Kittitas County Democratic Party State Committee members (source: Facebook)
Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson

Last week, the Kittitas County Democrats settled a lawsuit filed last July by the Washington State Attorney General’s office for a wide variety of campaign finance violations.  The final settlement included payment for $6,740 in AG attorney fees and costs, forfeiture of $5,217 of illegal anonymous contributions, and a fine of $15,825 (with half suspended for good behavior for the next few years).  It also appears that a previously suspended $400 fine imposed by the Public Disclosure Commission was forced to be paid last year by these complaints and this lawsuit since the Kittitas County Democrats were still not complying with the state’s campaign finance laws (see previous PDC fine/letter linked here, and Reported payment of suspended portion of that fine linked here)

While they weren’t reporting their financial information very acurately or legally, the Kittitas County Democrats could be found at local parades (source Facebook)

Since this judgment exceeds the money this political committee has in their bank account, the AG has generously structured a payment plan for many years.  This lawsuit originated with two complaints filed by this author last year (linked here and linked here).  The AG filed the lawsuit on July 14, 2017 (linked here).  The AG also amended the lawsuit to include claims in the second complaint filed by this author (see letter from AG here).The final settlement terms are linked here.  As documented previously and as has been recent habit, the AG issued no press release on this settlement since it was a Democratic Party political committee, but they did issue a Tweet this time.

Kittitas County Democratic Party headquarters (source: Facebook)

The Kittitas County Democrats were particularly sloppy with their finances over the last few years.  This political committee has treated Washington State’s Campaign Finance laws as a general guideline rather than a law to follow.  Even by the low standards exposed by this author’s many complaints against a wide variety of political committees, judges, and politicians over the last 14 months, the Kittitas County Democrats stood out.  The most dramatic violation was the acceptance of such a large volume of “anonymous” donations over the past few years.

Accepting lots of anonymous donations was not a good plan

The law allows a small amount of “anonymous” donations, but any donations from anonymous sources that exceed $300 (RCW 42.17A.220(4)) must be immediately sent to the Treasurer of the State of Washington.  The reasons for this are obvious.  There would be no purpose for campaign finance laws if someone could just make anonymous donations to political campaigns without disclosure.  Unfortunately for the Kittitas County Democrats, this appears to have been common practice for them.  In addition to this egregious violation of the law, they were also frequently late filing reports, generally failed to report debt, and they often failed to provide proper detail on many of their expenditures.  A few additional details elaborated in the AG lawsuit, based on this author’s original complaints included the following:

  • Failed to timely disclose $18,639 in contributions on 77 separate reports, ranging from one to 198 days late.
  • Failed to timely disclose $16,277 in expenditures made and in-kind contributions received on 31 separate reports, ranging from one to 519 days late.

A notable feature of this judgment is the fact that the suspended portion of the fine is extended for six years compared to the traditional four year suspension (please note, that the Judgment summary says “four years,” but later in the actual judgement it indicates “six years”).  This is significant because the Kittitas County Democrats will need to be free of campaign finance violations for six years in order to avoid triggering the suspended portion of this fine.  Complying with the state’s campaign finance laws has proven to be difficult for this organization for any length of time, so this is very high risk.  For example, if the Kittitas Democrats don’t report their legal expenditures (their attorney was Jon Ferguson – no known relation to Bob Ferguson, the State Attorney General), the fines paid, and the future debt on the fines, they will be in violation once again, and this $7,900 deferral will also need to be paid to the state promptly.

Another notable feature of this judgment is the generous payment plans structured by the Attorney General’s office.  As we discussed in a previous article about the Pierce County Democrats settlement, this has become a new feature over the last year for some selected campaign finance settlements.  Theoretically, these payments will take precedence for the next four years over other political and financial goals this political committee might have in the future.  The need to comply with this legal judgment will certainly be tremendous incentive for the committee board members to step up their fundraising efforts.  Paying these mandatory fines is sure to inspire future donors because paying the state fines is an excellent and productive use of political committee donations.

Jan 2016 – Ellensburg – Kittitas County Democratic Party debate watching party. Hope was in the air (Source: Facebook)

In the end, the Kittitas County Democrats join a long list of political committees which have failed to comply with the state’s campaign finance laws.  While their violations are notably significant, they were still slightly less significant than the Pierce County or the Spokane County Democrats cases.  Regardless, this Attorney General’s lawsuit (with help from this author) demonstrates, once again, that widespread violation of the state’s campaign finance laws have been more pervasive than most observers realized even just a few months ago.  There is nothing frivolous about violations and settlements like this.

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OUR CONSTITUTION BEGINS WITH THE PHRASE “WE THE PEOPLE.”  IT WAS THE FOUNDER’S INTENT THAT GOVERNMENT BE CREATED BY THE PEOPLE, TO SERVE THE PEOPLE.  IT WASN’T THEIR INTENTION FOR THE PEOPLE TO SERVE THE GOVERNMENT.  IT WAS ALWAYS INTENDED THAT GOVERNMENT WHICH FAILED TO SERVE THE PEOPLE SHOULD BE “ALTERED OR ABOLISHED.”  UNTIL WE RETURN TO THE FOUNDER’S INTENT, WE REMAIN WE THE GOVERNED

Additional Background articles and documents:

AG Judgement and Stipulation with Kittitas County Democrats – March 2, 2018 – Thurston County Superior Court #17-2-04103-34

AG lawsuit against Kittitas County Democrats – July 14, 2017 – Thurston County Superior Court #17-2-04103-34 

Letter from AG to author – March 5, 2018 – indicating that allegations from second complaint were included into the final amended lawsuit

Public Disclosure Commission Fine and Stipulation on PDC Complaint #2066, May 13, 2016 against Kittitas County Democratic Central Committee – $100 fine, $400 suspended

Kittitas County Democrats – late PDC Expenditure Report dated July 14, 2017 admitting $400 payment to PDC of suspended portion of previous fine caused by new violations.

Attorney General’s updated list of Campaign Finance Settlements 

Attorney General’s original press release about lawsuit filed against Kittitas County Democrats

AGO tweet about Kittitas County Democratic Party settlement

Washington State Democrats find hope in AG’s $38,520 fine against the Pierce County Democrats