CHANDLER, AZ — Chandler Councilmember Jane Poston said an allegation that she’s under FBI investigation is an “unfounded rumor.”
Poston released a statement to ABC15 on Thursday after the station obtained an internal city email that stated the councilmember and a local police union leader were the focus of an FBI probe.
“No one from any investigative agency has contacted me,” Poston wrote in an email. “Based on the complete lack of evidence, I decided to treat this as the unfounded rumor I believe it to be.”
RELATED: Chandler police chief says FBI is investigating councilmember, union president
In a Nov. 8, 2023 email, then-Chief Sean Duggan followed up on a “confidential briefing” he had with City Manager Joshua Wright.
Duggan wrote that he had information about a federal probe into Councilmember Jane Poston and the Chandler Law Enforcement Association’s former president Michael Collins.
The FBI does not typically confirm the existence of ongoing investigations and has not responded to a request for comment.
“Aside from the email sent in early November, I don’t know anything about its contents. I only recently learned the email existed when a reporter contacted me the day before my surgery,” Poston wrote.
Poston didn’t respond at the time.
The councilmember said she had a double mastectomy due to breast cancer on Jan. 25, 2024, and her statement likely referred to ABC15 which emailed and left a voicemail for her on the day before.
In the email and voicemail, ABC15 questioned if she was aware of the FBI investigation and also asked about her business ties to the police union.
Poston owns a company called J2 Media. J2 Media has done video and public relations work for the Chandler Law Enforcement Association going back several years, according to content posted on the business’s various web pages and social media sites.
In Poston’s statement, she did not address ABC15’s previous questions about her business and its work with the union.
In a follow-up request about those issues, Poston told ABC15 she would respond to those questions when she returns to the office.
That could be as early as next week.
Contact ABC15 Chief Investigator Dave Biscobing at Dave@ABC15.com.
