Rep. Mark Finchem, R-Oro Valley. /Screenshot via YouTube
By Jerod MacDonald-Evoy | Arizona Mirror
A liberal watchdog group is asking the Secretary of State to investigate whether Oro Valley Republican legislator Mark Finchem violated Arizona law by not disclosing the existence of a business entity that received more than $6,000 from President Donald Trump for his efforts to help overturn Arizona’s election results.
Trump’s campaign paid $6,037 to “Mrk Finchem Pllc” on Dec. 18 for “recount: legal consulting.” The Campaign for Accountability found that in Finchem’s most recent required financial disclosure with the secretary of state, Finchem did not disclose the existence of the entity.
“Moreover, it appears that Representative Finchem has failed to disclose the existence of Mark Finchem, PLLC on any of the financial disclosure forms he filed with your office since 2015 when he was first required to do so upon his election as a member of the State House of Representatives,” Campaign for Accountability Executive Director Michelle Kuppersmith wrote in the letter to Secretary of State Katie Hobbs.
Finchem did not ever list the company, which has existed since 2008, as a source of income or as a business entity he controlled. Both are required by state law, and intentionally filing a false statement or failing to disclose everything required is a misdemeanor offense.
A review of financial disclosure statements by the Arizona Mirror found Finchem did disclose the PLLC in 2018 as the entity holding his real estate license. But the next year, he disclosed that the entity holding his license was his employer, not the PLLC.
