Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas asked the state's highest court on Tuesday to take extraordinary steps to protect his supporters from political and professional retribution.

PDF: Andrew Thomas’ newest court filing about ethics investigations against him

State Bar: Outsider to investigate Thomas

Thomas: Bar complaints politically motivated

Ethics investigations target Thomas office

The unusual request came as part of an ongoing legal battle between Thomas, a Republican who is up for re-election this year, and the powerful organization that oversees the state's lawyers, the State Bar of Arizona.

In a filing with the Arizona Supreme Court, Thomas accused the State Bar of recently trying to "intimidate" one of his supporters - a prominent Valley attorney - and asked the justices to issue a restraining order "to protect attorneys who have taken positions contrary to (the Bar)."

Thomas, the Valley's chief prosecutor, has been feuding with the State Bar since May over numerous ethics investigations the organization has launched against him and his allies.

He has asked the court to step into the feud and block the organization from investigating him because he believes the inquiries are politically motivated.

"Anyone who sides with County Attorney Thomas in the pending Bar investigations may suffer consequences," Thomas wrote in the new filing.

He pointed to the case of prominent Valley lawyer Ernest Calderón, a member of the Arizona Board of Regents, who spoke out publicly in support of Thomas in May.

A week after doing so, Calderón, who is also a former State Bar president, found out the organization was going to remove him from a position representing it on a national stage.

Calderón said at the time his opinion was unbiased and he believed the move was retaliation for supporting Thomas.

Critics have since pointed out, however, that Calderón received more than $100,000 in legal contracts from the county attorney's office in recent years, and some believe it may have colored his judgment.

Dan McAuliffe, then president of the Bar, told the Tribune in May that Calderón's removal came about because of numerous things, one of which was speaking out against the organization. "Some people thought Ernie hadn't been a very good friend to the Bar over the years," he said.

On Tuesday, Thomas also re-emphasized his request for the court to block the ethics investigations of him and his allies.

The investigations dealt with numerous controversies during Thomas' first term in office, including the investigation of the Phoenix New Times newspaper and his wranglings with Maricopa County judges over policies on illegal immigration.

Only three of the original 13 investigations still remain, and the rest have been dismissed, according to the filing. Still, Thomas said he wants those to go away, too.

He has said in the past he believes the leaders of the State Bar pushed for the investigations because they did not like his politics, an accusation they have strongly denied.

Last month, in light of the accusations, the State Bar announced it would appoint someone outside of the organization to finish the investigations.

Pat Giallanza, a spokeswoman for the group, said no one has been chosen for the job, and the State Bar may wait until the Supreme Court decides whether to do anything.

"There has been, I think, some names tossed around," Giallanza said. "But whether any of those people have been contacted, I don't know."

Giallanza declined to comment on Thomas' newest filing, saying the organization's position was laid out clearly in June.

"We are certain the Supreme Court will render a fair decision," she said.

Cari Gerchick, a spokeswoman for the Supreme Court, said the state's five justices have made no decision in the case and have the choice to decline to even take the matter into consideration.