AG accuses Apache Co. Attorney of questionable purchases, tampered evidence, candidate harassment

APACHE COUNTY, AZ (AZFamily) —A letter from the Arizona Attorney General’s Office details what their office is investigating regarding the allegations of misuse of public money and threatening and intimidation of a political opponent.

The letter was sent Monday by the Attorney General’s Criminal Division chief to attorneys representing Apache County Attorney Michael Whiting.

In the letter, they lay out some of what they found involving questionable purchases found in Whiting’s Office linked to his wife, Joy Whiting, the Apache County School superintendent’s campaign, tampering with evidence, and using his employees to threaten a candidate running against his wife.

According to the Attorney General’s Office, during the search of the Apache County Attorney’s Office in St. Johns, they found $44,000 in campaign materials, including ten boxes of campaign materials for Joy Whiting, the Apache County School Superintendent who is running for re-election and the wife of County Attorney Michael Whiting. “Agents also located campaign items for Mr. Whiting in the basement of the ACAO, where closed case files are stored.”

The letter also says Whiting employed interns to sit at a desk in the basement of the county attorney’s office and organize campaign materials for Whiting and his wife.

Attorney General investigators said they also found “two other concerning purchases,” including a delivery of gym equipment Mr. Whiting had delivered to the office reportedly purchased with a county credit card, “contrary to procurement policies, which left the card maxed out.”

The state A.G.’s office also questions whether Whiting used county funds to purchase drones with county funds for his private business.

“Perhaps there are reasonable explanations for these purchases, but at this time they raise further concerns about the use of public monies that the Attorney General is still investigating,” the letter said.

Whiting previously said in an e-mail to Arizona’s Family, “As to campaign items, the office or myself do not purchase such with public funds. I have not had an opponent run against me in the last four election cycles. As such I haven’t ran a campaign in almost 16 years.”

The Attorney General’s office said the search warrant was performed in part because of concerns over evidence tampering.

“Last month, the Attorney General’s Office served a subpoena on a local business for records related to this investigation. After doing so, we found out that Mr. Whiting may have gotten rid of his cell phone and acquired a new one. Then, Mr. Whiting also informed his staff that their computers were replaced with new ones, despite staff indicating this was unnecessary,” the letter said.

Investigators also allege Whiting used the encrypted messaging application WhatsApp for county business and a personal Gmail account to communicate about Apache County Attorney matters.

The Attorney General’s Office said when they were at the Apache County Attorney’s Office to image a server, they noticed that the file on the server had been deleted since the search warrant began. “A remote log in program was also discovered on the server which may have allowed for the deletion of these files,” the letter said.

Investigators also claim that two of Whiting’s employees in the Apache County Attorney’s Office threatened an opponent of Joy Whiting, the current Apache County School Superintendent, who is running for re-election.

The letter said Daryl Greer, identified as a lead investigator for the office and Trent Jensen, a legal assistant, “physically confronted the candidate and told the candidate that Michael Whiting ‘was not through with [them].” Investigators said the candidate was sent a letter without a return sender, including photos of the candidate’s residence, vehicles, and mailbox.” The letter received by the candidate threatened prosecution by Michael Whiting’s office if the candidate did not withdraw from the race by April 1.

Michael Whiting previously told Arizona’s Family in an e-mail, “In regards to surveillance, I never have, or asked anyone to surveil anyone’s house from the office.”

The Attorney General’s Office also said while Greer had the title of lead investigator, he had no certification from the Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training Board, which certifies law enforcement officers in the state, including investigators for county attorney’s offices.

The top three attorneys in Whiting’s office along with his chief of staff have all received injunctions against harassment, barring Whiting from being within 100 yards of the four, including the county attorney’s office.

Attorney General Kris Mayes has granted full authority to Whiting’s Chief Deputy to make decisions and preserve evidence in County Attorney Whiting’s absence. Mayes also stated that if Whiting returned to the office, he would need to get approval from the A.G.’s office before making personnel decisions or spending more than $200.

Michael Whiting has served as the county attorney in Apache County for the last 16 years, being first elected as county attorney in 2008. He is a lifelong resident of the county, according to a bio on the Arizona Prosecuting Attorneys’ Advisory Council. He has a statement of interest on file in Apache County to run in the 2024 Democratic Primary, which is slated for July 30, 2024.

In 2011, Whiting and another attorney were reprimanded by the Arizona State Bar for authorizing “investigators from the Apache County Attorney’s Office to communicate a pending plea agreement to a represented criminal defendant outside the presence of his counsel.”

The State Bar of Arizona confirms to Arizona’s Family there is a bar charge, or complaint, filed regarding Whiting, but it is in the pre-screening process.

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