Meet the Arizona Mafia — But Can They Do Anything to Help Emiliano Salinas Avoid Indictment?

Since Burke is close to his Mafia compadres on the other side of the border – especially the Salinas crime organization – it puzzled me why Bronfman would have selected him to represent her in what could result in a significant prison sentence for her.

First of all – it is called the Arizona Mafia – but it is not connected to the Sicilian Mafia. It is a political-social group known colloquially in Washington, D.C. and beyond as the “Arizona Mafia.”

This Arizona-based group is known to include some of the most ruthless political operators within the U.S. Democratic party or to phrase it better, they have been in the past, “the strong arm of the Democratic party.” They are tied to Obama, to Clinton and to the Salinas political family in Mexico.

The ties are clear, real, and verifiable from multiple sources. The ties of the “Arizona Mafia” within the United States Democratic party and their business dealings, social friendships, and interests in Mexico suggest and reveal numerous current and past ties between the Democratic Party and former Mexican President Carlos Salinas.

There are significant sub-members and branches of the “Arizona Mafia”. However, to include those names, at this time, as members of the “Arizona Mafia” would not be as relevant to readers at this time as the top 10 members.

Although there are big, “A-list” names in the United States Democratic Party who are doing corrupt business with the Arizona Mafia – members in the U.S. and Mexico – they are not directly in the “Arizona Mafia” themselves and so the distinction must be maintained.

First off – the leader of this group is Janet Napolitano. She is the boss.

The history of the Arizona Mafia is the history of how a group of Napolitano’s friends gained political experience, moved from Arizona to Washington, D.C., and became the social group known as the “Arizona Mafia.”

At the state level, Napolitano won a statewide election and became the Attorney General of Arizona from 1999 to 2003.

Napolitano then won an extremely close election as governor of Arizona in 2003 against Republican Matt Salon.

Napolitano credited former Nogales, Arizona Mayor Marco Lopez, “the youngest Mayor in America,” for delivering the votes the night of the election, that she said pushed her over the top and made her governor of Arizona.

In August of 2008, Napolitano, her right-hand man, Dennis Burke, Noah Kroloff, and Arizona-Mexico Commission Director Marco Lopez, flew together with Jeffrey Peterson on Peterson’s Cessna Citation X private jet, from Phoenix, Arizona, to Denver Colorado, where Napolitano gave a speech endorsing presidential candidate Barack Obama.

At that convention, Hillary Clinton nominated Obama as the official candidate of the Democratic Party for President of the United States.

On November 4, 2008, Obama won the presidential election.

The next day, November 5, 2008, Napolitano and her right-hand man, Dennis Burke, joined the Obama-Biden Transition team in Washington, D.C.

The following month, in December of 2008, Obama nominated Napolitano as his candidate for Homeland Security Secretary.

Napolitano remained governor of Arizona until January 2009, when she became the 3rd Secretary of the United States Homeland Security (DHS).

DHS Offices include the Secret Service, Customs and Border Protection, FEMA, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), United States Coast Guard, the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office, and the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center.

Napolitano named her most loyal and closest friends and allies to posts within the Department of Homeland Security. Many of these individuals moved from Arizona to Washington, D.C.

When the “Napolitano crew” arrived in D.C., they were known by friends and colleagues as the “Arizona Mafia,” a joke name that referred to how ruthless and willing they were to do absolutely anything in support of their boss, Napolitano.

Many in D.C. were rightfully terrified to hear that they had engaged in a dispute or problem with a member of Napolitano’s “Arizona Mafia,” due to the reputation they developed for ruthlessness.

The top 10 Arizona Mafia members are, in rough order of importance:

1. Janet Napolitano 

The Boss. Former chief of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and a top member of the Democratic Party. Napolitano was ranked by Forbes Magazine as the world’s eighth most powerful woman in 2013.

Napolitano left DHS after many department scandals. She was known in Arizona for her backroom deals and ruthless targeting of conservatives.

At the time of Napolitano’s resignation, there was suspicion in the press about why she had resigned. Many believe she abruptly left DHS because of some sordid dealings that were about to be discovered.

