This isn’t the first and certainly won’t be the last article you’ll read in RedState about how very upset the far left in the Democrat Party is with now-Independent Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema. But now, there’s a big controversy surrounding Sinema—and our local CBS affiliate in Phoenix, KASW-TV and the Copper state’s largest newspaper, the Arizona Republic are on the case, folks.

KASW-TV:

A complaint filed Thursday with the Federal Election Commission asks regulators to open a formal investigation into campaign spending by Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema. Sinema has faced mounting questions about the legitimacy of more than $180,000 in campaign expenditures dating back to 2019 on luxury hotels, posh resorts, Michelin-star restaurants, international travel and winery visits. The campaign spending has drawn further scrutiny because it occurred while Sinema was not actively campaigning for office. The senator has declined to announce whether she will run for reelection in 2024.

The complaint, filed by Change for Arizona 2024, a political action committee openly trying to unseat the senator, outlines potential violations of the Federal Election Campaign Act. It alleges that Sinema “illegally diverted funds” intended for her campaign for personal use.

The Arizona Republic gives more depth to the story, sharing a statement from the Change for Arizona 2024 ringleader, Luis Avila—and the very illuminating, alternate name for the group (Replace Sinema):

“We have been watching with growing concern the instances of Sinema abusing the power of her office, exploiting her campaign and Senate accounts for personal use. We now demand an official investigation into whether Sen. Sinema has broken the law,” said Luis Avila, a senior adviser with Change for Arizona 2024, a political-action committee better known as Replace Sinema.

“Sinema jets off to Europe to fundraise with billionaires, but she refuses to hold a public town hall or even take a meeting with us, and on behalf of every Arizonan, we deserve answers,” said Avila, who submitted the FEC complaint on behalf of his organization.

Would it surprise you that the allegations in the filing were inspired by a Daily Beast article, according to the Republic…and perhaps, social media posts by U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego (D), who hopes to win the Senate seat Sinema happens to be sitting in, as I wrote about in April?

(see Arizona Dem Seeking to Replace Sinema in Senate Raised Almost $4M in 1st Quarter of 2023)

A spokesperson for Sen. Sinema’s office, Hannah Hurley, replied in a statement:

It’s not surprising that desperate political attacks from dark money Super PACs are based on lies. There’s no standing here, and Kyrsten remains laser focused on delivering lasting solutions to the challenges we face – including addressing our border crisis and ensuring Arizonans are protected from a national default.

The Republic notes that,

[a]t least some of the expenses cited in the complaint involve Sinema’s October 2021 trip to Europe as part of a fundraising jaunt that also benefited the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

Foreign nationals cannot contribute to congressional campaigns, but Americans living abroad can.

They do say that where there’s smoke, there’s fire. But in this case, it seems the only smoke is coming from the failing attempts by the progressive mob to push Sinema out. If they really want to oust her, they’re going to have to try harder than this.