Guests – Alex Kolodin, Lisa Von Geldern, Garrett Ziegler
Arizona Senate Passes Controversial Budget Despite House Opposition
The Arizona legislature found itself in chaos Friday morning as the state Senate approved a $17.6 billion budget package in a pre-dawn vote that has sparked fierce opposition from House Republicans and concerns about the future of conservative governance in the state.
The budget, passed with a razor-thin 17-12 margin at approximately 2 AM, represents what critics are calling a complete capitulation to Governor Katie Hobbs and her Democratic agenda. The vote was notably bipartisan - both for and against it - with more Democrats supporting the measure than Republicans in some instances.
The Thursday Night Massacre
House Representative Alex Kolodin, who is running for Secretary of State, described the budget approval as "the Thursday night massacre," highlighting the extraordinary circumstances that led to its passage. Speaking from his car while en route to an emergency Republican House meeting, Kolodin painted a stark picture of what transpired.
"You've got the Freedom Caucus and the Speaker of the House aligned to try to kill this Democrat budget," Kolodin explained. "What happened with this budget is that the Senate leadership spent all year negotiating with Katie Hobbs and essentially just capitulated to her and gave her everything that she wanted."
The budget controversy centers on what Republicans see as unchecked spending authority granted to Secretary of State Adrian Fontes and Attorney General Chris Mayes. Perhaps most concerning to conservatives is funding included for Fontes's voter registration programs, which critics argue could be used to register ineligible voters.
Hidden Funding and Lack of Transparency
One of the most shocking revelations came when Kolodin compared the Senate and House budget proposals for the Secretary of State's office. Initially appearing that the Senate budget allocated $5 million less to Fontes than the House version, further investigation revealed the opposite was true.
"They were hiding money from Adrian Fontes because there was a five million dollar grant that they put no use restrictions on," Kolodin discovered. "And if you don't put any use restrictions on a federal grant, you don't have to list it in the budget. That's how bad the Senate budget is. They're literally hiding money for Adrian Fontes."
This lack of transparency extends beyond just the Secretary of State's office. The budget includes funding for various corporate interests and new programs that critics argue amount to corporate welfare, including subsidies for aerial taxi companies and defense innovation programs.
Medicaid Expansion and Spending Concerns
The Senate budget dramatically expands Medicaid spending, which Republicans view as a political strategy by Governor Hobbs to buy votes ahead of the 2026 gubernatorial election. The expansion goes well beyond what the House proposed in their more conservative budget alternative.
"Katie Hobbs goes, 'Oh, no, no, no, we've got to have millions and millions and millions, tens of millions of dollars more for Medicaid because fundamentally, the Democrat Party runs a patronage operation,'" Kolodin explained. "They want to give more people more taxpayer-funded benefits in exchange for their vote, all to the detriment of hardworking Arizonans."
The House budget, while not perfect according to fiscal hawks, included important safeguards and restrictions that the Senate version eliminated entirely.
Election Integrity Sacrificed
Perhaps the most devastating blow to conservative priorities was the Senate's public execution of Florida-style election reform legislation. This measure would have required mail-in voters to confirm their address each election cycle and banned foreign funding of elections - reforms that polling showed Arizona voters overwhelmingly supported.
"They put that measure up on the board and publicly executed it as a sacrifice to Katie Hobbs to show them that they're on her side," Kolodin said, expressing particular disappointment in Senators Bolick and Shamp for voting against the measure.
The Florida model has proven effective, helping transform that state from purple to red. Florida went from electing Ron DeSantis by half a percentage point in his first gubernatorial race to 19.5 percentage points in his reelection, with election integrity reforms playing a significant role in that transformation.
Senate Leadership's Controversial Decisions
Senate President Warren Peterson, who is running for Attorney General, has drawn sharp criticism for his role in facilitating what many see as a betrayal of conservative principles. The situation became more peculiar when Peterson was conspicuously absent during key amendment votes, apparently to avoid being on record opposing conservative measures.
"Can you imagine the budget, the biggest bill of the year? You're the president of the Senate and you're not there," Kolodin noted. "Well, it's because you're dodging."
