State high court declines to hear Eibensteiner appeal

03/19/2005

Dan Browning, Star Tribune

March 18, 2005—Ron Eibensteiner could find himself running for reelection as chairman of the state Republican Party as he defends himself against charges that he helped a Florida company make an illegal campaign contribution in the last gubernatorial election.

The state Supreme Court announced this week that it had declined to hear an appeal by Eibensteiner in the case. He was challenging an Appeals Court ruling that reinstated the charges after a judge had dismissed them. Mower County Attorney Patrick Flanagan said the case will be rescheduled for trial, though he had no idea when that might occur. “The court’s pretty backed up,” he said.

Eibensteiner, a Minneapolis venture capitalist, plans to seek a fourth two-year term when the state GOP Central Committee meets in June.

A plea bargain could settle the gross-misdemeanor case before then, but Flanagan said no such deal is in the works. “I mean, you can never say, no, it won’t happen. But at this point, there’s nothing along those lines,” Flanagan said.

Calls to Eibensteiner were referred to his attorney, William Mauzy of Minneapolis, who said he was disappointed at the Supreme Court decision.

Mauzy added, however, that “we’re looking forward to presenting the remaining motions to the court in Mower County.”

Eibensteiner was charged in October 2003 with aiding and abetting an illegal campaign contribution from American Bankers Insurance Co. The company had donated $15,000 each to the national funds of the Republican and Democratic parties before the 2002 Minnesota gubernatorial election. It acknowledged that it wanted to defeat Independence Party candidate Tim Penny.

Minnesota law forbids corporate contributions to candidates or parties. State officials for both major parties said that they forwarded the money to national party units and that the money was not spent in Minnesota.

But Eibensteiner had sent a letter to lobbyist Ron Jerich before the 2002 election thanking him for the American Bankers contribution, which Jerich had helped to arrange. Eibensteiner wrote that the state party planned to spend $1.5 million to elect Republican candidate Tim Pawlenty, adding that “your contribution will help us accomplish our budget goal.”

Eibensteiner faces four counts, each of which carries up to a year in prison and a $3,000 fine. He has denied wrongdoing and called the charges “a totally partisan hatchet job” by state DFLers. He has predicted that he will be cleared.

American Bankers settled a related case over the donations by agreeing to pay $1 million in prosecution costs. It made no admission of wrongdoing.

In April, a district judge dismissed the charges against Eibensteiner, stating that a Mower County grand jury lacked jurisdiction and probable cause to bring the indictment. But the state Court of Appeals reversed the judge’s ruling in December, reinstating the case. Eibensteiner appealed to the Supreme Court, which declined to review the matter.

Earl Gray, a special prosecutor from St. Paul who is assisting Mower County in the case, dismissed the idea that the charges were politically motivated.