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stated on September 24, 2023 in a TikTok video:

Arizona Senate “indicted” Gov. Katie Hobbs.

Arizona Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs delivers her State of the State address in Phoenix, Jan. 9, 2023. (AP)

By Jeff Cercone September 29, 2023

Arizona’s Senate cannot and did not indict Gov. Katie Hobbs

If Your Time is short

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs has not been indicted by the state’s Senate. The Senate has no authority to indict anyone.
The claim is based on a discredited presentation at a February legislative hearing. The House member responsible for the presentation was expelled.

See the sources for this fact-check

Social media users are citing a discredited presentation from an Arizona Legislature elections committee hearing to push a baseless claim that Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs was indicted by the state’s Senate.

A Sept. 24 TikTok video shared a screenshot of an X post that read, "BREAKING: Arizona Senate has laid out RICO indictments against Katie Hobbs and others in violation of RICO ACT-13-2301, including bribery, racketeering, money laundering, drug trafficking, human trafficking, aiding and abetting the Sinaloa Cartel, and election fraud." (RICO stands for the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.)

The TikTok video had nearly 50,000 likes by Sept. 29. The screenshot it shared was from a since-deleted Sept. 24 X post by Leading Report, an account that calls itself a breaking news source and has previously spread misinformation. We found no story about Hobbs being indicted on Leading Report’s website.

@politifact Replying to @AZ Daniel Pants on Fire alert! The Arizona Senate has not indicted Gov. Katie Hobbs on bribery, racketeering and other charges. In fact, the senate doesn't have the authority to indict anyone. #arizona #katiehobbs #politicaltiktok #government #factcheck #fyp #learnontiktok ♬ Hip Hop with impressive piano sound(793766) - Dusty Sky

TikTok identified this video as part of its efforts to counter inauthentic, misleading or false content. (Read more about PolitiFact's partnership with TikTok.)

(Screengrab from TikTok)

We found multiple social media posts sharing the same claim about Hobbs, but the allegation is not true, officials in Arizona told PolitiFact.

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stated on March 26, 2024 in an X post

The ship that struck a Baltimore bridge “was cyber-attacked.”

"No, there has been no indictment of Governor Hobbs and the Arizona Senate does not hold the power to indict anyone," Richie Taylor, communications director for Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, wrote in an email.

Calli Jones, the Arizona Senate Democratic Caucus’ communications director, also said in an email that the Senate has no such power, and the point was echoed in a post on X by Republican state Sen. Wendy Rogers, who called the claim "FAKE NEWS."

(I’d been asked about this, but just now able to respond because of being with family all day…)
The following is FAKE NEWS. The legislature doesn't issue indictments! pic.twitter.com/wQzZndsp85
— Wendy Rogers (@WendyRogersAZ) September 25, 2023

In Arizona, indictments are handed down by grand juries, not state legislators. Prosecutors can file charges or present a case to a grand jury, which would, if jurors agree there is sufficient evidence, formalize their findings and issue an indictment, according to the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office.

The TikTok video, and others who shared the claim on social media, linked the allegation to a presentation at a February Elections Committee hearing in the Arizona Legislature. There, Jacqueline Breger, an insurance agent from Scottsdale, made several unfounded allegations, including that Hobbs and other public officials had accepted bribes from the Mexican Sinaloa drug cartel.

That hearing led the Arizona Legislature in April to expel one of its members, stateRep. Liz Harris, who organized the presentation, according to news reports.

We rate the claim that Arizona "indicted’ Hobbs Pants on Fire!