John Shadegg/Flickr
By Ronald J. Hansen | Arizona Republic
After months of legal battles, the Republican-controlled state Senate and the GOP-dominated Maricopa County Board of Supervisors found one man they both trust with sensitive information: former U.S. Rep. John Shadegg.
The eight-term Republican who retired from Congress in 2011 and works as a lawyer and lobbyist has agreed to serve as the special master to review the county’s routers and logs showing internet activity.
The material is part of the Senate’s ongoing review of the county’s election ballots. His involvement in screening the county’s records for the Senate ends a standoff that threatened state-controlled funding to the county.
Shadegg’s unchallenged record as a conservative and his background decades ago with the state’s Attorney General’s Office under Republican Bob Corbin left him as a respected figure both sides could accept to screen the routers and logs. He has worked on election law legal matters before and after his tenure in Congress.
For his part, Shadegg on Monday promised an unbiased review of what is legally permitted to be released.
