The Attorney General’s Office is conducting an initial review of alleged campaign finance violations by Vermonters First, after repeated complaints from Democrats.
The reviews focus on four alleged violations:
1) An inaccurate mass media report submitted to the Secretary of State, where Vermonters First fails to say that they targeted Maida Townsend, a House Democratic candidate, in a negative mass mailing;
2) Appearances of coordination between Vermonters First and Republican candidates generally, spurred by public incidents involving Vince Illuzzi, Wendy Wilton and Randy Brock;
3) Republican Senate candidate Dick Tracy’s failure to say who paid for a campaign mailing, which implies that Vermont Democrats will expand the sales tax to include services;
4) Republican House candidate Scott Ranney’s failure to say who paid for the same mailing.
With the latter two complaints, Democrats also raised questions about Vermonters First coordinating with Tracy and Ranney, noting similarities between previous Vermonters First political communications and Ranney and Tracy’s supposedly independent mailing.
A fully fledged investigation isn’t under way yet. Assistant Attorney General Susanne Young explained that the Attorney General’s Office had merely sent a standard letter acknowledging receipt of the complaints, submitted by the Vermont Democratic Party on Oct. 23 and 24.
Young couldn’t confirm who exactly the office had contacted, or what other steps it had taken, saying that such information remained confidential under law. She said standard policy is to contact relevant parties, which could include statewide candidates Brock and Wilton, when receipt of the complaint is acknowledged, allowing subjects an opportunity to respond to the complaint.
Young cautioned: “No conclusions as to the merits of a complaint should be drawn from the acknowledgment letter.” She wouldn’t specify the date by which contacted parties had been asked to respond.
Vermonters First founder Tayt Brooks didn’t return a request for comment, nor did gubernatorial candidate Randy Brock. Wilton campaign manager Bradford Broyles said the Wilton campaign hadn’t been contacted.
Already accusations are flying over the review, though it may not have moved very far yet. Last Thursday the Attorney General’s Office said it would be “looking into” the complaint.
“I find it regrettable that I have to go through hoops that the Democrats do not have to go through,” said Jack Lindley, Vermont state GOP chair, referring to his pending request for an investigation into alleged coordination between Bill Sorrell and another super PAC in the August primary, via the intermediary of Howard Dean.
His requests for a special counsel, addressed to both Shumlin and Sorrell, were brushed off. Both advised him to seek help from a state’s attorney, said Lindley.
But Sorrell maintains that Lindley didn’t formally asked his office for an investigation, adding that in any case his office would have to recuse itself from any investigation due to the obvious conflict.
“Obviously my evidence is being treated entirely differently to how the AG is treating his party’s filing. … It just seems that I get treated a lot differently than my counterpart on the other side does,” continued Lindley, referring to Jake Perkinson, Vermont Democratic Party chair.
The VDP’s complaint received a response within two days. Young explained standard policy was to respond to campaign finance complaints within 48 hours where possible.
Lindley originally asked the governor to appoint a special investigator on Sept. 24, but his complaint is still in limbo; it was last submitted to Addison County State’s Attorney David Fenster on Oct. 16.
Fenster didn’t return a request for comment. It’s unknown whether he will take up Lindley’s request.
Sorrell denied that any partisan considerations factored into his decision to review the complaint about Vermonters First. “I’ve recused ourselves from the complaint against me and my campaign, because of the obvious appearance of bias. Let others, who have full authority, investigate.”
“In every other case, no matter who the [campaign finance] complaint is from, the party or political persuasion, it’s been dealt with in an even-handed manner,” said Sorrell. “No partisan politics whatsoever has entered into how we’ve responded to these cases.”
Sorrell has consistently denied any wrongdoing or co-ordination with the super PAC the Committee for Justice and Fairness, which spent over $190,000 on ads and mailings backing Sorrell’s primary bid.
He also denies that Dean was an agent for his campaign, outside of certain public appearances which Sorrell explicitly requested, a position which Lindley finds “unbelievable.”
Vermonters First could face civil penalties of up to $10,000 for each campaign finance violation.