The budget process revealed what critics describe as a "corporate cronies" system where powerful interests receive taxpayer-funded benefits regardless of whether establishment Republicans or Democrats are in charge.
House Republicans' Path Forward
The immediate focus turns to House Speaker Steve Montenegro and whether he will bring the Senate budget to a floor vote. House Republicans are exploring several options to block or modify the legislation, including refusing the Senate's request to adjourn sine die (officially ending the legislative session).
If the House rejects both the budget and the adjournment request, it would force negotiations that could potentially strip out the most egregious provisions and restore important safeguards. However, this requires House Republicans to show unprecedented backbone against what some describe as the "nuclear option" of rolling the speaker.
Key Differences Between House and Senate Budgets
The House budget included several conservative priorities that the Senate version eliminated:
Permanent extension of a $100 million hospital tax
Prohibition of in-state tuition for students without legal status (contradicting voter-approved Proposition 308)
Funding to address backlogs in the state's school voucher program
Salary freezes for family court judges and employees
A $400 million ending balance of unspent funds
The Senate budget not only removed these provisions but actively funded programs that conservatives oppose, including expanded Medicaid and unrestricted grants to state officials.
Corporate Welfare and Special Interests
The budget includes numerous examples of what critics call corporate welfare. The Chase Field renovation funding, which passed 19-11 with Democratic support, commits taxpayer money to benefit the Arizona Diamondbacks' private business interests.
Other corporate benefits include funding for defense contractors and subsidies for emerging aerial taxi companies. These expenditures occur while essential services like law enforcement and infrastructure needs remain underfunded.
Impact on County Election Operations
The budget controversy extends to county-level election administration. Maricopa County Recorder Justin Heap and Yuma County Recorder face ongoing conflicts with their respective Boards of Supervisors over basic operational needs like IT staff for maintaining voter rolls.
"How is the guy supposed to maintain clean and accurate voter rolls in our state's largest county if he doesn't have information technology staff?" Kolodin asked, highlighting how county supervisors have systematically undermined election integrity efforts.
Broader Implications for 2026
The budget battle represents more than just fiscal policy disagreements. Conservative leaders warn that this capitulation to Democratic priorities could hand control of the state to Democrats in 2026 and beyond.
"It will hand the state to the Democrats on a silver platter in 2026 and it must be stopped," Kolodin emphasized. "We cannot stress enough the importance of the 2026 elections."
The stakes extend beyond Arizona's borders, as the state represents a crucial battleground for national politics. The success or failure of conservative governance in Arizona could influence federal elections and policy directions for years to come.
The Corruption Connection
The budget controversy connects to broader concerns about corruption in Arizona politics. Recent examples include the Cochise County jail tax situation, where officials collected millions for a promised jail but failed to deliver, with Attorney General Chris Mayes and Secretary of State Adrian Fontes attempting to intervene inappropriately.
These patterns of corruption and mismanagement make the Senate's decision to provide additional unrestricted funding particularly troubling to conservative observers.
What Voters Can Do
Conservative activists are mobilizing to pressure House Republicans to stand firm against the Senate budget. Key actions include:
Contacting all Republican House members to oppose the Senate budget
Demanding rejection of the Senate's sine die adjournment request
Supporting primary challenges against Republicans who facilitated the budget
Monitoring how representatives vote on the final budget package
The weekend presents a critical window for grassroots pressure to influence the outcome. House Republicans need public support to justify taking the politically risky step of blocking the Senate budget.
The Stakes Moving Forward
This budget battle represents a defining moment for Arizona's Republican Party and conservative movement. The choice between principled opposition and political expedience will determine whether Arizona continues its purple state trajectory or moves decisively in either direction.
The outcome will influence not just state policy but also signal to voters whether Republican majorities translate into conservative governance or merely different flavors of the same establishment politics.
A Call for Political Courage
The situation demands what Kolodin calls "political war" rather than mere political gamesmanship. "We're engaged in political war and it's a war for the survival of this state. It's a war to stop you and your Senate colleagues from giving this state away to Katie Hobbs and the radical corporatist left."
