Last modified: 5/1/2014 11:55:02 PM
Days after the state Republican Party claimed U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen violated campaign finance laws, the New Hampshire Democratic Party hit back with its own complaint to the Federal Election Commission aimed at Republican candidate Scott Brown.
The Democrats’ complaint, filed yesterday, alleges Brown skirted disclosure laws by failing to log expenses incurred in the run-up to formally announcing his campaign. Brown formed an exploratory committee March 14 and officially declared his intent to run April 10. In a recent interview with WMUR, however, Brown said he decided to run on Valentine’s Day, and his first-quarter campaign finance filing shows the committee incurred no expenses as of March 31. Democrats are alleging that these two factors show Brown violated federal laws that require candidates to disclose all expenses that occurred while running for office, and they called the fact that his first-quarter campaign finance report showed no expenses “absurd.”
“The Commission must immediately investigate and levy appropriate sanctions on Mr. Brown and his committee. . . . The public has already been harmed by having this information withheld and the Commission must act quickly to rectify this damage,” Democratic Party Chairman Ray Buckley wrote in the complaint.
Brown’s camp denied the allegations.
“Scott Brown formed his exploratory committee on March 14. In those early days, the biggest expense we incurred was gas for Scott’s pick-up truck. We just moved into our campaign headquarters, and as bills get submitted, they get paid,” Brown press secretary Elizabeth Guyton said in an email.
The New Hampshire Republican Party alleged the party’s complaint was a directive of Shaheen in a “desperate attempt to distract from the dark ethical cloud hanging over her campaign.”
The complaint points to activities by the Brown campaign that occurred before March 31 and may have cost money, such as traveling on his listening tour, communicating with elected officials about his possible run, creating web videos and hiring staff. Brown’s first hire was Guyton, who was not paid until after March 31. But his campaign did release several web videos before March 31. One video, released the same day Brown announced his exploratory committee, features testimonials from people urging him to run. The video says, “Paid for by New Hampshire for Scott Brown Exploratory Committee.”
Larry Noble, former general counsel for the FEC, said if Brown officially formed his exploratory committee March 14, any expenditures after that date should have been included in the first-quarter FEC report. Campaign finance laws technically say any expenditures made in connection to a campaign even before the campaign is formed must be reported, Noble said.
“The law’s clear on when you have to file your reports and what periods they have to cover,” Noble said. “They can’t say that we haven’t gotten a chance to get our receipts together
. . . so therefore we’re not going to report.”
As with the New Hampshire Republican Party’s complaint against Shaheen, Noble said it’s unlikely the FEC will solve this complaint before the election.
(Kathleen Ronayne can be reached at 369-3309 or kronayne@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @kronayne.)