Board ruling clears Entenza

02/25/2005

Pat Doyle, Star Tribune
February 25, 2005

Rejecting a number of accusations against Democrats, a state board that oversees campaign finance said Thursday there is no evidence that a group allied with the Democratic Party broke state law by accepting a contribution from House Minority Leader Matt Entenza.

The Republican Party of Minnesota, which made the allegations, reacted to the ruling with a broadside at the state Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board, accusing it of being soft on Democrats and questioning the impartiality of one member.

Entenza, DFL-St. Paul, hailed the board rulings as “a total repudiation” of complaints that he said amounted to “a political smear effort.” He said Republicans knew all along that they had no foundation for the complaints but wanted to create an issue to distract the public from the Democrats’ big gains in the Minnesota House in the November election.

“They were reeling and they wanted to blame someone,” Entenza said.

In addition to rejecting the complaint involving Entenza, the board rejected claims that the campaign for a DFL House candidate violated state law by accepting excessive in-kind contributions from the group, 21st Century Democrats. The board also cleared the group of other alleged improprieties.

The claims were among accusations made by the state GOP against DFL party units or affiliated organizations after the November elections, in which DFLers gained 13 House seats.

Republicans are continuing to challenge activity by 21st Century Democrats in a complaint filed with the Federal Election Commission.

The state board’s ruling, made Tuesday and announced Thursday, is the latest twist in a dispute over compliance with the intricacies of campaign financing laws. 21st Century Democrats has been in the spotlight lately because its national “527” arm, an advocacy group, raised $300,000 from Entenza. In December, Minnesota campaign finance authorities imposed large fines on a Minnesota committee of 21st Century Democrats and on its parent national committee for campaign finance registration errors. The board’s statement in that ruling did not name Entenza.

The board this week rejected six claims against a Minnesota arm of 21st Century, two allegations involving the campaign for the House DFL candidate, and one against the House DFL Caucus.

The board said there was no evidence that the national arm of 21st Century made any contributions to any Minnesota candidates. It said there was no evidence that 21st Century violated state law when it accepted money from Entenza. He said his contribution to the national arm of 21st Century was targeted to encourage young people to vote, not to help the campaigns of candidates.

Republicans also had accused the Minnesota arm of 21st Century of making excessive in-kind contributions to the campaign of Tim Faust, who was narrowly beaten by Rep. Judy Soderstrom, R-Mora. The board said there is evidence that staff services were provided to Faust’s campaign by the Minnesota DFL State Central Committee, and not by the 21st Century Democrats.

Contributions questioned

The state Republican Party issued a statement after the ruling Thursday saying the board “is once again allowing Democrats to eviscerate Minnesota’s proud tradition of disclosure and transparency” and questioning the role of board member Wil Fluegel.

The statement, by party executive director Corey Miltimore, criticized the board for deliberating in private and said the public should know how Fluegel voted because “he reportedly gave $1,000 to the DFL House Caucus last year.” The party released a page that it said came from the caucus schedule of campaign contributors showing Fluegel contributed $1,000 in August of last year.

The board’s website, which publishes a list of contributors, shows Fluegel giving a total of $750 from 2000 through 2002 to the DFL House Caucus.

Fluegel, in an interview, didn’t dispute that he gave $1,000 to the DFL House Caucus in 2004. He couldn’t explain why the website didn’t list any contributions from him to the caucus in 2004.

Fluegel declined to comment on whether he voted in this week’s ruling. “I didn’t see a conflict of interest in my participation to the extent that I participated in the decision of that issue,” he said, adding that board members can recuse themselves from voting if they see a conflict.

He said that most of the board members have been active in politics and that the Legislature has not prohibited board members from making contributions.