By Craig Harris | The Republic
Former state Department of Economic Security Director Tim Jeffries and Charles Loftus, his ex-protective services chief, have filed a lawsuit against the state alleging Gov. Doug Ducey’s administration libeled them in an investigative report about ammunition stockpiled at the social services agency.
The Governor’s Office did not immediately respond to questions regarding the suit.
Ducey ousted Jeffries and Loftus just before Thanksgiving, following a series of stories published by The Arizona Republic about questionable mass firings at DES and an agency party at a Nogales restaurant at which some employees alleged Jeffries paid for alcohol for his workers.
Shortly after Jeffries’ departure, state troopers confiscated about 50 handguns and 80,000 rounds of ammunition stored at DES headquarters near the state Capitol. That triggered an Arizona Department of Public Safety investigation.
