6 Jan 23rd-Jan 29th, 2025 phoenixnewtimes.com PHOENIX NEW TIMES | NEWS | FEATURE | FOOD & DRINK | ARTS & CULTURE | MUSIC | CONCERTS | CANNABIS | Cops on Speed Dial The county attorney’s fiancé called police on a New Times reporter. BY STEPHEN LEMONS H ell hath no fury like Rachel Mitchell’s fiancé. Especially after a journalist calls him for a quote. In October, Phoenix New Times reported that Paul Stout had been using burner accounts on X to attack critics of Mitchell, his fianceé and the current Maricopa County attorney. One of those critics was Vladimir Gagic, a suspended attorney and a vociferous tweeter against whom Stout sought a protective order. Stout admitted to his use of the burner accounts — and his relationship to Mitchell, which the county attorney has not discussed publicly — during a September hearing about the protective order. When I called Stout for a quote on the hearing, Stout apparently called the cops. That’s how my name landed in an Oct. 27 incident report from the Phoenix Police Department. The report, which is one of several police reports and supplements involving Stout and Gagic, says the 63-year-old Stout complained that I had retweeted Gagic on X and then called Stout to ask for an interview. New Times tried again to reach Stout for this story and again was unsuccessful. No word on whether he dialed 911. The soap opera between Stout and Gagic has been percolating for months and seemed like an online slapfight between two random guys until late last year. That’s when Stout revealed his connection to Mitchell while under oath, raising ques- tions about the involvement of the county’s top law enforcement official. The apparent conflict of interest for Mitchell (who has been stung by one before) is obvious. When Stout made Gagic’s tweets about Mitchell a police matter, Stout began a process that resulted in police submitting Gagic for charges to the county attorney. That would put Mitchell in the position of prosecuting Gagic — or journalists on whom Stout sics the cops — for making her fiancé uncomfortable. Mitchell’s office did not return a call seeking comment. So far, there is no indica- tion that Mitchell has considered filing charges against Gagic. Nor is it clear whether she has referred the case to another prosecuting authority, like another county attorney or the state Attorney General. However, New Times has learned that she has filed a complaint with the State Bar of Arizona, which she has asked to disbar the hyper-online thorn in her side. Police? Someone’s committing journalism On Aug. 22, Stout was granted an injunction against Gagic that stifled what the suspended attorney could say about or to him online — and in real life, although they’ve never met. According to police records, Stout spoke to police several times in August, September and October to allege that the 50-year-old Gagic repeatedly violated the protective order. Gagic unsuccessfully challenged the injunction during a two-day hearing in September before Maricopa County Commissioner Richard Albrecht. The commissioner sided with Stout, finding that Gagic’s insulting and sometimes vulgar posts were not protected by the First Amendment. During the hearing, Stout admitted under oath to using burner accounts on X to do battle with Gagic. New Times later reported that these same burner accounts were used to take swipes at Mitchell’s political rivals, her critics and Valley jour- nalists, including New Times news editor Zach Buchanan. For the initial story on the feud, I called Stout to ask for comment. This is standard journalistic practice. Stout did not answer nor return the call. According to the police report, Stout instead contacted police, telling an officer that I had left a voicemail saying I wanted “to interview him for a story,” per the report. The police have never contacted me, though the report identifies me as a “suspi- cious individual.” Stout said the phone call came not long after I had retweeted an Oct. 27 post that mentioned Stout’s name. “The original Tweet was posted by Vladimir Gagic,” the report reads. It appears the post in ques- tion is a retweet of Gina Godbehere, Mitchell’s challenger in the 2024 Republican primary. Godbehere was commenting on a May post from @AZ1Patriot, a now-defunct account that was later revealed to be one of Stout’s burners. The @AZ1Patriot post had responded to a Mother’s Day message from Godbehere criticizing her “overly too-tight shirt.” Gagic quote-tweeted Stout’s comment in September, calling it “sexist.” Godbehere then quote-tweeted Gagic, noting that she’d learned the original “creepy response” had come from Stout. Godbehere tagged Mitchell in the post. I retweeted Godbehere’s missive on Oct. 27, the same day Stout called the police to report an act of journalism. A conflict of interest During the hearing before Albrecht in September, Stout testified that Mitchell helped him write the petition for an injunction against Gagic. Mitchell, >> p 8 Paul Stout (center) held the Bibles when Rachel Mitchell was sworn in as Maricopa County attorney in 2022. Last year, he admitted in court to being her fiancé and targeting her critics through anonymous social media accounts. (Courtesy of Maricopa County Attorney’s Office Facebook Page) Suspended attorney Vladimir Gagic feuded with Paul Stout online but didn’t meet him in person until Gagic questioned Stout in court at an injunction hearing in September. (Courtesy of Vladimir Gagic X Account) | NEWS | | NEWS |
