Gay sheriff quits Romney's Arizona group
Source: Agencies |
February 20, 2012, Monday
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A SHERIFF seeking the Republican nomination for an Arizona congressional seat was forced to confirm he is gay on Saturday and resigned from presidential hopeful Mitt Romney's Arizona committee amid allegations of misconduct made by a man with whom he previously had a relationship.
Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu denied claims he tried to threaten the man, a Mexican immigrant and a former campaign volunteer, with deportation if their past relationship was made public. The man's allegations were first published on Friday in The New Times, a Phoenix alternative weekly magazine.
Babeu, a first-term sheriff who has risen to national prominence with his strong opposition to illegal immigration and smuggling, said the accusations were an attempt to hurt his political career.
He vowed to continue his campaign in Arizona's rural western 4th Congressional District seat, but said he had called presidential candidate Romney's staff to say he would step down from his post as state campaign co-chair.
"This whole rumor, this whole idea of who I am in my private life has been shopped around," Babeu said during an hour-long press conference on Saturday in front of his sheriff's office. "This was a way, the hook, of how this could be brought out, and to malign and attack a sheriff who does stand for conservative principals, who does enforce the law."
The man's lawyer, Melissa Weiss-Riner, released a statement on Saturday saying the man retained her firm's services because he was contacted by Babeu's attorney and "felt intimidated."
"Jose continues to live in fear, and is currently in the process of moving again," she said. "Therefore, he is not available to speak with the media at this time."
Weiss-Riner earlier told The New Times that Babeu's attorney and campaign consultant falsely told her client that his visa had expired. Babeu said he believed the man, identified only by his first name Jose, was living in the country legally.
The New Times posted a photo provided by the man of the two embracing. It also posted a cellphone self-portrait of a smiling Babeu in his underwear and another of what appears to be the shirtless sheriff in a bathroom, posted on a gay dating website. The man provided the magazine with photos of himself and Babeu and text messages between the two. Babeu didn't deny their authenticity.
Babeu issued a sweeping denial of any wrongdoing in front of his headquarters.
Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu denied claims he tried to threaten the man, a Mexican immigrant and a former campaign volunteer, with deportation if their past relationship was made public. The man's allegations were first published on Friday in The New Times, a Phoenix alternative weekly magazine.
Babeu, a first-term sheriff who has risen to national prominence with his strong opposition to illegal immigration and smuggling, said the accusations were an attempt to hurt his political career.
He vowed to continue his campaign in Arizona's rural western 4th Congressional District seat, but said he had called presidential candidate Romney's staff to say he would step down from his post as state campaign co-chair.
"This whole rumor, this whole idea of who I am in my private life has been shopped around," Babeu said during an hour-long press conference on Saturday in front of his sheriff's office. "This was a way, the hook, of how this could be brought out, and to malign and attack a sheriff who does stand for conservative principals, who does enforce the law."
The man's lawyer, Melissa Weiss-Riner, released a statement on Saturday saying the man retained her firm's services because he was contacted by Babeu's attorney and "felt intimidated."
"Jose continues to live in fear, and is currently in the process of moving again," she said. "Therefore, he is not available to speak with the media at this time."
Weiss-Riner earlier told The New Times that Babeu's attorney and campaign consultant falsely told her client that his visa had expired. Babeu said he believed the man, identified only by his first name Jose, was living in the country legally.
The New Times posted a photo provided by the man of the two embracing. It also posted a cellphone self-portrait of a smiling Babeu in his underwear and another of what appears to be the shirtless sheriff in a bathroom, posted on a gay dating website. The man provided the magazine with photos of himself and Babeu and text messages between the two. Babeu didn't deny their authenticity.
Babeu issued a sweeping denial of any wrongdoing in front of his headquarters.
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