Two members of Vermont’s congressional delegation are among those who received political contributions through a Boston law firm’s legally dubious system in which donations from employees were offset by bonus payments.
The firm’s staff gave millions to prominent national politicians over several years, including thousands to Sen. Patrick Leahy and Rep. Peter Welch, both Vermont Democrats.
The contribution system, which was executed by top lawyers at the Thornton Law Firm, was the subject of a recent Boston Globe Spotlight report. Larry Noble, general counsel at the Campaign Legal Center, told the Globe that “using straw donors to make contributions is illegal. People can go and have gone to prison for this.”
The Globe said that while the practice was widespread in the firm for years, there’s no indication any of the politicians who received the donations knew about the reimbursement system.
Welch has received a total of $37,900 in campaign contributions since 2008 from Michael Thornton, his wife and employees of his law firm.
After the publication of the Globe story, Welch said he would return the money.
“Congressman Welch was disturbed to read the Boston Globe story,” said Bob Rogan, Welch’s chief of staff. “Consistent with the paper’s reporting, he was unaware of the law firm’s internal practices related to campaign contributions. In accordance with (Federal Election Commission) guidelines for situations like this, we will immediately return these contributions.”
The Thornton Law Firm’s political advocacy has largely focused on preventing changes to the asbestos litigation system.
One 2016 bill, the Furthering Asbestos Claim Transparency Act, would have required that all members of a class action suit provide evidence of injury from asbestos.
Welch, as well as other recipients of Thornton donations, voted against the Republican-backed bill, which passed the House but died in the Senate.
Welch invoked another legal case in arguing against the logic of the bill. “In a case of current moment, of real corporate misconduct and actual deceit, Volkswagen lying about its emissions control and, really, fudging the numbers on its mileage, the 3,000 Vermonters and 11 million Americans would have to file individual suits unless each suffered the same exact economic loss,” Welch said in a floor speech. “What is the justification for building this barrier to access to the courts? There is none.”
He received a combined $12,500 from four partners in the firm on March 9, three weeks or so before the bill was introduced in the House.
“Congressman Welch is a strong advocate in Congress for the consumers’ right to access the judicial system to obtain justice,” Rogan told VTDigger. “He has consistently opposed Republican efforts to limit access to justice. His vote on this bill is consistent with his longstanding record fighting for consumer rights.”
Leahy has also accepted money from lawyers at Thornton, though not for more than a decade.
On Aug. 22, 2003, Leahy received $5,000 from lawyers in the firm. Those donors were Michael Thornton ($2,000), David McMorris ($2,000) and Robert Naumes ($1,000), according to the Center For Responsive Politics, which collaborated on the story with the Globe.
Leahy’s Republican opponent this year, Scott Milne, alleges that the donations influenced Leahy’s opposition to the 2003 Class Action Fairness Act, a bill promoted by then-President George W. Bush.
The bill — which became law in 2005 — was heavily pushed by business groups and aimed to curb supposed abuse in class action claims. According to the Globe, the bill allowed “victims of asbestos exposure to file their claims for compensation directly to a national trust fund — bypassing lawyers who typically receive a third of any award.”
Leahy made clear his opposition to the bill — which was being debated in the Senate Judiciary Committee — in late July 2003. A few weeks later, his donations from Thornton came in.
In the late July statement during a markup meeting in Judiciary, Leahy and some of his colleagues cautioned that “while the legislation is described by some of its proponents as a simple procedural fix, it represents a radical revision of the class action rules and diversity jurisdiction requirements.”
“In fact,” the statement continued, “we believe it would bar most state class actions from being heard in state courts.”
Both Leahy and Welch have long advocated for greater access to the court system and against what they consider undue restrictions on class action suits. But Republican Milne called on Leahy to return his Thornton contributions.
“Once again, we see that Sen. Leahy is accepting special interest contributions linked to business before his committee, only this time there is clear evidence based on the Boston Globe’s investigation that these contributions were outright illegal,” Milne said in a statement Monday.
Leahy campaign spokesman Jay Tilton said Milne’s charge was baseless and that Leahy’s donations do not sway his positions. Asked in an email if Leahy would return the donations, Tilton criticized Milne for making an issue of it.
“Rather than focusing on the issues facing Vermonters, Mr. Milne is desperately grasping at any attack he can in hopes that it will somehow damage Sen. Leahy’s reputation,” Tilton said. “Sen. Leahy has not received any contributions from this law firm in more than a decade and was not included in the Boston Globe article.”
