Attorney General Bill Sorrell this week vigorously denied allegations of impropriety being investigated by an independent special counsel. The 68-year-old Sorrell said he had done nothing wrong and that he expected to be cleared in the investigation led by attorney Tom Little.
Sorrell also asserted the investigation played “no role whatsoever” in his decision not to seek another term in 2016, which he announced last week.
The Little investigation centers on allegations that Sorrell improperly helped a campaign contributor, a law firm that donated $10,000 to his campaign that the state later hired; that he failed to properly report campaign expenditures on 16 occasions; and that he improperly coordinated with a super PAC in one of his campaigns for attorney general.
The investigation was triggered by allegations contained in a filing by attorney Brady Toensing, vice chair of the Vermont Republican Party. The allegations have also been investigated and reported on by the Vermont media, including columnist Paul Heintz of Seven Days.
In an hour-long interview with VTDigger, Sorrell, who has served since 1997, denies any wrongdoing.
“I didn’t take any bribes. I didn’t commit wire fraud. I didn’t knowingly violate the campaign finance filing laws,” Sorrell said. “And I’m assuming if the truth comes out in this investigation, I’m going to be fine.”
Sorrell also said he had no regrets about seeking a substantial fine against a Progressive candidate for lieutenant governor, Dean Corren, for alleged campaign finance law violations. Some lawmakers and observers said Sorrell was too aggressive in that case.
During the interview, Sorrell seemed at times irritated and said there should be a screening process when allegations of campaign impropriety are leveled before a full-blown investigation is launched.
He said the allegations were part of a witch hunt of “partisan politics,” and he also criticized Heintz’s reporting, though he claimed he had not read Heintz’s Fair Game column in all of 2015. Last week, the column was titled “Bye-Bye Billy” and in it, Heintz said the attorney general appeared to be “limping away, his tail between his legs.”
Heintz told VTDigger that his stories have been “based entirely on publicly available documents, The New York Times’ ‘Courting Favor’ series and Sorrell’s own words.” The New York Times series was written by reporter Eric Lipton, who recently visited Vermont for an event co-sponsored by VTDigger.
Little, a Burlington attorney and the Republican former chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, declined comment on the status of his investigation. The results will be given to a group of state’s attorneys, who will decide whether to prosecute. Either way, officials have said the results of Little’s investigation will be made public.