By Yvonne Wingett Sanchez and Andrew Oxford | Arizona Republic
An influential lobbyist told a top staff member at the Arizona House of Representatives that Rep. David Cook sent him threatening emails after the lobbyist confronted the lawmaker about excessive drinking.
Bas Aja, lobbyist for the Arizona Cattle Feeders’ Association, confronted Cook last fall and then received “threatening emails on multiple occasions” from Cook in the middle of the night, Aja wrote in an email to the chief of staff for the House of Representatives.
In the Nov. 7 email to Michael Hunter, Aja wrote that Cook, R-Globe, did not correctly list the organization Aja represents as part of an ad hoc committee involving Pinal County.
“In case you are wondering why Cook did not list us … between you and I (and you can share it with Speaker if you need to) he got really angry with me 6 weeks ago when I confronted him about his drinking/drunkenness … since that time he has sent threatening emails on multiple occasions to me at 1:30, 2:00 am while he was drunk,” Aja wrote.
“When I confronted him I did it offering help — he did not accept it and went off the rails.”
The Arizona Republic reached out to Cook for comment Thursday.
“No one ever said a word about that email to me,” Cook said in a text message.
He did not respond to a question about the allegation that he sent threatening emails to Aja.
