Hartford Courant investigative reporter Jon Lender tells us that the office of the U.S.
Attorney is now convening a criminal grand jury “to investigate claims of
illegal fundraising by the state Democratic Party.”
Only a few weeks
ago, it appeared that Governor Dannel Malloy’s problems had been settled in a
questionable agreement accepted by two parties, the state Democratic Party and
Connecticut’s State Elections Enforcement Commission (SEEC). The legal action
brought by the SEEC, which stemmed from a complaint issued by former Republican
Party Chairman Jerry Labriola, had been terminated when the State Democratic
Party agreed to cough up $325,000 to bring to a conclusion a suit that would
have required the Malloy administration to bring to public view in a messy
legal action – shades of Hillary Clinton -- possibly incriminating e-mails involving
the Governor and his co-conspirators.
The sizable money
payment, a fine that the settlement stipulated was NOT to be considered an
admission of guilt, put the kibosh on what certainly might have been an e-mail
embarrassment for the Malloy administration.
It is not clear whether Malloy operatives were asked to return all
tainted contributions that had leeched into the federal account slush fund and
swelled Mr. Malloy’s campaign war chest.
At the center of the
legal action was a mailer sent out by Mr. Malloy that 1) was clearly a campaign
mailer, 2) paid for in part by campaign contributions given by Connecticut
contractors that 3) were illegal under Connecticut Clean Election Law statutes.
Mr. Malloy’s lawyers
quibbled with #3 because the too-clever-by-half Malloy administration had cunningly
added a barely visible notation at the end of the campaign mailer that
announced “For a ride to the polls, call 555-555-5555. Poll hours 5AM to 8PM.”
This notation, the Malloy administration argued in court, placed the Malloy
campaign poster beyond the reach of Connecticut Clean Election laws, which
forbid in unequivocal language contributions made by Connecticut contractors to
politicians who easily could decide issues affecting the campaign contributors
– in the case under consideration, the adroit, law-dodging Mr. Malloy, who once
had been a prosecutor.
Mr. Lender provided
a photo of one of the offending mailer in his story. Samples are included here.
No jury of Mr.
Malloy’s peers, viewing the Malloy mailers, could possibly regard them other
than as campaign posters financed in part by political contributions made by
Connecticut contractors – according to Connecticut law, illegal rivulets
flowing into Mr. Malloy’s bulging campaign war chest. And the hypothetical jury
of Mr. Malloy’s peers, presented with Connecticut’s unambiguous Clean Election
Campaign Laws, would also be compelled to conclude – especially after
consulting possible incriminating e-mails – that Mr. Malloy had cleverly sought
to escape the provisions of his state’s Clean Election Laws by appending to the
illegal document an unobtrusive notation that permitted his crafty lawyers to
argue that the document was a brochure instructing voters how they might get to
the polls.
The notation allowed
Connecticut contractors to contribute to a federal account, a campaign slush
fund from which the Malloy administration made withdrawals. Lawyers for
Connecticut’s Democratic Party argued unpersuasively before the SEEC – they
did, after all, agree to pay a hefty fine -- that the fig-leaf notation placed Mr. Malloy
and his confederates beyond the reach of Connecticut’s Clean Election Laws.
By opening a
criminal investigation in the wake of a politically convenient settlement, the
Feds are signaling that something is rotten in Denmark. Emails flowing between
the Malloy administration and possible co-conspirators in lawbreaking may form
a net in which the fleet feet of clever politically motivated agents might
easily be entangled. No doubt possible targets have already been advised to
refrain from destroying or altering or deleting all relevant emails and their
vapor trails.
In coming days,
subpoenas will be served, involved parties will be interviewed by FBI investigators,
Connecticut media will fill their news space following the conclusion of
national nominating conventions with not
altogether idle speculation, as one or another Malloy operative trundles off to
have tea and a chat with FBI investigators.
Just as news
accounts are the first pictures of history, so rumor is the first breath of
truth. And rumors will abound before the Federal investigation is concluded. Even
now, speculation is rife. Is the Fed operation itself an attempt to sequester
possibly incriminating emails until the November elections have passed? Will
Malloy follow the path trodden before him by hapless former Governor John
Rowland and end up in some cushy prison reserved for delinquent politicians?
What effect will the FBI criminal investigation have on Democratic members of
the General Assembly up for re-election in November? Will the investigation be
awkward for the all-Democratic members of Connecticut’s U.S. Delegation?
Mrs. Clinton has
just escaped a noose. Now the shadow of a noose falls across the neck of the
head of the Democratic Governors Association.
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