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Hutchison Campaign Says Constantine May Have Engaged in "Illegal" Campaign Activity.
A complaint has been filed with the Public Disclosure Commission into what Susan Hutchison's campaign—in a press release this afternoon—called possible "illegal coordination" between her opponent Dow Constantine's campaign and a liberal political committee, FAIRPAC.
Hutchison's campaign did not file the complaint. (It was filed by someone named Judy Brown from Seattle. Brown did not respond to our call.)
The Hutchison campaign says:
It is against ethics rules for political committees to coordinate independent expenditures (e.g., campaign ads) with candidates they support. FAIRPAC did a round of ads against Hutchison in August connecting her to anti-choice politicians like Mike Huckabee.
As the Seattle Times reported last month, FAIRPAC's treasurer, Jason Bennett, is also Constantine's treasurer.
State law does actually allow a campaign with overlapping staff to do an independent expenditure if the staffer is only doing "ministerial" tasks, such as filing reports and "just doing what people tell you to do, not exercising judgment," according to Lori Anderson at the Public Disclosure Commission.
That actually describes Bennett's role at both campaigns. And, according to Anderson, Bennett called her when he first learned about FAIRPAC's $25,000 anti-Hutchison phone call and mail campaign to make it clear he wasn't involved in the campaign decision—learning about it, Bennett told her, "after the fact" when FAIRPAC sent him the paperwork to account for the expenditure.
Bennett filed an August 14 letter (screen shot below the fold) with the PDC explaining that he was only doing ministerial duties.
The reason Bennett filed the letter is because when FAIRPAC registered with the PDC, Bennett checked the box that said his role was not limited to ministerial duties, Anderson says.
Anderson tells PubliCola, "We do have a complaint that's filed against Dow Constantine," adding, "we haven't reviewed it yet, and we will decide what to do with it in the very near future."
Constantine's campaign spokesman Sandeep Kaushik (who, full disclosure, co-founded PubliCola with me last January) says: "It's a frivolous complaint, and it will be dismissed. It's an obvious attempt to insinuate a violation that does not exist."
Kaushik adds: "Jason Bennett has never come to a campaign meeting nor has he had any involvement in formulating our campaign strategy. His role is to do our [campaign finance] compliance work, filing our forms with the Public Disclosure Commission."
Hutchison's campaign did not file the complaint. (It was filed by someone named Judy Brown from Seattle. Brown did not respond to our call.)
The Hutchison campaign says:
"It has been brought to our attention that Dow Constantine and his campaign appear to have engaged in illegal coordination with an independent expenditure committee during the primary, and yesterday a formal complaint was filed against his campaign. The PDC confirmed this morning it will begin a review early next week—a process that precedes a full investigation."
It is against ethics rules for political committees to coordinate independent expenditures (e.g., campaign ads) with candidates they support. FAIRPAC did a round of ads against Hutchison in August connecting her to anti-choice politicians like Mike Huckabee.
As the Seattle Times reported last month, FAIRPAC's treasurer, Jason Bennett, is also Constantine's treasurer.
State law does actually allow a campaign with overlapping staff to do an independent expenditure if the staffer is only doing "ministerial" tasks, such as filing reports and "just doing what people tell you to do, not exercising judgment," according to Lori Anderson at the Public Disclosure Commission.
That actually describes Bennett's role at both campaigns. And, according to Anderson, Bennett called her when he first learned about FAIRPAC's $25,000 anti-Hutchison phone call and mail campaign to make it clear he wasn't involved in the campaign decision—learning about it, Bennett told her, "after the fact" when FAIRPAC sent him the paperwork to account for the expenditure.
Bennett filed an August 14 letter (screen shot below the fold) with the PDC explaining that he was only doing ministerial duties.
The reason Bennett filed the letter is because when FAIRPAC registered with the PDC, Bennett checked the box that said his role was not limited to ministerial duties, Anderson says.
Anderson tells PubliCola, "We do have a complaint that's filed against Dow Constantine," adding, "we haven't reviewed it yet, and we will decide what to do with it in the very near future."
Constantine's campaign spokesman Sandeep Kaushik (who, full disclosure, co-founded PubliCola with me last January) says: "It's a frivolous complaint, and it will be dismissed. It's an obvious attempt to insinuate a violation that does not exist."
Kaushik adds: "Jason Bennett has never come to a campaign meeting nor has he had any involvement in formulating our campaign strategy. His role is to do our [campaign finance] compliance work, filing our forms with the Public Disclosure Commission."
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