This Washington
PDC: "Inslee Didn't Do Anything Illegal"
Last week, we reported on a flap over US Rep. Jay Inslee's plan to transfer $1.2 million from his Congressional campaign fund to the his 2012 gubernatorial campaign.
Inslee believed—on initial advice from the Public Disclosure Commission—that the funds could be transferred without being subject to campaign finance limits, meaning if Inslee had a $10,000 check from Microsoft lying around in his federal campaign fund, he could shift it to his gubernatorial fund and still get another $3200 from Microsoft (the state limit) as if the $10,000 didn't exist.
Rob McKenna's campaign and the state Republican party sent letters to supporters and the press saying what Inslee was doing was "illegal." (Indeed, when I was interviewing McKenna's campaign manager Randy Pepple for an earlier story on this, I kept asking if what Inslee did was "not kosher." His response: "Not 'not kosher'---illegal!")
PubliCola stayed away from the word "illegal" (they scare you about that stuff in journalism school), but we did think the Republicans were on to something, and we ended up breaking the news last week that the PDC sent Inslee a letter saying he actually wasn't allowed to transfer federal money without campaign finance restrictions.
Here's the final chapter of the story. I just talked to Doug Ellis, the acting director of the PDC, and he says: "In fact the Inslee campaign did the appropriate thing. They contacted us for advice on what they were supposed to do. Unfortunately, the advice provided by my staff was not appropriate advice. I have contacted the campaign and given them the correct advice, and they've done nothing illegal."
Ellis adds: "Both parties used this for political fodder. The Republicans put out a statement saying it was 'illegal' and the Democrats put out a statement saying Rob McKenna should know better. It's just too early for that."
Inslee believed—on initial advice from the Public Disclosure Commission—that the funds could be transferred without being subject to campaign finance limits, meaning if Inslee had a $10,000 check from Microsoft lying around in his federal campaign fund, he could shift it to his gubernatorial fund and still get another $3200 from Microsoft (the state limit) as if the $10,000 didn't exist.
Rob McKenna's campaign and the state Republican party sent letters to supporters and the press saying what Inslee was doing was "illegal." (Indeed, when I was interviewing McKenna's campaign manager Randy Pepple for an earlier story on this, I kept asking if what Inslee did was "not kosher." His response: "Not 'not kosher'---illegal!")
PubliCola stayed away from the word "illegal" (they scare you about that stuff in journalism school), but we did think the Republicans were on to something, and we ended up breaking the news last week that the PDC sent Inslee a letter saying he actually wasn't allowed to transfer federal money without campaign finance restrictions.
Here's the final chapter of the story. I just talked to Doug Ellis, the acting director of the PDC, and he says: "In fact the Inslee campaign did the appropriate thing. They contacted us for advice on what they were supposed to do. Unfortunately, the advice provided by my staff was not appropriate advice. I have contacted the campaign and given them the correct advice, and they've done nothing illegal."
Ellis adds: "Both parties used this for political fodder. The Republicans put out a statement saying it was 'illegal' and the Democrats put out a statement saying Rob McKenna should know better. It's just too early for that."
