The D.C. Republican Committee and others are justifiably indignant over the Office of Campaign Finance’s ruling last week that Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray did nothing wrong in 2008 when he used his official stationery to solicit $20,000 from Comcast on behalf of the D.C. Democratic State Committee.
Local law prohibits the use of government resources for political purposes. The DSC is a registered political organization. Still, the OCF concluded the $10,000 Comcast subsequently provided was not for a campaign-related activity because Gray said the money would be used to promote voting rights at the National Democratic Convention in Denver. He was therefore “acting within his duties” as chairman.
“It annoys me that [Gray] is using voting rights to clean up his mess,” said Paul Craney, executive director of the Republican Committee.
Kathy Williams, OCF’s general counsel, cited as justification for her ruling the statehood initiative. The initiative encourages District officials to lobby for political independence and representation, but it doesn’t advocate hustling money from corporations doing business in the city.
The voting rights mission wouldn’t have suffered without Gray’s fundraising. There are three other “shadow” elected officers — one statehood representative and two senators — whose jobs are to promote voting rights. The city has provided a major grant to D.C. Vote, a nonprofit organization, to advocate for voting representation.
Finally, nothing was stopping DSC Chairwoman Anita Bonds from knocking on Comcast’s door — but we all know why she didn’t. A letter from the council chairman carried more weight. Thus, a corporation regulated by the city collected a valuable chit.
Finally, nothing was stopping DSC Chairwoman Anita Bonds from knocking on Comcast’s door — but we all know why she didn’t. A letter from the council chairman carried more weight. Thus, a corporation regulated by the city collected a valuable chit.
Williams acknowledged Comcast’s donation went to the democratic committee. In the related investigation of the DSC’s solicitation of funds for the convention, OCF concluded those donations were for political purposes. That means the DSC was limited in the amount it could collect from individual donors, obligated to report all such contributions and required to refund excessive donations. OCF found the state committee violated those rules. It was fined $18,000.
How did Gray escape without even a warning? He solicited $20,000; that exceeded the $5,000 legal limit. He instructed Comcast to make its check payable to the DSC-Denver Convention — a political committee. That money was spent at an event where Democrats nominated their presidential and vice presidential candidates, which certainly is campaign-related.
Williams’ parsing of the law helps Gray close the door on an ethics issue that could have haunted him during his mayoral campaign. But it is a disservice to District residents.
“[Congress] members read this as borderline corruption, which makes it that more difficult to get voting rights passed,” Craney said, predicting others will follow Gray’s lead.
Williams isn’t worried. “We’ll deal with that on a case-by-case basis.”
Is she a lawyer? Doesn’t she understand she set a new standard?
Trust me, a letter from a legislator on official stationery requesting a political contribution for a vaguely described “voting rights” activity is coming to a mailbox near you.
