FBI Says Horne Clipped Car, Drove Off to Hide Affair

Tom Horne caused more than $1,000 worth of damage when he clipped another car in a parking garage and just drove off, in order, according to FBI agents, to conceal an affair he was having with his passenger.

Phoenix police records obtained Tuesday include detailed witness accounts by FBI agents who were following Horne, Arizona’s attorney general, on March 27 as part of a campaign finance investigation. They said they watched him back his borrowed vehicle into a white Range Rover in the parking garage of a Phoenix residential complex.

FBI agents said that after the fender-bender, Horne and the woman, since identified as Carmen Chenal, who works for Horne, walked off and entered the residential area of the complex where Chenal lives.

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“What were they doing surveilling me?” Horne asked. “It seems to me that’s something that people should raise.”

“We have no comment at this time,” responded FBI spokesman Manuel Johnson.

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The federal investigators were tailing Horne in the course of their investigation of Horne for allegations of campaign finance violations.

Tom Horne Photo by Ross D. Franklin

You can read more about Tom Horne’s history with Carmen Chenal here.

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In 2005, Carmen Chenal lost her law license after repeated violations of state bar regulations.
In 2006, just a few months after losing her license to practice law, Chenal is hired by Horne to work for him at the Arizona Department of Education.
In November 2010, Horne was elected Arizona Attorney General and hired Chenal despite the fact that she did not have a law license.

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Tom Horne is one of the main players in the effort to get rid of Mexican American Studies in the Tucson school district. You can read more about that here, and by clicking on the TUSD tag at the bottom of this post.

This is not Horne’s first run-in with the law.

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Horne was the president of T.C. Horne & Co., an investment firm he founded in the late 1960s. After the firm went bankrupt in 1970, Horne received a lifetime trading ban from the Securities and Exchange Commission

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I hope he is unable to finish his term in office. He was elected to a four year term two years ago.

The state of Ohio is perhaps the most critical swing state this election, and the latest polls are strong evidence that President Obama’s got it locked up. Via Nate Silver on Twitter:

7 polls released in Ohio in past 48 hours: Obama +2, Obama +3, Obama +3, Obama +3, Obama +5, Obama +5, Obama +5. #notthatcomplicated

— Nate Silver (@fivethirtyeight) October 31, 2012

It’s really not surprising that spokespeople for both General Motors and Chrysler have now denounced Mitt Romney’s shockingly blatant lies about their companies. In his zeal to smear President Obama in any way possible, Romney is actually willing to spread false claims that could seriously damage the auto industry; he’s put them in a position where they have to call him out to preserve their own reputations: Romney Camp: Pay No Attention to the Auto Companies Calling Us Liars.

A Romney ad running in Ohio says Obama “took GM and Chrysler into bankruptcy and sold Chrysler to Italians, who are going to build Jeeps in China.” …

Noting that Chrysler production plans for Jeep had entered the public debate, Marchionne said, “I feel obliged to unambiguously restate our position: Jeep production will not be moved from the United States to China.

“Jeep is one of our truly global brands with uniquely American roots. This will never change. So much so that we committed that the iconic Wrangler nameplate, currently produced in our Toledo, Ohio plant, will never see full production outside the United States,” he continued.

“Jeep assembly lines will remain in operation in the United States and will constitute the backbone of the brand,” Marchionne said. “It is inaccurate to suggest anything different.”

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GM’s spokesman Greg Martin assailed the ads on Tuesday, telling the Detroit Free Press that their facts come from a ‘parallel universe.’

‘No amount of campaign politics at its cynical worst will diminish our record of creating jobs in the U.S. and repatriating profits back to this country,’ Martin said.

At Buzzfeed, McKay Coppins has the pathetic tale behind the Romney campaign’s frantic efforts to capitalize politically on Hurricane Sandy without looking like they were capitalizing politically: The Making of Romney’s Storm Relief Event.

After some deliberation, the campaign decided to use their existing venue in Ohio to stage a makeshift and nonpartisan humanitarian project. It would be a way for Romney to show leadership — and get on the local news — without looking craven or opportunistic.

The cryptic advisory went out to press several hours later, announcing the time and location of a “storm relief event” on Tuesday. As Sandy made landfall in New Jersey, Romney’s campaign jet carried the candidate, along with his staff and traveling press corps, back to Ohio after an afternoon rally in Davenport, Iowa.

Meanwhile, on the ground in Dayton, aides were working feverishly to depoliticize the planned event. Campaign signs were removed from the premises, long rows of folding tables were set up, and logistics were painstakingly arranged to accomodate physical donations. …

The plan was for supporters to bring hurricane relief supplies to the event and then deliver the bags of canned goods, packages of diapers, and cases of water bottles to the candidate, who would be perched behind a table along with a slew of volunteers and his Ohio right-hand man, Senator Rob Portman. To complete the project and photo op, Romney would lead his crew in carrying the goods out of the gymnasium and into the Penske rental truck parked outside.

But the last-minute nature of the call for donations left some in the campaign concerned that they would end up with an empty truck. So the night before the event, campaign aides went to a local Wal-Mart and spent $5,000 on granola bars, canned food, and diapers to put on display while they waited for donations to come in, according to one staffer.

Cynicism is Mitt Romney’s constant watchword in this election. Another vignette from this crass display:

As supporters lined up to greet the candidate, a young volunteer in a Romney/Ryan T-shirt stood near the tables, his hands cupped around his mouth, shouting, “You need a donation to get in line!”

Empty-handed supporters pled for entrance, with one woman asking, “What if we dropped off our donations up front?”

The volunteer gestured toward a pile of groceries conveniently stacked near the candidate. “Just grab something,” he said.

Two teenage boys retrieved a jar of peanut butter each, and got in line. When it was their turn, they handed their “donations” to Romney. He took them, smiled, and offered an earnest “Thank you.”