Maricopa County attorney staffer ousted after memo on Allister Adel's 'sobriety and leadership'

A key member of the Maricopa County attorney's leadership team was ousted Thursday after writing that the office should not be put in the position of defending Allister Adel's "sobriety and leadership."

Communications Director Jennifer Liewer was escorted out of the office, a day after giving her three-week notice and citing a "loss of trust and confidence" in her boss.

"As I have repeatedly conveyed, I believe the best use of the communications team is to communicate about the work of the office — not in defending the county attorney individually," Liewer wrote.

Liewer's resignation letter was provided to The Arizona Republic by attorneys at the office who confirmed she was locked out of the building,

Liewer, who was reached by phone Thursday, said she could not comment "at this time." 

Neither Adel nor Chief of Staff Candice Copple responded to calls requesting comment. An email statement sent to media Thursday maintained that Liewer resigned effective March 2 and would be assisting with the transition of her position.

The statement did not address accounts of Liewer being led out of the building.

Liewer's exit is the most public example yet of the turmoil raging inside the County Attorney's Office over questions about Adel's sobriety, absence from the office and her leadership ability.

It comes days after Adel misstated the length of time she spent in a rehab facility last year and after Bill Gates, chairman of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, said a member of her leadership team reported to him that they received a drunken after-hours phone call from Adel.

The call was detailed in a Feb. 2 investigation by The Republic, which raised concerns by county supervisors about Adel's absence from county meetings and her failure to weigh in on key legal issues. 

Former County Attorney Rick Romley, who held the position longer than any other county attorney, said he has received several calls from employees warning about a lack of direction, understaffing and heavy workloads.

"They say she is never there," he said. "They say she is in over her head, and they have lost confidence."

Liewer was one of Adel's closest allies. Adel selected her to direct communications in 2019,  when county supervisors appointed Adel to run the office.

Liewer stayed in the role after Adel was elected to the office in 2020. She handled  messaging around Adel's hospitalization at the beginning of 2021 and when Adel checked into rehab for alcohol abuse, an eating disorder and anxiety in September.

"There has been a mutual loss of trust and confidence in our professional interactions over the past several months," Liewer wrote in her Feb. 9 resignation letter. "This dynamic has created an environment that unfortunately prevents me from representing the best interests of the employees of the Maricopa County Attorney's Office and my community."

The Maricopa County Attorney's Office is the third largest prosecutorial agency in the nation and serves as a critical nexus between the courts and local police departments, the Arizona Department of Public Safety and the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office. 

It handles all adult and juvenile felony cases and misdemeanors filed in justice court. It represents all county agencies in civil matters. The county attorney makes decisions about who to charge with crimes, when to authorize wiretaps and whether to seek the death penalty against someone.

Adel underwent emergency surgery for a brain bleed on Nov. 3, 2020, election night. She was hospitalized at two medical centers for more than a month. She spent the beginning of 2021 recovering. 

Adel returned to her duties full time that spring. She went into rehab on Aug. 29 and was out of the office for 13 days in September before the Maricopa County sheriff forced her to publicly acknowledge she was getting treatment. 

Nineteen days after checking into rehab, Adel checked out and said doctors cleared her to go back to work.

In a radio interview Monday, Adel said she was in a treatment facility for 29 days, which her office later characterized as a mistake. Adel said she is committed to running the office while working on her sobriety.

She told The Republic that she admitted to Gates that she had "a slip-up" on one occasion since getting out of rehab and had "a couple of sips of wine."

Liewer in her resignation notice urged the office to hire an independent public relations firm to handle issues related to Adel's sobriety.

"My departure will no doubt further thrust the talented communication professionals I work with at the office into the untenable situation of communicating with the media regarding the sobriety and leadership of the County Attorney," she wrote.

Robert Anglen is an investigative reporter for The Republic. Reach him at robert.anglen@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-8694. Follow him on Twitter @robertanglen.

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