Turning Point leader pleads guilty to attempted election fraud

The Phoenix New Times ^ | 11-18-25 | Caitlan Sievers

[AirForceVet1988]

Former Republican state legislator Austin Smith pleaded guilty Monday to what he previously called “ludicrous” charges that he personally forged more than 100 signatures on his petitions for reelection last year.

The Republican from Surprise was a member of the far-right Arizona Freedom Caucus, which has a history of spreading false claims of election fraud in the 2020 presidential election and pushed for election law changes in the state legislature.

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TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: fraud; guilty; point; somuchwinning; turning; turningpoint

[AirForceVet1988]

I guess the fraud is coming from both sides. Sad.

[goodnesswins]

Stupid guy

[DPMD]

Stupid, sure. But if the Phoenix paper is calling the Freedom Caucus far-right does that make the paper far-left? Seems so.

[Kleon]

When the allegations of signature fraud became public in April 2024, Smith vehemently denied them, calling them “ludicrous” and accusing Democrats of creating a “coordinated attack” against him.

I wouldn't be surprised if it were a coordinated attack, and he realized it would simply be easier to plead guilty and maybe look for a Trump pardon. He seems like he was painted into a corner.

[AirForceVet1988]

It seems like he committed a crime.

[Zathras]

When I was trained for “signature” drive in Portland I learned that it is very easy to get trapped by the left.
All you need is for one liberal to come in and sign it incorrectly and it invalidates the entire page.

This is what it sounds like happened.

[Zathras]

Nope, see posting #6.
This was NOT election fraud.
It was a signature drive and he wasn’t watching carefully the signatures.

[jeffersondem]

This was not election fraud; because election fraud never happens.

I learned that watching television.

[napscoordinator]

Pretty stupid then as trump cannot give him a pardon.

[cuz1961]

They threatened to bankrupt him trying to defend himself and offered a plea deal I bet.

He may find he doesn’t get the reduced sentence they promised.

In fact, I bet he doesn’t and they give him max penalties, then go after his family.

[mewzilla]

There are plenty Deep Staters with R’s after their names.

If the guy’s committing voter fraud, he is most assuredly not MAGA.

[kellymcneill]

I live in the Phoenix area and The Phoenix New Times is ABSOLUTELY a far left newspaper. It’s really a rag frankly. They give it away for free. Of all the free newspapers out there in the city, one could argue that it’s the most “legit” among them but it definitely is far-left but few take it seriously as a credible news source.

[Ciaphas Cain]

I looked deeper into the Phoenix New Times. It’s apparently a long time “alt newspaper”. Those run the gamut from pathetically super-liberal like New Times to (a few) more thoughtful, deeper, and considerate weeklies (often with a conservative bent). I grew up around Greensboro, North Carolina and I was a regular reader of the Rhinoceros Time. Probably one of the most anti-Clinton publications in the history of anything.

[Regulator]

New Times is just a ‘70s trash cult rag mostly started on hooker ads.

Original owners went to federal pen for the infamous Backpage website (Scott Spear).

Mostly just bottom of the barrel filth.

[Robert DeLong]

Either that or he was forced to take the plea deal because he lacked the money to defend himself.

This is how many innocent people end up with criminal records.

[drjimmy]

“He also admitted that he attempted to deceive the Secretary of State’s Office by knowingly filing petitions containing forged signatures of purported supporters of his nomination for the Republican primary for State Representative from LD 29.”

[packagingguy]

Usually with petitions you get paid by the number of signatures. Not sure if he was getting paid for doing it, but it would not have amounted to much money.

[spintreebob]

Humans sin. The lesson is don’t make charges unless you have facts that will convict in court. Here in GA allegations were made. They were probably true.

But those making charges did not do the hard, thankless work, of detail facts, evidence, proof. We were embarrassed when allegations were made and not backed up with facts.