By Ted Nesi
The Rhode Island Democratic Party filed a formal complaint Tuesday with the R.I. Board of Elections against an Ohio nonprofit that’s spending nearly a half-million dollars on TV attack ads but hasn’t disclosed its donors.
WPRI.com first reported Monday that the Government Integrity Fund Inc. – a Grove City, Ohio-based 501(c)4 that contributed money to another Ohio nonprofit, Mid America Fund Inc., to help defeat Democratic gubernatorial nominee Gina Raimondo – has not filed paperwork revealing its financial backers, unlike other outside groups making major independent expenditures in the race.
Jonathan Boucher, executive director of the Rhode Island Democratic Party, on Tuesday asked the Board of Elections to immediately issue an order requiring the Government Integrity Fund to document its donors, as required under a 2012 state disclosure law, or else levy a maximum fine of $652,500 on the group.
“This type of behavior was precisely what Rhode Island had in mind when it passed one of the nation’s strongest disclosure laws in 2012,” Boucher wrote in the complaint. “That legislation was designed to put an end to secret spending to influence elections and force these dark money groups into the light by requiring donor disclosure.”
“The Board must act quickly, before the election, to uphold the integrity of Rhode Island’s strong disclosure law and send a message to out-of-state dark money groups that the shenanigans will not be tolerated in Rhode Island,” Boucher added.
The Mid America Fund said it had spent $557,420 as of Oct. 21 on TV ads to defeat Raimondo, paid for with $435,000 from the Government Integrity Fund and $125,000 from the Republican Governors Association (RGA). RGA Chairman Chris Christie, New Jersey’s governor, visited Rhode Island Tuesday to campaign with Allan Fung, Raimondo’s GOP rival, and said the race is close.
Robert Coupe, a spokesman for Fung, encouraged the Government Integrity Fund to follow the rules. “The Fung campaign complies with state finance and disclosure laws and would urge any other group to comply as well,” he told WPRI.com in an email.
However, Coupe also criticized Raimondo for her refusal to discuss a so-called “People’s Pledge” banning outside spending in the race, which happened after Fung reversed his own previous position and said he was open to the idea.
“Instead, Wall Street interests and out-of-state organizations have funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars into the Raimondo campaign effort in the past six weeks and it is hypocritical for them to cry foul at the last minute,” he said.
The Government Integrity Fund, the Board of Elections and the RGA have not responded to questions about the ad or the lack of a donor disclosure notice.
The Government Integrity Fund was previously criticized for secrecy after it spent more than $1 million in 2012 helping the Republican U.S. Senate candidate in Ohio, Josh Mandel. Fung’s campaign has hired the same Ohio-based political consulting firm that Mandel’s campaign used in 2012, The Strategy Group Company, and was criticized during the Republican primary for filming a TV ad in Ohio.
WPRI.com first reported Monday that the Government Integrity Fund Inc. – a Grove City, Ohio-based 501(c)4 that contributed money to another Ohio nonprofit, Mid America Fund Inc., to help defeat Democratic gubernatorial nominee Gina Raimondo – has not filed paperwork revealing its financial backers, unlike other outside groups making major independent expenditures in the race.
Jonathan Boucher, executive director of the Rhode Island Democratic Party, on Tuesday asked the Board of Elections to immediately issue an order requiring the Government Integrity Fund to document its donors, as required under a 2012 state disclosure law, or else levy a maximum fine of $652,500 on the group.
“This type of behavior was precisely what Rhode Island had in mind when it passed one of the nation’s strongest disclosure laws in 2012,” Boucher wrote in the complaint. “That legislation was designed to put an end to secret spending to influence elections and force these dark money groups into the light by requiring donor disclosure.”
“The Board must act quickly, before the election, to uphold the integrity of Rhode Island’s strong disclosure law and send a message to out-of-state dark money groups that the shenanigans will not be tolerated in Rhode Island,” Boucher added.
The Mid America Fund said it had spent $557,420 as of Oct. 21 on TV ads to defeat Raimondo, paid for with $435,000 from the Government Integrity Fund and $125,000 from the Republican Governors Association (RGA). RGA Chairman Chris Christie, New Jersey’s governor, visited Rhode Island Tuesday to campaign with Allan Fung, Raimondo’s GOP rival, and said the race is close.
Robert Coupe, a spokesman for Fung, encouraged the Government Integrity Fund to follow the rules. “The Fung campaign complies with state finance and disclosure laws and would urge any other group to comply as well,” he told WPRI.com in an email.
However, Coupe also criticized Raimondo for her refusal to discuss a so-called “People’s Pledge” banning outside spending in the race, which happened after Fung reversed his own previous position and said he was open to the idea.
“Instead, Wall Street interests and out-of-state organizations have funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars into the Raimondo campaign effort in the past six weeks and it is hypocritical for them to cry foul at the last minute,” he said.
The Government Integrity Fund, the Board of Elections and the RGA have not responded to questions about the ad or the lack of a donor disclosure notice.
The Government Integrity Fund was previously criticized for secrecy after it spent more than $1 million in 2012 helping the Republican U.S. Senate candidate in Ohio, Josh Mandel. Fung’s campaign has hired the same Ohio-based political consulting firm that Mandel’s campaign used in 2012, The Strategy Group Company, and was criticized during the Republican primary for filming a TV ad in Ohio.
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