Success requires House Republicans to risk their political careers by taking unprecedented action against their Senate colleagues. The alternative, according to conservatives, is the effective surrender of Arizona to Democratic control despite Republican electoral victories.
The next few days will determine whether Arizona's Republican majority can govern as conservatives or whether political expediency will continue to trump principled governance. The answer will shape Arizona politics for years to come and potentially influence the national political landscape as well.
Investigative Journalist Exposes Ongoing Biden Family Corruption
While Arizona grapples with its budget crisis, investigative journalist Garrett Ziegler continues his work exposing corruption at the highest levels of American government through his organization Marco Polo. Ziegler's comprehensive research into the Biden family's criminal activities remains relevant despite Hunter Biden's controversial presidential pardon.
The Scope of Biden Family Crimes
Ziegler's meticulous investigation documented 459 legal violations committed by Hunter Biden and his associates, covering both state and federal laws and regulations. Unlike typical corruption allegations, Marco Polo's work provides specific statutory citations for each violation, making the charges difficult to dismiss through what the Biden family calls "plausible deniability."
"Our report is so detailed that we don't just say, hey, that guy committed a crime. We actually put the statute found in the US code and or the exact number of the violation in the code of federal regs," Ziegler explained. This level of specificity has made his organization a target for cancellation by banks and payment processors.
The research encompasses the contents of Hunter Biden's abandoned laptop, which contained 128,000 emails spanning years of criminal activity. The last documented activity on the device was March 17, 2019, meaning many of the crimes documented have exceeded their statute of limitations.
State-Level Prosecution Opportunities
Despite the federal pardon's broad scope, significant opportunities remain for state-level prosecutions. Ziegler identifies Arkansas as having particularly strong jurisdiction due to Hunter's financial advisor Edward Pruitt's residence in Fayetteville and the routing of wire transfers from Ukrainian and Chinese sources through Arkansas banks.
"Most of the wire transfers from Hunter Biden from Ukraine, Chinese politically exposed personnel, corrupt officials, they touched Arkansas. There was venue," Ziegler noted. The Arkansas Attorney General's office received copies of Marco Polo's evidence but has failed to act on clear felonies.
This prosecutorial cowardice extends beyond Arkansas. Despite having jurisdiction and evidence, Republican state prosecutors have largely refused to pursue cases against Hunter Biden, demonstrating what Ziegler calls "sheer cowardice."
Banking and Financial System Corruption
Marco Polo's work has made them targets of systematic financial persecution. The organization has been canceled by four different payment processors and multiple banks, including Fifth Third Bank, whose independent director Evan Bayh served with Joe Biden in the Senate for decades.
"Fifth Third banks pornographers and gamblers and casinos on the Ohio River, but they wouldn't bank Marco Polo. They said we did not meet their risk profile," Ziegler revealed. The banking restrictions occurred despite Marco Polo using accounts solely for accepting grassroots donations and violating no laws or bank policies.
This financial persecution demonstrates how corruption extends beyond individual politicians to encompass entire institutional networks designed to protect establishment figures while silencing critics.
The Pardon's Questionable Legality
The 10-year, 11-month scope of Hunter Biden's presidential pardon raises unprecedented legal questions that have never been challenged in court. Ziegler expresses doubts about whether such an expansive preemptive pardon is legal or enforceable under constitutional law.
The pardon's timing and scope suggest foreknowledge of undisclosed criminal activity extending well beyond the laptop's documented timeframe. This raises questions about what additional crimes the Biden family committed that required such broad protection.
Sex Trafficking and Ongoing Crimes
Among the most serious allegations documented in the laptop are sex trafficking charges involving women aged 19-22, some younger than Hunter's own daughters. While these crimes carry a six-year statute of limitations, the evidence suggests ongoing criminal activity that may fall within prosecutable timeframes.
The laptop contents reveal a pattern of exploitation and criminal behavior that extends far beyond financial corruption into human trafficking and abuse. The graphic nature of this evidence makes it particularly damaging to the Biden family's public image.
