Reader takes issue with letter about Hamadeh’s full story

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OPINION — In her letter, Arizona deserves the full story on Abe Hamadeh, Analyn Megison demands the “complete story” about the congressman, yet her letter largely repeats Hamadeh’s own talking points while attacking the press.

Her byline omits relevant context. Megison has promoted Republican political figures, identified herself online with #AZGOP hashtag and is listed in the Republican National Lawyers Association directory. She is entitled to advocate for Hamadeh, but partisan praise should not masquerade as an objective indictment of journalism.

Helping residents navigate federal agencies is Hamadeh’s job — not extraordinary “servant leadership.” The federal funding she credits to him was approved by Congress and paid for by taxpayers. It does not exempt him from scrutiny.

Nor does it excuse his hypocrisy. Hamadeh’s campaign portrayed three FEC compliance notices sent to his Democratic opponent, Bernadette Greene-Placentia, as evidence of “incompetence or malice” and an “active FEC investigation.” Requests for information are not findings of dishonesty or criminal wrongdoing.

Hamadeh knows that. His 2022 financial disclosure omitted income from two jobs, business interests, property and a board position. He corrected it after the deadline and admitted, “That document was wrong.” He expected forgiveness for his omissions while using his opponent’s compliance questions to smear her integrity.

Megison has built a public profile advocating for rape survivors, making her omission of Hamadeh’s defense of Andrew and Tristan Tate particularly striking. The brothers deny wrongdoing but face numerous British charges, including rape, assault and sex trafficking. Hamadeh called the proceedings “political” and argued against extraditing them to answer those charges.

Reporting Hamadeh’s full record is journalism. Opinion pages exist to publish constituents’ criticism. Attacking the press for either is partisan advocacy.

This writer is using a pen name. Incumbent Rep. Abe Hamadeh is running against Bernadette Greene-Placentia in Congressional District 8, which includes parts of Glendale, Peoria, north Phoenix, Sun City, Sun City West and Surprise. Please submit comments at yourvalley.net/letters or email them to AzOpinions@iniusa.org. We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as they meet our Civility Guidelines.