The editor of a pro-Republican website in Arizona claims to have unearthed dozens of new examples in which Democratic state senator Juan Mendez may have plagiarized websites in speeches and remarks on legislation.
The website AZDemsExposed.com, run by political operative Brian Anderson, originally claimed that Mendez had lifted copy from numerous websites, including a conspiracy website, when replying to a candidate questionnaire being assembled by a local paper as part of a voters' guide.
Those allegations led to a follow up by the Arizona Republic, and an apology by Sen. Mendez on Twitter in which he said, "Anything I've said truly represents my viewpoints. However, I will put forth a greater effort to put ideas I support into my own words. While I am often in a rush, that is no excuse to not properly cite my sources. I sincerely apologize for my lapse in due diligence & judgement [sic]."
Now, Anderson has published more than a dozen of other alleged instances in which he claims Mendez inappropriately took the words and writings of others and used them as his own, accusing the senator of engaging in the practice dating back to at least 2014.
For example, when debating a bill in 2014, Mendez said:
"With the mood of our country in full swing toward marriage equality and full equal rights for the LGBT community, religious 'liberty' arguments are being made nationwide in an effort to make sure religionists do not have to follow anti-discrimination laws as new freedoms are won. History is on our side: These regressive, disingenuous tactics were used in attempts to halt women's suffrage, civil rights, and feminism—but these movements prevailed because of reason, compassion, and the efforts of those dedicated to equality. . . . I will not collude in an assault on the uniquely American right to religious liberty, and I will not stand idly by as religious liberty is distorted by unpatriotic efforts to privileged religion over basic human freedom."
Anderson compares this to the website SecularAZ.org, which had written:
"With the mood of the country in full swing toward Marriage Equality and full equal rights for LGBT people, religious "liberty" arguments are being made nationwide in an effort to make sure religionists do not have to follow anti-discrimination law as new freedoms are won. History is on our side: these regressive, disingenuous tactics were used in attempts to halt Women’s Suffrage, Civil Rights, and Feminism—but these movements prevailed because of reason, compassion, and the efforts of those dedicated to equality. We will NOT allow the uniquely American right to religious liberty to be distorted by unpatriotic efforts to privilege religion over basic human freedom."
Mendez did not return a request for comment from the Free Beacon. He also did not respond to requests for comment to the Arizona Republic when they reported on the issue last Thursday.
Anderson says he runs the site by himself, and adds that he makes no effort to conceal the fact that his website is sympathetic to Republican ideologies and politicians, but argues those facts shouldn't disqualify his reporting.
"Especially in the Trump era, there is so much news flying around that it is impossible for reporters to cover every single thing that happens in a day," Anderson said. "Because a lot of Democrats aren't in the top elected positions in the state, I thought it was helpful to have a website out there that was archiving everything the Democrats were doing and saying, so that even if it isn't the leading coverage for the day, it's out there as a reminder for reporters."
"This is something I think could be a big hit to the credibility of the Democratic caucus, the fact that one of their most outspoken members has been stealing other people's words for five years," he concluded.