Corporate Media and Institutional Cover-Up
Major news organizations and institutions have actively suppressed Marco Polo's findings despite their documentation meeting the highest journalistic standards. Conversely, biographers and researchers studying the Biden family regularly consult Marco Polo's database for accurate information.
"Biographers of Joe have consulted us. So all these big name biographers who are putting out books published by Random House, you know, Jules Whitaker, all of those people go to us for research," Ziegler explained. This demonstrates that even establishment figures recognize the accuracy of Marco Polo's work while publicly ignoring it.
Technological Innovations in Corruption Documentation
Marco Polo is pioneering new methods for documenting and presenting corruption evidence through mind mapping technology and comprehensive databases. Their email database, containing all 128,000 emails from Hunter's laptop, is being redesigned with advanced search and highlighting features.
"We're creating a lot of mind maps. I'm obsessed with this new mind map tool built out of Germany called MindMeister," Ziegler described. These tools allow for complex relationship mapping between corrupt actors and their activities.
The organization's main website, MarcolPolo501c3.org, serves as a central hub for accessing all documented evidence, social media content, and analysis tools.
Expanding Investigations Beyond the Bidens
While the Biden family investigation established Marco Polo's credibility, the organization is expanding into other high-profile corruption cases. Current projects include investigating the Epstein client list and prosecuting a leaked client list from convicted sex trafficker Larry Ray.
The Larry Ray case involved a man who moved into his daughter's Sarah Lawrence College dorm and proceeded to traffic one of her friends. Prosecutors accidentally posted a client list to the public docket for one hour, which Ziegler immediately downloaded.
"We're going through the 121 names and we've identified about 70 of them. Now, to their luck, 50 of them have such common names that we won't be able to definitively ID them and they're going to get off," Ziegler explained.
The Broader Corruption Network
Marco Polo's investigations reveal corruption as a systemic problem involving networks of politicians, corporate leaders, and institutional figures who protect each other regardless of party affiliation. The Biden family represents just one node in a larger web of corruption that spans both major political parties.
"Most of the Republicans in the legislature, they don't really care who runs the state because it is establishment Democrat, establishment Republican, right? They all have the same interest, which is taking away your liberties and taking away your money and giving it to their corporate cronies," the investigation suggests.
Grassroots Funding and Independence
Unlike many political organizations, Marco Polo operates entirely on grassroots donations without any taxpayer funding. This independence allows them to pursue investigations that threaten powerful interests without concern for institutional retaliation.
Supporters can contribute through BidenReport.com, where the complete investigative report is available for free. This transparency contrasts sharply with establishment organizations that receive significant taxpayer funding while producing partisan content.
Future Investigative Priorities
Marco Polo's focus extends beyond documenting past crimes to preventing future corruption through systematic exposure of corrupt networks. The organization prioritizes personnel over process, focusing on identifying and mapping corrupt actors rather than simply documenting their methods.
"What Marco Polo is essentially doing is becoming the chronicler of 21st century corruption," Ziegler explained. This involves creating comprehensive databases and visual tools that make complex corruption schemes accessible to ordinary citizens.
Educational and Legal Impact
The organization's work serves multiple purposes: educating the public about corruption, providing evidence for potential prosecutions, and creating historical records of criminal activity. Legal scholars and journalists rely on Marco Polo's documentation as the most comprehensive source of information about Biden family corruption.
The investigation's impact extends beyond immediate political consequences to establishing new standards for corruption documentation and citizen journalism. Marco Polo demonstrates how private organizations can expose corruption that government institutions refuse to investigate.
Call for Citizen Engagement
Ziegler emphasizes that combating corruption requires active citizen participation beyond simply voting. Citizens must become more discerning about their elected officials and support independent investigators who can document corruption without institutional bias.
"It is incumbent on voters to become more discerning. And I know it's hard. I remember as a voter, I thought certain people were great that were just awful," he noted. This requires supporting organizations like Marco Polo that can provide detailed, factual information about political corruption.
The work continues despite institutional opposition, banking persecution, and media blackouts. The organization's persistence demonstrates that exposing corruption requires sustained commitment and citizen support rather than relying on compromised institutions to police themselves.