The public has the right to see what's in Ruben and Kate Gallego's divorce files – at least most of it.
In a unanimous decision late Thursday, a three-judge panel of the appeals court rejected the couple's claims that Yavapai County Superior Court Judge John Napper exceeded his authority by granting a conservative online publication's bid to unseal records of the 2016 breakup between Ruben, a member of Congress, and Kate, the mayor of Phoenix.

Ruben's campaign press adviser Hannah Goss released a written statement late Thursday that she said came from both him and his ex-wife, praising Kari Lake, Ruben's Republican opponent in the U.S. Senate race, for the lawsuit blamed. Goss accused her of trying to “score a cheap political point – even if it means endangering the privacy and well-being of our young son.”

But the lawsuit seeking to unseal the records came not from Lake, but from The Washington Free Beacon, a conservative online publication. And while Lake clearly sees all of this as a benefit – she has made social media posts about the divorce and Ruben's attempt to keep the documents secret – Goss has provided absolutely no evidence that the GOP candidate is in any way involved connection is established.

The new ruling is unlikely to be the final word. Although neither Goss nor the couple's attorneys would comment, an appeal is likely to be filed with the Arizona Supreme Court.

More importantly, this appeal may also seek an immediate stay of the Court of Appeal's decision that the files – with certain redactions – be publicly available. And that could delay the final decision beyond the November 5 election.

But the Beacon's lawyers will fight it. They have made it clear that they want to release this information as soon as possible since early voting already began on Wednesday.

“This is about the right of the press to inform the public and the right of voters to be informed about a candidate before the election and to have time to digest and process the information,” the Beacon’s lawyers said the court.

And it's not just about Ruben and his attempt to get into the Senate. Kate is running for another term as mayor of Phoenix.

What is in these papers and what the couple wants to keep out of the public remains unknown. Her own statement of claim to the Court of Appeal itself was filed under seal.

All of this is a result of the couple, then living in Maricopa County, deciding to file for divorce in Yavapai County in 2016.

In the new ruling, Appellate Judge Brian Furuya, a 2021 appointee of former Gov. Doug Ducey, acknowledged in a brief for the court that the couple had convinced a Yavapai County judge who heard the case – and not Napper – to have the records complete to seal. That judge noted at the time that “the privacy interests of the parties override the general open records policy.”

Those records remained sealed — as did any evidence in a court filing — until the Washington Free Beacon learned about them and attempted to view copies.

Furuya said Napper was correct in August when he concluded that the original order sealing the records was improper.

Napper agreed to let Ruben and Kate provide a list of items that should be redacted before releasing the files.

The judge accepted some of them, which, according to Furuya, were “to protect the privacy of her financial information and the welfare of her minor child.” But he rejected others, prompting the couple to seek a review by an appeals court.

In the appeal, the couple pointed to the 2016 decision to seal the records and argued that status quo should have been maintained. However, Furuya said that the Arizona Rule of Family Law Procedure, which governs such things, states that as a party they must demonstrate “overriding current or ongoing circumstances that justify maintaining sealed status.”

“Prior circumstances are not relevant to her current objection to The Free Beacon’s request to unseal the file,” the appeals judge wrote. That means, he said, that the 2016 order did not require Napper to make written findings about why he no longer believed the order sealing the records was appropriate.

But the bigger issue, says Furuya, is that Napper did not abuse his discretion when he declined certain redactions requested by the couple.

“The State of Arizona initially assumes that court records are available to the public,” he wrote. “A party denying a motion to unseal must demonstrate why the records should not be unsealed.”

In this case, the appeals judge wrote, that meant the couple “must demonstrate continuing or new compelling circumstances prohibiting access to court documents or parts thereof.”

“You cannot cope with this burden,” Furuya wrote.

He noted that Napper agreed to some redactions that the couple did not want in order to protect their child's interests “along with some of their financial information.”

“The court properly exercised its discretion in determining exactly what should be withheld from the public for these legitimate purposes,” Furuya said.

“We have long placed our child above all else and will continue to do so,” the couple said in the prepared statement. “It is shameful that Lake, her allies and those who reinforce their cruelty refuse to respect two people who are just trying to raise a beautiful boy together.”

Lake has made the divorce a point in her campaign, even arguing that Ruben filed for divorce when Kate was nine months pregnant. And the controversy over the release of the records has only intensified comments from Lake, who has consistently trailed in polls.

“People have a right to know what Ruben did and who Ruben really is,” she said in an Instagram post. “What are you hiding, Ruben Gallego?”

There's no question that The Beacon has a website full of critical stories about Democrats. There is even a list of “enemies of freedom,” including Barack Obama.

But there is no mention of Lake in the legal papers the Beacon filed with the appeals court. Instead, his lawyer said it was simply a matter of the public's right to know.

“Free Beacon is demanding the release of court documents that reflect the character and conduct of a public figure who holds and runs for federal office and an official who currently holds executive power over one of the nation's largest cities,” stated the lawyers to the court.

And Lake has denied any involvement in the fight to unseal the records in her own social media posts.

“But Ruben's reaction to this means that everything that comes to light about his behavior during the divorce is very bad,” she said.

Ruben himself has previously revealed in his memoirs that he struggled with post-traumatic stress syndrome after serving in the Marines from 2002 to 2006. That was before he proposed to Kate Widland at the 2008 Democratic National Convention, where both were volunteers for the Obama campaign. They married two years later, the same year he was first elected to the state House of Representatives.

Four years later, he won his bid for Congress.

He also wrote about the breakup, which was fueled not only by his post-traumatic stress disorder but also by the expected birth of a son.

“At some point we both came to the point where we realized that we had grown apart in many ways,” Ruben wrote. “We separated when she was a few months away from giving birth.”

Whatever the problems were between them back then, they seem to have healed.

Kate, who has been mayor of Phoenix since 2019, is more than his partner in the legal attempt to keep the documents secret. She is also a political supporter.

“I know firsthand his commitment to building a better future for Arizona,” she said in a statement released by Ruben’s campaign last December.

“We face real challenges in our state that require a leader committed to fighting for working families and the most vulnerable,” she said. “He will do an excellent job for all of us as our next senator.”

Ruben has since remarried to Sydney Barron, who worked for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and is now employed by the National Association of Realtors. Kate didn't do it.