific award was for our legal campaign to force the release of documents pertaining to Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon's security detail.
You may recall, we filed a FOIA request on December 11, 2009, seeking "all activity logs for Mayor Gordon's Security Detail." After the City of Phoenix stonewalled the request, Judicial Watch filed a lawsuit on May 17, 2010.
We believed these records would, among other things, shed light on possible misuse of taxpayer resources to further a personal relationship between Mayor Gordon, scheduled to leave office on January 3, 2012, and his chief campaign fundraiser Elissa Mullaney. Gordon admitted in December 2009 to a romantic relationship with Mullaney. (Both Gordon and Mullaney were married but separated from their spouses.)
And we were right!
As reported by The Arizona Republic:
In April, Judicial Watch received an award from The Valley of the Sun Chapter, Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ), Phoenix's "premiere journalism association." While we've been involved in a number of efforts in Phoenix, this specific award was for our legal campaign to force the release of documents pertaining to Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon's security detail.
You may recall, we filed a FOIA request on December 11, 2009, seeking "all activity logs for Mayor Gordon's Security Detail." After the City of Phoenix stonewalled the request, Judicial Watch filed a lawsuit on May 17, 2010.
We believed these records would, among other things, shed light on possible misuse of taxpayer resources to further a personal relationship between Mayor Gordon, scheduled to leave office on January 3, 2012, and his chief campaign fundraiser Elissa Mullaney. Gordon admitted in December 2009 to a romantic relationship with Mullaney. (Both Gordon and Mullaney were married but separated from their spouses.)
And we were right!
As reported by The Arizona Republic:
Records that Phoenix withheld from the public since 2010 show former Mayor Phil Gordon's security detail not only protected him when attending to official city matters, but outside of traditional business hours, taking him to the movies, the dry cleaners and his girlfriend's house.
An inside look at Gordon's activities both inside and outside of City Hall is available after Phoenix on Thursday released 476 pages of logs kept by Gordon's security detail from late December 2007 through 2009.
It's the first time the logs have been made available for public scrutiny since a conservative think tank, The Arizona Republic and other local media outlets initially requested the documents in late 2009.
An inside look at Gordon's activities both inside and outside of City Hall is available after Phoenix on Thursday released 476 pages of logs kept by Gordon's security detail from late December 2007 through 2009.
It's the first time the logs have been made available for public scrutiny since a conservative think tank, The Arizona Republic and other local media outlets initially requested the documents in late 2009.
We are that "conservative think tank." And we were the first to request the records.
Since 2005, Mullaney's company has received more than $340,000 in fees to raise funds for Gordon's campaigns and to work on other City initiatives. She received $200,000 of these funds after she and Gordon initiated their relationship. Former Arizona Supreme Court Justice Thomas A. Zlaket, hired by Gordon to review the matter, cleared the Mayor of any wrongdoing in this specific instance, noting the state's conflict of interest law does not cover girlfriends, only family members.
But I don't think there's any question Mayor Gordon misused taxpayer resources in the deployment of his security detail.
As I told The Arizona Republic, "It's one thing to have police officers assigned to him at public events. It's another thing to have him shepherded around to dates and the dry cleaners."
Even though JW obtained the records, some of the pages were redacted and our investigations team continues to analyze them.
Our thanks to our friends in Arizona, including our local counsel Greg Collins, who accepted the award on our behalf, for their assistance in achieving this victory for transparency. Source
Related: Judicial Watch Sues Los Angeles Judges for Violating Constitutional Rights of Reporter
Since 2005, Mullaney's company has received more than $340,000 in fees to raise funds for Gordon's campaigns and to work on other City initiatives. She received $200,000 of these funds after she and Gordon initiated their relationship. Former Arizona Supreme Court Justice Thomas A. Zlaket, hired by Gordon to review the matter, cleared the Mayor of any wrongdoing in this specific instance, noting the state's conflict of interest law does not cover girlfriends, only family members.
But I don't think there's any question Mayor Gordon misused taxpayer resources in the deployment of his security detail.
As I told The Arizona Republic, "It's one thing to have police officers assigned to him at public events. It's another thing to have him shepherded around to dates and the dry cleaners."
Even though JW obtained the records, some of the pages were redacted and our investigations team continues to analyze them.
Our thanks to our friends in Arizona, including our local counsel Greg Collins, who accepted the award on our behalf, for their assistance in achieving this victory for transparency. Source
Related: Judicial Watch Sues Los Angeles Judges for Violating Constitutional Rights of Reporter
