As sure as the sun rises, the list of sex scandals involving a Trump ally continues to grow.
My colleague Steve Benen has been doing a great job tracking the Jan. 6 rioters who have been charged with sex crimes after receiving pardons from President Donald Trump.
The Epstein files remain a lingering headache for Trump, a onetime friend of the late sex offender’s, and for other Epstein associates working in his administration, even as the Justice Department continues to withhold documents from Congress and the public.
And let’s not forget the bevy of other sex scandals that have cast a pall over administration officials and Trump allies over the past year.
It now looks like we can add Arizona congressional hopeful Mark Lamb to the list. The Trump-endorsed candidate and former county sheriff is running in Arizona’s conservative-leaning 5th District, which is being vacated by Republican Rep. Andy Biggs, who is running for governor.
A sexting scandal seems unlikely to help his campaign.
The Arizona Republic reported Wednesday on accusations that Lamb sent sexually explicit messages to women before and after serving as Pinal County sheriff. The report, which includes screenshots of messages allegedly sent by Lamb, said he threatened some of the women not to share evidence of their exchanges and said he could have them prosecuted.
This excerpt basically sums up the Republic’s reporting:
Digital evidence reviewed by The Republic found the Arizona lawman invited intimate encounters and indulged a yearslong habit of sexting that he later denied or sought to conceal, sometimes with threats or intimidation.
Interviews and screen captures of photos, chats, social media posts and emails shared with The Republic stand in contrast to the image Lamb has built across a decade in public life.
The report begins with a story of one woman who told the Republic that Lamb threatened to sic the Arizona Department of Public Safety on her to prevent her from posting sexual messages he sent her, including nude pictures:
Lamb, who is now running for Congress, appeared to suggest he could control the Arizona Department of Public Safety and stop any investigation if the woman agreed to stop posting on social media, messages and interviews show.
One Facebook message included a link to the state’s revenge-porn statute and said violations are a “Class 4 felony,” screenshots show.
“Please just no more posting,” read the back-to-back messages, accompanied by Lamb’s profile picture. “I will call DPS.”
And if the woman volunteered to take down the posts?
“I will ask for them not to proceed,” came the reply, which added, “My wife says she is okay with that too.”
The Republic reported that Lamb “traded flirtatious messages with women he met through his campaign’s official social media accounts,” according to interviews and screenshots obtained by the newspaper. The report also includes a photo Lamb allegedly sent of himself shirtless.
This clearly isn’t a great look for someone who has made his family life and Mormon faith a major part of his political biography.
Lamb has previously denied claims of sexual impropriety. The Republic reported that his campaign staff said he “is not available for comment” and added:
Lawyers for Lamb’s congressional campaign called many of the claims against him “baseless and harmful” but offered no specifics.
“The campaign is aware that various false, misleading, and potentially defamatory allegations have circulated online for years,” Andrew Gould, a Phoenix attorney and former Arizona Supreme Court justice, wrote in an April 18 letter to The Republic. “They are repeated without verification and often to only cause great reputational and political harm.”
According to the Republic, messages and photos allegedly sent by Lamb were previously shared with leaders at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It feels safe to say this story won’t be disappearing any time soon.
Ja’han Jones is an MS NOW opinion blogger. He previously wrote The ReidOut Blog.