House committee closing ethics case involving Rep. Cook

The chairman of a legislative ethics committee said Wednesday that he will not take further action on complaints against state Rep. David Cook, bringing a close for now to a drama involving Capitol power brokers and allegations of bribery.

Cook, a Republican from Globe, was accused of having a romantic relationship with a lobbyist while supporting her legislation and of inappropriately intervening to stop the planned seizure of her family’s farm property over back taxes.

The lawmaker has denied any wrongdoing. A report released in June was not conclusive on either allegation or on whether he violated any specific policies in a Legislature where the boundaries of acceptable behavior are blurry and have been selectively enforced.

But the report was embarrassing. It delved into insider politics at Arizona's Legislature and included handwritten notes that Cook had written to the agriculture industry lobbyist, AnnaMarie Knorr ("just so there is no misunderstanding — I love you," read one).

The report also raised allegations that the lawmaker had been intoxicated on the job and demonstrated a pattern of disruptive behavior at the Capitol.

Still, in a letter to the House of Representatives ethics committee investigating the complaints, Chairman John Allen said he does not believe Cook’s conduct “unequivocally amounts to disorderly behavior, punishable by the committee or the House.”

“Therefore, at this time, I do not anticipate taking any further action on these complaints,” wrote Allen, RScottsdale, in the letter first reported by The Republic.

The decision allows the committee to revisit the allegations against Cook if new information comes to light, but Allen told The Republic on Wednesday afternoon that he could not, at this time, draw a clear line between the complaints against Cook and any specific House rules.

But not everyone is so sure.

Rep. Kirsten Engel, one of two Democrats on the committee, said she was

“flabbergasted” by Allen’s decision and argued that the committee’s work is not finished.

"The chair is simply dropping the matter, demonstrating that he is completely incapable of policing the potential misconduct of members," Engel said in a statement.

The Democrat from Tucson argued the committee’s members, not just the chairman, should have decided how to proceed and that members had been expecting to hold a hearing at some point that had yet to be determined.

The House unsealed the two ethics complaints against Cook in February. One was filed by a constituent and drew on media reports to assert that Cook was having a romantic relationship with Knorr and, in turn, had a conflict of interest in supporting legislation she was backing. Another complaint, filed 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’s family.

In his letter, Allen wrote that while he believes Cook's explanations about his relationship with Knorr "strained credulity," he noted that both deny having an affair. Allen said it is next to impossible to prove otherwise and that there is no conclusive evidence the lawmaker conducted himself differently in his professional capacity because of their relationship. There is no conclusive evidence, for example, that Cook would not have sponsored the bills that he did but for his relationship with Knorr, Allen wrote.

Allen also wrote that it was at a minimum inappropriate and irregular for Cook to contact Pinal County officials in 2018 about property tax seizures. Several county staff raised concerns about rumors they had heard of a politician wielding influence to stop the seizure of property belonging to Knorr’s family. And investigators said Cook’s recounting of the episode was in conflict with that of the sheriff.

While Cook had said that he did not know the farm even existed and was calling generally about the office’s policies, Sheriff Mark Lamb told investigators that the lawmaker called specifically about plans to seize property belonging to the Knorrs.