Posted on 03/02/2005 12:57:54 AM PST by Stoat
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Wash. Dems face massive fines for inaccurate reports
05:33 PM PST on Tuesday, March 1, 2005
SEATTLE - Washington state’s Democratic party could face thousands of dollars in fines for failing to file accurate reports during the 2004 campaign. The penalties could be stiff because this is not a first offense. The Democratic party is already stretched thin with the governor's recount and the growing legal bills. Penalites could run into hundreds of thousands of dollars. The party acknowledges it made some serious mistakes. In September last year Democrats knew early on that U.S. Senator Patty Murray had a pretty good lead. But the state races were close -- the governor's race and control of the state legislature was at stake. A month before the election the state Democratic party transferred nearly $400,000 from its federal account to its state account. The transfer was perfectly legal but hardly any details were reported to the state. "They needed to show the actual sources of those dollars," said Vicki Rippie, executive director of the state Public Disclosure Commission. It wasn't until last month, nearly three months after the election, that Democrats disclosed exactly whose money it was in a 300-page report with the names of more than 3,000 donors. The Public Disclosure Commission said Democrats also failed to report how they were spending money. The Democrats have now submitted details on how they spent more than $800,000, mostly on behalf of legislative candidates. More than $1 million of Democratic expenditures and contributions weren't properly reported by the time voters went to the polls. "The reports were substantially out of compliance because they weren't complete and accurate," Rippie said. The Chairman of the state Democratic party Paul Berendt sent a letter to the PDC saying: "I am, of course, deeply disappointed and concerned...my staff did not alert me to the problem...Had I known, I would have acted aggressively to correct this matter." The next step could be penalties levied by the commission and they could be severe. During the 2000 campaign the PDC fined state democrats $250,000 for failing to disclose information. As part of that settlement $100,000 of that fine was suspended as long as Democrats avoided similar problems for five years. Now, Democrats may have to pay up with the potential for additional penalties. "We will hold them to their agreements and that the expectation from the public that they report accurately and fully and timely will be enforced," Rippie said. In his letter to the PDC, Berendt said he has replaced the treasurer who was in charge of filing reports and he has brought in more people to oversee the party's accounting. The commission is likely to pick up this matter later in spring and it may be referred to the Attorney General. |
It's not the treasurer who should've been fired; it's the state chairman.
Treasurers just do what they are told to do, by higher-ups.
Hoist on their own petard. They should have listened to us, and foregone the campaign finance laws altogether. But "learning from one's mistakes" and "Democrat" are incompatible concepts.
What's the latest on that, anyway? Haven't heard much about it out East here lately.
Who said it was a 'mistake'?
bump
(Washington State: where corruption is king)
Sorry guys, but you've got a long way to go to catch up to New Jersey.
For Dem bigwigs, it's always The Little People's fault.
For Berendt all he has to do is push the rewind and play button for his deeply disappointed and concerned press comments. We've heard this same phrase so many times before, including after the last Cantvotewell race when she was shown to have spent millions illegally to steal the election from Gorton.
By the way, just where are the Seattle Times and PI with their breaking of this news story? While I like Robert Mak, the print journalists are out to lunch.
Things have actually been going quite well for Republicans, with the Dem efforts to get the matter thrown out of court having failed. The judge postponed the next hearing until 'I think' April, so as to give everyone more time for discovery. Until then, it's just a matter of the standard Leftist media obfuscation and pretending that the matter is over and is a done deal, which it most certainly is not. New revelations are occurring frequently, with new felon voters and new lies by the Dem officials surfacing on an almost daily basis. You won't be able to count on the national media to keep you up to date on this issue as they would like everyone to think that it's over and done with. For the latest you can check with sites such as these:
Orbusmax ™ Northwest News - 'Around The World In 80K'
Streaming local talk radio:
And of course, the best resource of all, the FR Washington BB!
Hi,
I'm in VA. I was following this insanity up until that fool woman was illegally made governor. I thought Rossi was still fighting! Is there still a chance he can take it from her now? I had heard something about waiting until 2006 elections but I don't remember what that was about.
Thanks.
Hello, thanks for your interest in our CCSEFF (Completely Corrupt State Except For Freepers). Unfortunately, not much has changed since my last post to this thread other than additional insanity from the Dems (But you knew that would happen I'm sure). My understanding is that there's still a hearing scheduled for sometime in April which will be a determining factor as to whether or not a revote will occur in 2005. As before, your most up to date information will come from the links I posted above. I'm sorry to be unable to add anything new, but we're all just waiting around for the courts here, sorry. If you had a specific area of interest you will likely get your best answer from the FR Washington BB...there are several folks there who will likely know the answer to whatever questions you might have. :-)
Thanks for the reply. There was nothing of particular interest. I was just surprized at how their cheating was so transparent, in your face and fraudulent. In front of the world, they just stole the election.
It didn't get that crooked overnight so be patient. I know there are a lot of good freepers up there and your day will come.
Also, don't be embarrassed about Washington. It is a beautiful place. Just get it back from the commies.
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