OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
It was an incident that sparked “Watergate” comparisons in the lamestream press. But the truth has come out — and once again, a Republican smeared by her opponent has been vindicated by inconvenient facts.
On the Arizona campaign trail, Kari Lake has witnessed a number of incendiary and dubious attacks. But none was more eyebrow-raising than her Democrat rival in the governor’s race insinuating that she was somehow to blame for a break-in at her Phoenix campaign headquarters.
“Earlier this week, a break-in occurred at our campaign headquarters,” the statement read. “We continue to cooperate with law enforcement as they investigate, and we are thankful to the men and women pf the Phoenix Police Department for their work to keep us safe.”
“Secretary Hobbs and her staff have faced hundreds of death threats and threats of violence over the course of this campaign,” DeMont said. “Throughout this race, we have been clear that the safety of our staff and of the secretary is our number one priority.”
Statement from our campaign on tonight's news: pic.twitter.com/OLqPMa5pYt
— Katie Hobbs (@katiehobbs) October 27, 2022
Then, Katie Hobbs recklessly pivoted to blame Kari Lake for the office invasion.
“Let’s be clear: for nearly two years Kari Lake and her allies have been spreading dangerous misinformation and inciting threats against anyone they see fit,” Hobbs claimed. “The threats against Arizonans attempting to exercise their constitutional rights and their attacks on elected officials are the direct result of a concerted campaign of lies and intimidation.”
But Kari Lake had her own retort. As she told CNN reporter Kate Sullivan: “This sounds like a Jussie Smollett part two,” referring to the actor who was convicted for lying to police about a purported attack in Chicago that he blamed on Trump supporters.
It turns out she was right. This is yet another case of a Democrat recklessly and dangerously seizing on any incident to scapegoat on the party’s political opposition.
It immediately drew suspicion, when the campaign released photographs of a person it said was identified as the suspect by the Phoenix Police Department after police reviewed the surveillance footage. The images showed a younger man wearing shorts, a short-sleeved T-shirt and a backpack.
The Phoenix Police Department then clarified it “has not released any images or video relating to this investigation and cannot confirm any suspects or investigative leads.”
The Washington Post reported in October the police had made an arrest in the case:
Phoenix police said Thursday they have arrested a suspect in a break-in at the campaign office of Arizona Democratic gubernatorial candidate Katie Hobbs earlier this week. The incident set off implicit accusations against her Republican rival Kari Lake — a charge the former television news presenter scoffed at as “absurd.”
Authorities identified the suspect as 36-year-old Daniel Mota Dos Reis, who had been arrested earlier in the day and was in jail for an unrelated commercial burglary. According to a police statement, an officer recognized Dos Reis in security footage from the burglary at Hobbs’s office near Virginia Avenue and Central Avenue.
Dos Reis has been rearrested and booked on one count of third-degree burglary. It was not immediately clear whether Dos Reis has a lawyer.
But it gets even worse for Hobbs: The suspect is an illegal immigrant wanted by ICE. As reported by NBC 12:
A federal immigration official tells 12News the suspect who allegedly broke into the campaign headquarters of Democrat gubernatorial candidate Katie Hobbs last week does not have legal status to be in the United States.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, 36-year-old Daniel Mota Dos Reis is a citizen of Portugal who arrived in the United States as a registered student in 2018 and is now violating “the terms of his admission.”
Kari Lake made sure to remind everyone about Hobbs’ irresponsible allegations:
Remember when @katiehobbs accused me of orchestrating a Watergate-style break-in of her campaign office?
Well, it turns out it was a repeat-criminal here in our country illegally.
RETWEET THIS. People must know. pic.twitter.com/tf1k2UJRFZ
— Kari Lake (@KariLake) November 2, 2022
“Remember when @katiehobbs accused me of orchestrating a Watergate-style break-in of her campaign office?” Lake tweeted. “Well, it turns out it was a repeat-criminal here in our country illegally. RETWEET THIS. People must know.”
This is the second reckless and incendiary Democratic Party narrative that has gone down in flames in a week. While President Biden on Wednesday night seized on the Paul Pelosi attack to argue that Republican voters are a ‘threat to democracy,’ it turns out that the Berkeley nudist drug addict suspected of attacking Nancy Pelosi’s husband is a Canadian illegal immigrant who overstayed his visa.
