Californians Against Hate is keeping a watchful eye on what’s going on in the campaign to repeal Maine’s new marriage equality law. The group is filing a complaint that alleges the National Organization for Marriage, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland, the Knights of Columbus of Washington, DC and James Dobson’s Focus on the Family have violated Maine’s election laws. The group’s founder Fred Karger calls it money laundering plain and simple.
Here’s an excerpt from today’s press release:
Formal Request for Investigation of Money Laundering Filed in Maine Gay Marriage Election
Fred Karger, founder of Californians Against Hate, an LGBT watchdog group, sent a letter detailing alleged election law violations by Stand for Marriage Maine to the Maine Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices. The request for an immediate investigation was sent yesterday to the Jonathan Wayne, the Commission’s Executive Director and a copy to attorney General Janet Mills.
The nine page complaint (below) and fourteen attachments spell out how the National Organization for Marriage (NOM), the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland, Knights of Columbus of Washington, DC and James Dobson’s Focus on the Family had contributors give the money to their organizations, and then they in turn gave the money to the Stand for Marriage Maine in order to hide the identity of the donors.
Letters and emails from NOM Executive Director Brian Brown were included where he stated:
“And unlike in California, every dollar you give to NOM’s Northeast Action Plan today is private, with no risk of harassment from gay marriage protestors.”
“Donations to NOM are not tax-deductible and they are NOT public information, either.”
“Your gift is confidential: no public disclosure!
Marc Mutty, Executive Committee member of the Stand for Marriage campaign on leave from the Diocese of Portland admitted in the Sun Journal that, “Political Funds Came From Donor.”
“It’s money laundering plan and simple,” said Karger, who successfully sought a similar investigation with the California Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC Case # 08/735) of the Mormon Church for vastly underreporting it’s non-monetary contributions to Proposition 8. The FPPC investigation of the Mormon Church is entering its tenth month.
“We feel that we made a very compelling case in our complaint, and are asking the Ethics Commission to consider our request at their next regularly scheduled meeting on September 8, 2009. This blatant disregard for Maine’s election law needs to be investigated. There is no way that only 0.001% ($400) of the $393,000 raised by Stand for Marriage Maine came from individuals.”
“The Church of Jesus Christ of Later-day Saints (Mormon Church) created the National Organization for Marriage specifically to qualify and pass Prop 8 in California. Now they have NOM doing their bidding in Maine, Iowa and all over the Northeast,” concluded Karger.
(emphasis and link: from the source)
The appendices can be found at the Californians Against Hate blog, but here is the conclusion from Fred Karger’s letter:
Conclusion
Without question, there are irregularities in the financial disclosures of Stand for Marriage Maine that would warrant an immediate investigation into their funding sources. Unpaid obligations of $145,000 remain, as do many unanswered questions.
Another campaign finance report is not due until October 13, 2009. By this late date, just three weeks before this crucial election, it will be too late to see if this pattern of attempting to hide the true identity of the contributors to Stand for Marriage Maine will continue.
We respectfully request that our allegations be heard at your next regularly scheduled Commission meeting on Tuesday, September 8, 2009.
That would allow the Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices time to ensure an election that will enable Maine’s voters to learn the actual sources of funds contributed to Stand for Marriage Maine.
Thank you very much for your consideration of our request.
Best regards,
Fred Karger
Californians Against Hate
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