Update: Lisa MacLean has just e-mailed a statement on today’s events.
I am disappointed that this matter was not fully and finally resolved today. But I respect the PDC’s decision to reject the agreement I reached with PDC staff, and I look forward to working with the Attorney General’s office to resolve this matter fairly and without undue delay.
She also writes:
I am aware that — outside the formal process — various assertions have been made about what happened in this situation. This complex situation, involving significant legal ambiguities, will not — and should not — be tried in the court of public opininon. There is not place for unsubstantiated allegations and overheated claims in this process.
The full statement is attached.
Original post: Moxie Media owner Lisa MacLean admitted she broke the law and agreed to pay a $30,000 penalty.
But the state Public Disclosure Commission decided today that’s not enough punishment for the Seattle political consultant.
On a 3-0 vote, they rejected the deal reached between MacLean and PDC staff and called on Attorney General Rob McKenna to determine if the firm’s actions against state Sen. Jean Berkey in the primary deceived enough voters to merit holding another election.
“This behavior is mind boggling. It is reprehensible,” said Commissioner Jean Noland of Seattle who made the motion to keep the case — and Berkey’s prospects for a new election — alive.
The ‘behavior’ is how Moxie Media worked to defeat Berkey in the primary by getting Democrat and Republicans to cast votes against her.
Berkey finished third behind Democrat Nick Harper and Republican Rod Rieger, who appeared on the ballot as a conservative.
For weeks leading up to the Aug. 17 primary, Moxie Media guided a $252,000 ‘s campaign of TV and radio ads, mailers and phone calls to Democrat and independent voters. It was funded by an array of unions and progressive groups.
In the final days, she created two political action committees with Republican sounding names – one was Cut Taxes and the other Conservative — to be the public face behind two mailers and phone calls urging support for Rieger and opposition to Berkey.
What MacLean didn’t disclose — and apparently didn’t intend to tell voters until after the election — is that two labor groups and a political action committee comprised of mostly trial lawyers had pledged to pay the $9,000 cost of work.
Not telling is what got Moxie Media in trouble. Appearing to do so deliberately is what angered the commission.
“It was clear from the outset of the intent to conceal and that to me was the most disturbing item in the case,” said Commissioner Jennifer Joly of Tacoma.
MacLean did not attend today’s hearing. Her lawyer, William Rava of Seattle, told commissioners at the outset that she acknowledged she had made a mistake.
He was visibly perturbed by the commission’s rejection of the deal reached on Wednesday.
“I’m not entirely surprised under the circumstances,” he said. “It’s a difficult case.”
He called “baseless” the allegations that somehow the advertising deceived voters and said he would be surprised if Berkey and her lawyers could prove it.
Earlier this afternoon, AG spokeswoman Janelle Guthrie said: “At this point, the Attorney General’s Office is reviewing its options and determining our next steps.”
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