WA-Gov: Buildergate Heats Up

by mcjoan [courtesy of Daily Kos]

Dino Rossi's role in the illegal fundraising activities by the state's Building Industry Association of Washington (BIAW) (which I posted about last week, could be building. Here's Goldy:

The Buildergate scandal takes a new twist this morning as former Washington State Supreme Court Justices Faith Ireland and Robert Utter filed notice with Attorney General Rob McKenna of their intent to bring suit against Republican gubernatorial challenger Dino Rossi, alleging illegal campaign coordination with the Building Industry Association of Washingtion (BIAW) and its political committees.  They also filed a lawsuit in King County Superior Court claiming that the BIAW’s coordination with Rossi disqualify it from making "independent" expenditures in the 2008 gubernatorial.

These dramatic legal developments could have a huge impact on the gubernatorial race.  The BIAW has already spent over $2 million on behalf of Rossi this year, mostly smearing Governor Chris Gregoire, and plans to spend an additional $700,000 during the final weeks of the campaign.  The justices are asking that further "over limit" expenditures be barred by court order.

Well, it will heat up if the pathetic local media starts doing its job. (Note: the state's largest daily, the Seattle Times, didn't even run the story in its print edition.) Thus far, reporting on the scandal has been mostly been Rossi's denials of any knowledge of the illegal activity, when they've bothered to report it. Which is kind of hard to swallow, given the opinion of these Justices after having reviewed the evidence:

The evidence upon which we base our legal action can be construed to show that Dino Rossi was not just a beneficiary of these illegal activities, but was a knowing and active participant. The evidence shows, moreover, that the attack ads of the BIAW are not really "independent" of their beneficiary Dino Rossi. This is because Dino Rossi helped the BIAW to amass the war chest for these attack ads.

This is an important issue for all races.  Special interests are increasingly supporting candidates through "independent expenditures" that are not subject to contribution limits.  These "independent" campaigns also tend to contain the most vicious and dubious negative attacks, since the benefitting candidate can say that they have no control over these messages.  It is critical to enforce the law that prohibits candidates from providing fundraising assistance to or otherwise coordinating with "independent" committees.

The fact that Dino Rossi had not publicly declared his candidacy when this alleged coordination took place is not a defense.  A person becomes a candidate when he helps a political committee to amass a war chest to support his candidacy.  And the evidence suggests this is what happened here.

If this coordination took place, then the BIAW’s expenditures would not qualify as an independent expenditure, and would be legally limited to $2,800.  The millions of dollars of attack ads that have blanketed our airwaves would be illegal, and further expenditures should be enjoined.

A great deal of damage has already been done by those attack ads, which continue to blithely lie about Christine Gregoire's record as governor, and about the health of the state's economy. At the very least, the people of Washington who have been subjected to Rossi's ads, plastered all over cable television all summer long, deserve to know that they were paid for illegally.

This is the key gubernatorial race in the country and the Republicans will do anything for revenge for 2004, and is evidence of how much mileage you can get out of sour grapes. Particularly when you've got such a lazy traditional media going for you.

Update: Good news from Goldy:

Shortly after receiving a complaint in Utter vs. BIAW this morning alleging illegal collaboration between Dino Rossi and the Building Industry Association of Washington, a King County Superior Court judge has issued an order approving the plaintiffs’ request to immediately subpoena witnesses and begin taking depositions. Subpoenas will be served by October 7, and depositions will begin October 15.