NEW: Schweikert Campaign Again Running Up Significant Legal Fees, Debt As Legal Fallout From His Innuendo Attack Ads Comes To A Head

Arizona's Law and Arizona's Politics have long covered Arizona Congressman David Schweikert's activities at the intersection. Today marks a return to that coverage, spurred by his new campaign finance filing by the longtime Representative for the Scottsdale-based Congressional District (now CD1).

On the surface, Schweikert - who is facing another tough reelection battle in 2024 - had a strong fundraising quarter. He brought in $581,000, which was nearly twice as much as he paid out. Thus, he increased his cash on hand (as of June 30) to more than $634,000.

However, a closer look shows that he racked up an additional $110,000 in unpaid debts during the March through June quarter, and now owes a total of $278,674.22. ($168,785 is owed to the Schweikerts personally, but his campaign consistently pays down those low interest loans.)

More than half of this quarter's new debt is for legal expenses, and the campaign now owes attorney Tim LaSota more than $60,095.

LaSota has been representing the Schweikerts and the campaign in a quartet of lawsuits all stemming from his attacks on Elijah Norton, his opponent in the 2022 primary. And, now it looks like the Congressman is getting them settled before the 2024 primary race begins.

Schweikert printed signs and mailers attacking Norton and making insinuations that Hammon called "homophobic" and that Human Rights Campaign called "extremely over the line". (Reporting by Brahm Resnik/KPNX)

The main case is a defamation case filed by Norton in Maricopa County Superior Court, which is at the Motion to Dismiss stage. A Notice of Settlement has been filed in a federal court copyright case brought by the photographer who took the picture that the Schweikert campaign used without permission. The other cases were filed by the man also in the photo and a company which Norton owned a portion of.

The latest legal thicket is cheap compared to the $1.1M+ the campaign spent paying attorneys to handle Schweikert's ethics investigation. That ended before the last election and resulted in him also paying fines totaling $175,000 (to the House and to the FEC).  

(This article has been corrected to note that it was Hammon who called the insinuations "homophobic" and the Human Rights Campaign that called them "extremely over the line".)

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