New details in investigation against Apache County’s top prosecutor

APACHE COUNTY, Ariz. — Concerns about destroying and tampering with evidence, spending county funds on fitness equipment and hiring interns at a public agency to organize campaign materials are among the new details released in a letter from the Arizona Attorney General’s office amid an investigation into Apache County Prosecutor Michael Whiting.

The letter was in response to a letter Whiting’s attorney sent to the Attorney General’s office asking him to terminate his oversight authority over the Apache County Attorney’s Office.

The June 10 letter from Attorney General Nicholas Klingerman, chief of the Criminal Division, states that Attorney General Kris Mayes retains oversight of the office.

In the letter, Klingerman describes some of the investigation into Whiting and his case, including the alleged misuse of funds. He points out that agents found an invoice for campaign materials valued at $44,000 during a search of the ACAO.

“Agents also discovered that Mr. Whiting employed interns to sit at a desk in the basement and organize Mr. Whiting and his wife’s campaign materials,” Klingerman wrote in the letter.

Also part of the investigation are recent purchases of fitness equipment delivered to the office that appeared to have been paid for with a county credit card. Klingerman said the purchases reached the card’s limit. In addition, the letter says Whiting may have purchased drones for his private business using taxpayer money.

The letter also claims that two of Whiting’s employees confronted a candidate running against Whiting’s wife, Joy Whiting, who is running for re-election this year as Apache County Schools Superintendent.

“(The staff) allegedly physically confronted the candidate and told him that Michael Whiting was ‘not done with them yet,'” Klingerman wrote in the letter.

In addition, Klingerman said the candidate also received photos of his house in the mail, as well as a letter threatening him with prosecution by the ACAO if he did not withdraw his candidacy.

The search warrant, which the Attorney General’s Office obtained last week, was based in part on concerns that evidence had been tampered with. Klingerman said in the letter that the Attorney General’s Office served a subpoena on a local business in May as part of its investigation. According to that subpoena, Klingerman said, it is believed that Whiting obtained a new cellphone and replaced his employees’ computers.

Neither Michael Whiting nor Joy Whiting responded to 12News’ request for an interview on Thursday.

Whiting’s attorney Bruce Griffen told 12News he would not comment on the contents of the letters, but said there would be “further correspondence.”

“Public corruption is one of the most serious crimes that can be committed because it undermines public trust in our institutions and the people we elect and has tremendous consequences, especially for a prosecutor,” said Rick Romley, former Maricopa County District Attorney.

Romley added that he hoped the Attorney General’s Office would take strong action if the allegations were true.

“A clear message must be sent that this will not be tolerated, and those who commit such crimes will be held accountable to the strictest level I can,” Romley said.

Criss Candelaria, who lost his job as Apache County prosecutor to Whiting in the 2008 primary election, said he wants a trial where the facts are presented.

“Assuming he is guilty for the sake of argument, there must be a trial. There can be no arrangements that will get him through this moment, leave him with his pension and have no real consequences,” Candelaria said.

Following the search of the Apache County Attorney’s Office last week, Whiting’s first deputy signed a letter calling for his resignation and saying Whiting had been missing for days.

Assistant district attorneys and an employee of Whiting’s office have also obtained temporary restraining orders against the harassment of Whiting and the same two ACAO employees who allegedly confronted Joy Whiting’s opponents.

In his letter to the Attorney General’s office, Griffen argued that Whiting had a meeting in Window Rock following the Apache County Board of Supervisors meeting. Griffen reiterated Whiting’s statement to 12News that Whiting was on a “pre-planned” family trip to California.

In his reply, however, Klingerman said the Attorney General’s information showed otherwise.

“If Mr. Whiting was on a planned family trip to California between June 4 and June 7, 2024, he did not bring his family with him,” Klingerman wrote.