PHOENIX (3TV/CBS 5) — An Arizona House committee found Rep. Leezah Sun guilty on Tuesday of repeatedly violating ethics rules and could be censured or kicked out of office as early as this week.
A House Committee on Ethics released a report on Rep. Sun, a Democrat from west Phoenix, found she “engaged in a pattern of inappropriate behavior” and broke house rules.
According to the report, Sun tried to use her status as a lawmaker to interfere in a child custody transfer in June. Four kids were supposed to go with a parental supervisor for visitation with their dad but wouldn’t get out of the car, so Sun told the supervisor to reschedule and “call it a day.” When the supervisor said she was following court orders, Sun reportedly told her she was “done” and “now you need to move on.”
Three city of Tolleson employees alleged Rep. Sun was aggressive toward them during a meeting in May and wanted to hurt them. She reportedly called the city manager vulgar names. During a conference in Tucson, Sun allegedly threatened to throw Tolleson Chief Government Affairs Officer Pilar Sinawi off the hotel balcony in August. Sinawi wasn’t at the conference. Sun later said she was using “hyperbolic language” but admitted she had said if Sinawi were at the conference, she would “b**** slap” her, the report said. Witnesses said they felt she wasn’t joking and had a serious tone.
In November, four fellow Democrats in the Arizona House filed an ethics complaint against her. They said her behavior violated House rules and said her custodial interference with the four kids could have been a felony.
During a hearing, they took issue with Sun not addressing the threat against Sinawi and not apologizing for it. “Instead, Representative Sun offered that if she had actually meant to cause Ms. Sinawi harm, she would have actually harmed her,” the report said. “But she offered no different response after the witnesses provided their first-hand accounts, nor did she address the fact that she admitted to saying she would assault the Tolleson official. To the contrary, Rep. Sun described being ‘tickled’ by the allegations made against her.”
In the report, the House Committee said it found Rep. Sun made a death threat against Sinawi and misused her title and position as a state representative during the child custody situation in June. They also found Rep. Sun engaged in a “pattern of abusing her official title and position” after a meeting with the Littleton Elementary School District superintendent turned sour and implied she had the power to have “anybody investigated for any reason.”
It’ll be up to the full House to decide on a punishment. A censure requires a simple majority, while expulsion requires a two-thirds vote of the 60-member chamber.
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