“Napolitano Leaving DHS Under Cloud of Suspicion”

While Napolitano ran DHS, aside from other scandals, there was an important federal discrimination suit, which  accused Janet Napolitano of “turning the department into a female-run ‘frat house’ where male staffers were banished to the bathrooms and routinely humiliated.”

James Hayes Jr., who retired as New York’s top Homeland Security cop, claims Napolitano filled top spots in Washington, D.C., with two of her gal pals who were bent on tormenting male employees.

The suit identified them as Dora Schriro, who is Commissioner of the New York City Department of Correction – and Suzanne Barr, the chief of staff for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.”

 

In 2014, a Senate oversight panel found that Charles Edwards, formerly the Inspector General of Homeland Security (DHS), “altered and delayed investigations at the request of senior administration officials, compromising his independent role as an inspector general.”

Edwards “routinely shared drinks and dinner with department leaders and gave them inside information about the timing and findings of investigations.” The investigation found that “Edwards improperly relied on the advice of top political advisers to then-Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and acquiesced to their suggestions about the wording and timing of three separate reports.”

The investigation stated “We found that Mr. Edwards was a compromised inspector general . . . who was not exercising real oversight,” and “Any report generated out of his office would be suspect.”

Edwards resigned from his office three days before he was scheduled to appear at a Senate hearing to answer questions. The hearing was canceled.

Finally, former Attorney General Jeff Sessions said this about Napolitano: “Secretary Napolitano’s tenure at the Department of Homeland Security was defined by a consistent disrespect for the rule of law.”

SIGNIFICANT MEMBERS OF THE ARIZONA MAFIA, JANET’S “FRAT HOUSE”

2. Dennis Burke
Janet’s right-hand man and ally of many years. Burke was Janet’s top deputy at the Arizona Attorney General’s office – and her Chief of Staff, the top position under her in the Arizona Governor’s office.  He was named as United States Attorney for Arizona on September 16, 2009. He resigned in August of 2011 amid pressure from the United States Congress in the wake of the Gunwalker scandal, also known as Operation Fast and Furious, within the ranks of the U.S. Justice Department, specifically the FBI.

In Operation Fast and Furious, thousands of weapons were trafficked to Mexican drug cartels, with the Obama administration’s knowledge. Burke’s resignation was the most senior resignation. President Obama asserted executive privilege to deny Congress access to records pertaining to Fast and Furious.

The left stream media barely made a peep.

Democratic Attorney General Eric Holder was criticized for ‘Fast and Furious’ obstruction. In 2016, a judge ruled against the executive privilege – and ordered that certain documents be released to Congress.

In March of 2018, the Trump administration announced that Fast and Furious documents previously withheld by Eric Holder would be released.

The truth about the Fast and Furious matter is still shrouded in a veil of confusion and secrecy.

3. Noah Kroloff

Was Deputy Chief of Staff under Napolitano. That position may have been his first job as a lawyer.  Kroloff was appointed as Chief of Staff for the Department of Homeland Security when Napolitano became Secretary of the agency. Noah is a tough negotiator who is known as “Napolitano’s bulldog.”

	-	

Look out for his fangs – he bites – friends and foes alike.

Marco Lopez – now a top aide to Carlos Slim and Carlos Salinas in America. He is putting pressure on to ensure Emiliano Salinas is not indicted.

Formerly Mayor of Nogales, Arizona, he was called the “youngest Mayor in America” by CNN.

He was Director of the Arizona-Mexico Commission, an official Office of the Governor in the State of Arizona (the Governor is the Chairperson of the Arizona Mexico Commission). Lopez then became the Director of the Arizona Department of Commerce. He was appointed as the Chief of Staff of United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP), a federal law enforcement agency with 40,000 employees when Napolitano became Homeland Security Secretary.

CBP is the largest federal law enforcement agency.

In 2011, with the assistance of his friend and business partner, Jeffrey Peterson, Lopez formed his own consulting business, Intermestic Partners (“Intermestic”). Intermestic’s first client was Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim.

Soon thereafter, Marco Lopez became Carlos Slim’s “Senior Advisor” and “Senior Advisor” to Grupo Carso, Carlos Slim’s Mexican global business conglomerate. Lopez also serves as an advisor to Carlos Salinas, the former President of Mexico, and is a close friend of his son, Emiliano Salinas.