A Satanist reportedly showed up for Thursday’s for the Arizona House Ethics Committee hearing but accused Bible thief, Rep. Stephanie Stahl-Hamilton, failed to show. Committee Chair Rep. Joseph Chaplik called Stahl-Hamilton’s decision to skip the hearing and send attorneys, former Arizona Reps. Diego Rodriguez and Domingo DeGrazia instead, “disrespectful.”
Additional info: This woman was also vulgar and aggressive. She began swearing at swearing at Majority Whip Teresa Martinez and had to be escorted out of the building by House Security. This was after she demanded we place a statue of a medieval demon in the House lounge. 👿 https://t.co/6AeQYYMgtM
— Az State Rep. Justin Heap (@azjustinheap) May 26, 2023
Capitol insiders agreed, noting that Stahl-Hamilton’s choice of Rodriguez as a representative was a disrespectful statement in and of itself. Rodriguez had earned a reputation as Arizona’s “creepy porn legislator” due to his self-admitted penchant for pornographic images and videos.
Rodriguez left the Legislature to pursue a failed campaign bid for the Arizona attorney General’s spot.
Arizona State Reps. Justin Heap, David Marshall, and Lupe Diaz filed a formal complaint with the House Ethics Committee against Stahl Hamilton, who admitted to removing and concealing Bibles displayed in the House Members Lounge.
The three Representatives allege in their complaint that Stahl Hamilton “engaged in disorderly behavior, potentially committed repeated acts of theft, and created a hostile work environment, which demonstrate a lack of respect for other members of the Legislature, staff, visitors, and their property, and the rule of law.”
“The House Ethics Committee is responsible for considering complaints that are submitted by a House member accusing another member of behavior that violates House Rules,” said Chaplik after the hearing. “Representative Stahl Hamilton exercised her right not to be present today. However, it was disrespectful that she did not provide the courtesy of notifying the Chairman or Committee members that she had no intention of participating in her own Ethics Hearing. Today’s hearing was not a trial, but the Committee made every effort to provide Representative Stahl Hamilton the due process to which she is entitled as a member of the House. Unfortunately, because of her absence, and the limited information that could be provided by the counsel she sent to represent her, committee members and the public were left with a lot of unanswered questions. Regardless, it is the Committee’s duty to now review all available evidence and deliberate in preparation for the issuance of a report to the House.”
Stahl-Hamilton’s attorneys offered no defense for her theft of Bibles, but that the representative was merely “joking” and acting in protest at what she saw as some violation of “Church and State.
“Still disappointed in her,” tweeted Rep. Justine Heap, an attorney. “If she did this as a “protest to start a dialog on the separation of Church and State” as she claims, to not have the courage to appear in person and defend yourself and have that dialog is cowardly. I guess Representative Stahl-Hamilton only wants dialog in a forum where her own behavior will not be questioned.”
