Bad news Thursday morning for the National Organization for Marriage’s Maggie Gallagher and Brian Brown. Jonathan Wayne, Executive Director of the Maine Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices, announced the commission is “eager” to proceed with their investigation into the role played by the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) in the state’s election held last November 3, 2009. NOM contributed, from sources the group is unwilling to disclose, $1.6 million to thwart the marriage equality law passed by Maine’s elected legislature and signed into law by Maine’s Governor John Baldacci last May.
According to a press release from Californians Against Hate:
The investigation is the result of allegations of election irregularities leveled by Californians Against Hate founder Fred Karger. The Washington D.C.-based NOM contributed $1.6 million to eliminate marriage equality in Maine — an amount well in excess of the allowable $5,000 “for the purpose of initiating [or] promoting” the people’s veto referendum on same-sex marriage in Maine.
- The scope of the investigation, to be conducted by the commission’s staff and Maine’s Attorney General Janet Mills, will include:
- What fundraising methods did NOM employ to solicit the money that it has contributed to Stand for Mariage Maine PAC?
- What was NOM’s purpose in soliciting or receiving these funds?
- What did NOM communicate to the individuals and organizations it solicited?
- Did NOM receive any contributions within the categories set forth in §1056-B(2-A)? If so, how much was received in these categories?
- Of the fundraising methods that are presently known (e.g., e-mail solicitations, newsletter), how much did NOM receive in response to these solicitations?
The inquiry may also extend to investigating whether NOM made any expenditures to initiate or to promote the referendum other than by contribution to Stand for Marriage Maine PAC.
Californians Against Hate founder Fred Karger, who was in Augusta for today’s hearing, said, “I am extremely pleased that the State of Maine Commission on Governmental Ethics and Elections Practices has decided to pursue its investigation with such vigor into potential improprieties on the part of the National Organization for Marriage during the recent campaign in Maine.”
Karger, who has spent 17 months investigating NOM, generously offered his assistance with the investigation.
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