California's campaign enforcement agency ordered $1 million in fines against a pair of nonprofits that stealthily poured millions of dollars into California's elections last year at the 11th hour.
From Capitol Weekly's Samantha Gallegos: "The state's political watchdog has imposed an unprecedented $1 million in fines on two-out-of-state nonprofits that secretly funneled some $15 million into California's elections last year targeting two hotly controversial ballot initiatives."
"Ann Ravel, chair of the Fair Political Practices Commission, announced the high-profile settlement that included the penalties. The case stemmed from so-called “dark money” that poured into the state in the November 2012 elections that backed efforts to block tax hikes in Proposition 30 and curb unions’ ability to raise political cash in Proposition 32."
"The two non-profit groups, the Arizona-based Center to Protect Patient Rights and Americans for Responsible Leadership, are among the organizations in a network of nonprofits operated by Charles and David Koch, two billionaire businessmen who have spent millions of dollars nationwide furthering conservative political causes."
Meanwhile, the FPPC also disclosed the names of scores of donors who provided the money -- an unusual event, given that donors to political nonprofits aren't often disclosed.
From the LAT's Anthony York: "A state investigation into a network of nonprofit groups that funneled $11 million into initiative campaigns in California last year has revealed the identities of dozens of previously hidden donors to the various organizations."
"Those contributors include owners of the Gap Inc., for which California First Lady Anne Gust Brown was once a top executive, investor Charles Schwab and Los Angeles philanthropist Eli Broad. The groups they donated to gave money to other organizations, which gave to the campaigns."
"One of the campaigns was an effort to derail a 2012 tax measure pushed by Gov. Jerry Brown -- which Broad had said he supported. The other supported a separate initiative that would have limited the power of labor unions to raise political cash. The Fisher family, which owns the Gap, gave more than $9 million to Americans for Job Security, a Virginia-based group which eventually sent millions to an Arizona-based non-profit that ultimately wound up in a California campaign committee. Gust Brown formerly was the company’s chief administrative officer."
Following the money, the intricate money trail that ultimately became the target of the FPPC stemmed from the strategies of policitcal consultants looking for funds.
From the Bee's Dan Morain: "To carry it out, Russo and Miller tapped donors in California but also enlisted the aid of anti-union organizations and individuals in Virginia, Iowa and Arizona that were part of what they called the Koch network."
"Details of their plan became public Thursday when the California Fair Political Practices Commission and attorney general settled a yearlong investigation into the source of a mystery $11 million contribution last October to boost Proposition 32, the failed 2012 initiative that sought to restrict labor’s ability to raise campaign money."
"Outgoing FPPC Chairwoman Ann Ravel said she does not know whether the Koch brothers actually spent money in California. State and federal law protects the identities of donors to such groups. But in his deposition given in July, Russo said he was convinced that he was dealing with the Koch network."
Not everyone is happy with the FPPC's action, including the recipient in California of the disputed funds.
From Fox & Hounds' Joel Fox: "The Fair Political Practices Commission thinks the Small Business Action Committee PAC should disgorge (pay back) $11 million dollars that came our way during last year’s election — obviously already spent. The reason they say that is because other groups—not SBAC PAC—violated the Political Reform Act."
"SBAC did nothing wrong. In fact, we did everything right and more so. We reported the donation after checking on the Arizona donor group before accepting the donation. That group was supposed to tell us that it received the money from another Arizona group, and because they didn’t that is why they were fined $500,000. Still, we informed the donor to our PAC in a detailed letter beyond what the FPPC requires that they had reporting obligations. Furthermore, when it was revealed that there were other donors involved and an investigation ensued, we cooperated – fully."
"The authorities told us that our group was the only one that initially cooperated. After the Attorney General’s office investigated, they told us that SBAC had done nothing wrong."
The corruption trial of a former top administrator in the city of Bell contunues down south, with testimony that a disputed pension plan would have paid out hundreds of thousands of dollars more annually than the already-lavish earlier one.
From the LAT's Jeff Gottlieb: "A Wells Fargo & Co. pension expert testified Thursday in the Bell corruption trial that he drew up a special retirement plan for city administrators Robert Rizzo and Angela Spaccia that would have allowed them to increase their already huge pensions by at least $375,000 a year..."
"The plan was to set it up so that the percentage used to calculate Spaccia's benefits was twice that used for Rizzo. Pennington was not asked whether Rizzo knew about that arrangement..."
"Spaccia is being tried on 13 felony counts related to corruption in Bell, where she was assistant city manager. Rizzo has pleaded no contest to 69 corruption-related felonies. Both were accused of looting the small town’s treasury by drawing extraordinary salaries and awarding themselves generous benefits."
