Mark Lamb, a former Arizona sheriff running for Congress with President Donald Trump‘s backing, is facing accusations of a yearslong sex scandal and using his position in law enforcement to suppress the allegations.
Lamb, 53, is running in for the Arizona seat left open by Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ), who is running for governor, and is headed into a Republican primary that is likely to end in his favor as he faces off with self-funding businessman Daniel Keenan.
The former Pinal County sheriff is under sharp scrutiny from Keenan following an Arizona Republic investigation in May that found Lamb and his wife may have engaged in sexually explicit conversations with multiple women. When some of those women attempted to report or go public with their allegations, Lamb allegedly threatened to use his role as sheriff to open investigations into them.
The outlet reviewed a slew of communications dating back to 2016 that continued through Lamb’s campaign for sheriff and his time as top cop until 2020. The messages were provided by three women who allege they engaged in affairs with Lamb, as well as a former campaign staffer who ran Lamb’s social media. Jillian Stannard and Yvonne Belloc sat for interviews with the Arizona Republic, while Tammy Peacock compiled a detailed account of her message with Lamb before she died in 2021.
Peacock and Lamb allegedly exchanged nude photos and explicit messages referencing sexual acts throughout his first campaign for sheriff in 2016, and their relationship continued following his election. At one point during their alleged relationship, Peacock went and got a star-shaped badge tattoo that read, “Sheriff Lamb 2016,” to which Peacock’s screenshots show Lamb replied: “I love that tattoo.”
Lamb disputes claims that he and Peacock were engaged in an affair, rather painting the deceased as a crazed supporter who was also on drugs in his 2020 memoir. He framed his interactions as trying to keep Peacock at bay to protect his campaign.
Stannard, who was a close friend of the candidate, said her husband admitted in 2018 to having an affair with Lamb’s wife, which was facilitated by the former sheriff. The account from Stannard alleges a situation akin to swinging, a form of consensual nonmonogamy.
Peacock has aired her grievances with Lamb to Stannard and Belloc, who said she regularly met with Peacock following Lamb ending the alleged affair after he was nominated sheriff.
Another woman, Cassie Hartbauer, exchanged online messages with Lamb in 2018, and the pair allegedly planned a meetup. Hartbauer told the outlet she backed out of the rendezvous because she felt odd about meeting up with a married sheriff.
At the same time Lamb was allegedly flirting with Hartbauer, he had been sending flirtatious messages to other women on his campaign account, a former campaign aide told the outlet.
Lamb’s primary opponent, Keenan, has used the Arizona Republic’s reporting in campaign attack ads ahead of the primary election on Tuesday.
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Lamb has denied all of the allegations brought against him. The Pinal County attorney opened an investigation into the allegations, but no criminal wrongdoing was found, though it noted a previous county attorney failed to properly investigate the allegations. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, of which Lamb is a member, investigated allegations brought against Lamb by two women.
The Washington Examiner reached out to Lamb’s campaign for comment.