Arizona House panel releases complaints about Rep. Cook

Lawyers investigating ethics complaints against Rep. David Cook said Friday that he had a relationship with a lobbyist that appeared to be romantic in nature, casting doubt on their insistence that it was instead just a friendship.

The long-anticipated report also raised questions about Cook’s recounting of his conversations with the Pinal County sheriff, who canceled the planned seizure of the lobbyist’s farm property over unpaid taxes after the legislator raised concerns.

But the report ultimately accused Cook of refusing to fully cooperate and depriving a select House ethics committee with a full accounting of his relationship with AnnaMarie Knorr, who previously represented an agricultural industry group. One complaint filed against Cook said that amounted to a conflict of interest for the lawmaker.

The report said Cook “demonstrated a pattern of disruptive behavior related to alcohol” but acknowledged that facts surrounding parts of the investigation remain in dispute.

Ultimately, the report leaves lawmakers to decide for themselves where Cook may have crossed the lines of commonly accepted behavior in a Capitol that has been under scrutiny in recent years for laxity when it comes to drawing boundaries between legislators and lobbyists.

Dennis Wilenchik, a lawyer representing Cook, called the report an unobjective hit piece stemming from a political dispute and accused lawmakers of turning the ethics investigation process into a weapon to smear opponents.

Cook has until next Friday to submit a written response to the select House ethics committee that is investigating two complaints against him, and Chairman John Allen, R-Scottsdale, said the bipartisan fivemember panel will meet again at an undetermined time in the future to hear any testimony the lawmaker would like to provide.

The report is just the latest twist in an episode that rocked the House in the early days of the legislative session. While it was quickly eclipsed by the coronavirus pandemic, the investigation has continued even after the House adjourned last month.

The entire House cannot act on the report when it is not in session but it will hang over Cook as he seeks reelection and faces a competitive primary in August.

The complaints against Cook

Cook faced two ethics complaints unsealed by the House in February, including an allegation he arranged a campaign contribution for the Pinal County sheriff in exchange for the lawman canceling the planned seizure of a farm property.

The farm property was owned in part by Knorr.

The ethics complaint by former law enforcement officer turned congressional candidate Kevin Cavanaugh claimed that in 2018 Cook told him that he asked the Pinal County sheriff to hold off on seizing property owned by Knorr, her husband or companies linked to her family.

These various companies owed the county about $140,000 in property taxes, according to the complaint.

Cavanaugh said Cook told him that Sheriff Mark Lamb would cancel the seizure in exchange for a campaign donation.

The complaint said that Lamb later claimed to have received a contribution from the “father of the property owner.”

Lamb told The Arizona Republic earlier this year that Cook contacted him about a constituent’s tax problems and that he canceled plans to seize the farm’s property.

But Lamb maintained there was nothing inappropriate about the legislator’s concerns and denied he was paid for canceling the property seizure, insisting instead that the issue prompted the sheriff to change protocols in his own office for seizing properties over back taxes.

The report said, however, that Cook’s recounting of the matter to investigators contradicted the sheriff’s. Cook told investigators he "didn't know Knorr Farms existed" when he first called the sheriff and that he did not call about any particular property.

The second complaint, filed by one of Cook’s constituents, charged that the legislator was in a romantic relationship with Knorr and contends that this inevitably raises a conflict of interest.

The report from attorneys hired by the committee said letters Cook has sent to Knorr suggest the two had a romantic relationship. An appendix included portions of notes where the legislator wrote messages such as "just so there is no misunderstanding — I love you" and in one note, Cook said he wondered if he was committing a sin "coveting another man's wife."

Though both Cook and Knorr deny that characterization of their relationship, the report released Friday said the denials are “in conflict with Rep. Cook’s own written correspondence to her and testimony of witnesses interviewed during the investigation."

The report cited the allegations from Knorr’s father, long-time cattle industry lobbyist Bas Aja, who accused Cook of having an affair with his daughter. The report said Knorr’s estranged husband also said she had an affair with the legislator.

Knorr has said the two have sought to smear her and convince her to stay in the marriage.

And Carmen Chenal Horne, another lawyer representing Cook, argued in a letter to the ethics committee that the investigation turned up no real evidence of an improper relationship.

Alleged conflicts of interest

The complaints about Cook and Knorr's relationship circle back to their work at the Legislature.

Cook is a member of two committees that hear bills affecting the agriculture industry that Knorr had represented — the Land and Agriculture Committee and the Natural Resources, Energy and Water Committee.

The legislator was primary sponsor of 12 bills in 2019 and Knorr signed on in support of 4 of those bills on behalf of the Western Growers Association.

That included House Bill 2097 that allows county officials to make tax payment plans for some owners of agricultural property — a change in policy that might have helped the Knorr family.

“Although both of these bills have general applicability and benefit more than Knorr Farms, Knorr Farms is the type of property the bill was intended to benefit,” the report said. “Rep. Cook personally sent Ms. Knorr an email notifying her of when HB 2097 was scheduled for a committee hearings.”

The association placed Knorr on leave amid mounting scrutiny of her relationship with Cook. In March, the organization confirmed to The Arizona Republic that it no longer employed her.

Meanwhile, Aja had a falling out with Cook and one of the complaints against the lawmaker alleged he sought to use his position to retaliate against the lobbyist.

Complaints alleged Cook sought to keep Aja’s group off a committee on groundwater supply — a key issue for the cattle industry. Cook denies he intended to exclude Aja’s organization but Aja is quoted in the report as calling Cook a “belligerent bully.”

And the report mentioned a text message Cook sent to Aja that said “I know you stabbed me in the back – and your [sic] hiding from the truth – but it’s ok – just wot [sic] and see.”