(Photo by Will Stone - KJZZ)

Tyler Montague with the Public Integrity Alliance, which is asking the Department of Justice to investigate Corporation Commissioner Susan Bitter Smith.

(Photo via azcc.gov)

Susan Bitter Smith resigned from the Arizona Corporation Commission amid accusations of conflict of interest.

An Arizona watchdog group is asking the federal government to investigate Arizona Corporation Commissioner Susan Bitter Smith on possible corruption charges. 

On Thursday, the Public Integrity Alliance (PIA) filed the complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice, alleging that Bitter Smith’s links with the telecommunications industry could warrant federal action under what’s known as Honest Services Fraud.

PIA is relying on much of the same evidence cited in an earlier complaint from Chandler attorney Tom Ryan to the Arizona Attorney General's Office seeking the commissioner's removal. The group points to Bitter Smith being a registered lobbyist for Cox, director of a cable industry trade group and working for a public affairs firm that has had clients in the telecommunications industry.

“If the allegations are true, then Ms. Bitter smith lobbied on behalf of clients appearing before the agency she chairs and voted on matters benefiting companies that paid her six figure salary," said Tyler Montague who is head of PIA.

While the commission does not regulate cable, it does oversee the telephone side of some of the same companies.

In a statement, Bitter Smith called Montague’s organization a “dark money group” acting with “reckless disregard for the truth.”