Buildergate - Rossi to receive subpoena for deposition

It appears that Republican/GOP Party gubernatorial candidate Dino Rossi may soon have his day in court over the recent allegations that he improperly engaged in fundraising activities with the BIAW and the Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties before he officially announced his candidacy and filed official paperwork with the PDC. In the ongoing scandal being referred to as “Buildergate”, the Seattle Times reports today:

“In the final days of a heated election, Republican gubernatorial challenger Dino Rossi could be forced to testify under oath about allegations that he illegally coordinated campaign fundraising with a major supporter, the conservative Building Industry Association of Washington.”

I have previously written about the case being brought against an arm of the BIAW by Washington Attorney General, Rob McKenna and about the additional information implicating Rossi.

         

                       Former Justice Ireland       Former Justice Utter                              

In a press release issued by Seattle attorney Knoll Lowney who is representing the two retired Washington State Supreme Court Justices who are filing additional charges against the BIAW and Dino Rossi,

(Seattle, WA) – There’s no question that former Washington State Supreme Court justices Faith Ireland and Robert Utter know Washington State law. They have a combined 30 years of experience on Washington’s highest court.

Today, the two justices showed just how concerned they are by evidence linking Dino Rossi to the fundraising campaign orchestrated by the Building Industry Association of Washington (“BIAW”)1 that Attorney General Rob McKenna is now prosecuting as illegal.

They have filed legal challenges alleging that both Dino Rossi and the BIAW have committed serious violations of state campaign finance laws by coordinating with each other on the illicit fundraising campaign being prosecuted by McKenna, that some have called “Buildergate.” The suit seeks discovery authority to determine Rossi’s precise role in the BIAW fundraising, and seeks to have these answers before the election. The lawsuit seeks to enjoin further illegal expenditures between now and the election.

The Justices claim that Rossi’s participation in the BIAW’s fundraising efforts resulted in several serious violations of the State Fair Campaign Practices Act (RCW 42.17). Under this Act, a candidate cannot coordinate with a political committee to raise funds in support of his or her campaign. By doing so, the committee becomes ineligible to make “independent expenditures” and is limited to spending $2,800 on the candidate’s race.

Today, the Justices officially notified Attorney General Rob McKenna of their intent to bring suit against Rossi for his improper coordination with the BIAW, if McKenna fails to do so. They also filed a lawsuit against the BIAW in King County Superior Court claiming that the BIAW’s coordination with Rossi disqualified it and its political committees from making “independent expenditures” in the 2008 governors’ race.

The BIAW has already spent millions in support of Rossi’s candidacy. The suit claims that Rossi’s coordination with the BIAW and his assistance in their fundraising efforts renders almost all of these expenditures illegal. State law holds both the candidate and political committee legally accountable for such over-limit expenditures.

Rossi has argued that he had not publicly declared his candidacy when he assisted the BIAW in raising money for the association’s elections war chest. But the law stipulates that a person becomes a candidate when he helps a political committee to amass funds to support his candidacy.

The evidence in the case suggests Rossi knew funds were being raised to support his bid for governor and that he helped raise the money by making phone calls and other personal contacts to potential donors while solicitations were pending.

In a prepared statement, the Justices stated “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 benefiting candidate can say that they have no control over these messages.”

The Justices added: “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.”

The Complaint, Notice of Intent to Sue, the Justices’ prepared statement, and Explanatory and source materials are posted on the website of the Smith & Lowney law firm. They can be accessed directly at http://www.smithandlowney.com/justices.html. The website also contains a factsheet that answers questions about the suit and the Fair Campaign Practices Act.

According to Justices Utter and Ireland’s statement. “These rules are there to ensure that special interests cannot buy their way into a legislative process designed to serve and protect the interests of all citizens.” “Without enforcement our laws are meaningless.”

The Justices also initiated the legal action against the BIAW for concealing PAC fundraising and expenditures that was upheld by the Public Disclosure Commission and is now being prosecuted by the Attorney General.

Shortly after the filing ocurred this morning, Lowney issued a 2nd press release confirming that a King County Superior Court judge has cleared the way for subpoenas and depositions to begin in the case:

“(Seattle, WA) –Shortly after the Complaint was filed this morning in the lawsuit Utter v. BIAW, involving Dino Rossi’s role in BIAW’s illicit fundraising to support his campaign, a King County Superior Court judge approved the Plaintiffs’ request to immediately subpoena witnesses and begin taking depositions.  The lawsuit is being brought by former Supreme Court Justices Robert F. Utter and Faith Ireland.

Knoll Lowney, one of the attorneys for the Plaintiffs, said “One of the purposes of this suit is to learn Dino Rossi’s precise role in this fundraising effort, which the State Attorney General has deemed illegal.  We obviously have substantial evidence that Rossi assisted in this fundraising, or the Justices could not have proceeded with their lawsuit.  Now that the Judge has allowed us to begin discovery immediately, we will learn how deeply he was involved.”

The Court limited the depositions to issues relating to Plaintiffs’ potential request for a pre-election preliminary injunction.  The lawsuit claims that Dino Rossi collaborated with the BIAW and this makes their millions of dollars in spending in his race illegal, and it seeks to stop further illegal expenditures.  Depositions will begin on October 15th.  The attorneys will be subpoenaing Dino Rossi and other key witnesses.

Once subpoenaed to a deposition, an individual is legally required to attend unless they take the exceptional step of asking a judge for a protective order.  “Rossi and the BIAW have said that they have nothing to hide in this matter.  If this is so, then they should welcome the opportunity to tell their story under oath.”  Lowney said.

The Rossi campaign continues to deny any wrong doing on the part of the Republican-turned-GOP Party candidate by insisting that Rossi was not an official candidate until October of 2007, while the events in question took place in May of that year. However, because the amount of money in question exceeds certain limits established by law, Rossi’s participation in seeking these funds might well have qualified him as a candidate for the purposes of the Fair Campaign Practices Act, RCW 42.17. whether he had filed or not.

Dino Rossi - Soon to have his day in court?

Obviously there is more to come….

Peace,
Chad Shue
 

 

Topics: Republicans , Rossi , Governor , Elections , Scandal , BIAW , Buildergate