Ca blesses the strategy of political donors to multiply their influence- calm

In more than two years Campaign Donor NetworkBy concluding that the group follows legal advice from the state and therefore does not violate the restrictions on the contribution.

The solution clears the way for a bold new approach to raising and spending money in the California elections. Political committees now have the blessing of state regulators to create an unlimited number of related committees with different leaders, and then to coordinate the close fundraising and donations of candidates among them. This could exponentially increase their influence on campaigns.

California Management – a 16-headed non-profit target This is intended to oppose the influence of organized work in the State Capitol and who aggressively supports the rise of the Robert Rivas speaker speaker – has announced “revenge” to its supporters.

But the degree of the Committee on Fair Political Practice Commission has remained unclear over the last two years. In a One paragraph “No letter of closure of action” Dated Monday, the head of the Angela Breton helper pointed to a 2020 advice letter to clear the California management for any misconduct.

“Following our investigation and review of the evidence, the law enforcement department found that California’s management follows the advice given to it by the Commission,” Breton wrote. “Therefore, we close this issue without further action as the allegations are disproved.”

Brereton did not return a message looking for an explanation. Sherry Yang, a spokesman for the committee, said in an email that the law enforcement team “received and reviewed volume evidence to draw his own conclusion” but did not answer subsequent questions about what the evidence involves. She also declined to provide a copy of the investigative report.

Management of California founder David Crane, a lecturer at Stanford University and former economic adviser to governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, also did not respond to a request for an interview.

“We are happy that the question is closed, though not that we were dragged through the mud and had to spend time, energy and money, defending against politically inspired actions,” he wrote in a message to his group’s list of his group. “But we are aware that this is something that happens to people who cause the status quo in Sacramento.”

Calm Report in 2022 Study of Government for Growing Vocability in California In state policy such as Rivas, Democrat from Salinas, he made his move to take control of the leadership of the assembly. This election cycle organizes millions of dollars to dozens of candidates for legislation; The bigger part of the money comes from a small group of risk capitalists, technology leaders and philanthropists who have joined each chapter in their state network.

Several campaign financing experts have told Calmatters that the structure of the heads consulted with Crane, receive the greater part of their funding, which have passed through a Central Committee and regularly make donations of the same amount of the same candidates on the same days, Using the same cashier and law company – presses the boundaries of state legislation, potentially enabling the donors to circumvent the limitations of contribution.

Crane denied this characteristic and compared his organization with the unions and their local affiliates. But trade unions are different from California’s management in some critical ways, including their widespread membership in workers who contribute to small amounts of campaign costs through their fees and their non -political functions as collective negotiation.

Following the publication of the story, a former leader of the union of the union filed a complaint against California’s management with the Committee on Fair Political Practices. The Commission Implementation Division Quickly rejected this complaintReferring to his 2020 letter, which advises: “Provided that the GFC State Committee and all local heads are controlled by different persons who independently direct and control the relevant contributions of enterprises, the GFC State Committee and each The local chapter does not share the limits of the contribution. “

Still, Richard Miadich, the then chairman of the committee, told Calmatters at the time that he would seek to develop new provisions that were more clearly determining the coordination between related campaign committees. He said there were questions about the independence of the Government for the heads of California, which he said “play very close to the line.” The law enforcement department subsequently reversed a course and opened an investigation because “a more raising the relationship between GFC and its heads is justified.”

Since then, Miadich has left the Committee on fair political practices. He was replaced last year by Adam Silver, the former chief advisor of the Committee on Legislative Ethics of the Assembly. Miadic did not answer a few messages that want to discuss the government’s completion of an investigation in California, and Silver declined to answer questions.

“In Lockstep with former FPPC presidents, I have directed our implementation department to focus my resources on investigation and persecution when appropriate, the most serious violations of the law, including money laundering in the California Management Campaign , “. Silver said in a statement. “I have complete confidence that the implementation department has conducted a thorough investigation and has come to the right resolution.”

Dave Law, the former Union leader, who filed the complaint, criticized the Commission’s conclusion as “weak”. He told Calmatters that the implementation department seems to have decided that because of his previous advice letter, the management of California’s actions was permissible without digging deeper into whether the group actually follows this advice.

Low said the evidence he had presented to the Commission includes an audio record of Crane, who is president of California’s management, as well as co -chair of her head of state, discussing the structure of managing his organization of an event. Excerpts from this recording – where Crane told the crowd that “we are raising their money for them” and if the heads supported a particular candidate who manages the leadership of California, he did not, “we will not raise money for them next year” – – spread online In 2022

“The chapters know everything we do …” Crane told the recording, in response to a question about how the California management chooses its main priorities, “and if you don’t like it, you can start your own organization.”

Law said he believes the Commission of Fair Political Practices has no interest in A review of his analysis because it would make them look bad. “If they were going to look at the evidence we sent them, they would come to a different conclusion,” he said.

“Namby-Pamby, with no deep explanation”

Yang will not confirm whether the committee has authenticated or reviewed the audio recording as part of its investigation.

Campaign funding experts have told Calmatters that the print of approval by state regulators can open the door to other donor networks with a similar structure to appear.

“I can imagine that other groups are interested in the innovation of this group,” says Justin Levitic, a professor at Loyola Law Faculty, although he added that the degree of coordination and independence would probably be carefully considered in future iterations. “I do not think this is an empty check of other committees to create related groups to avoid contribution restrictions within existing campaign laws.”

Anne Ravel, a former head of the Committee on Fair Political Practices and her federal counterpart, the Federal Election Committee, told Calmatters in 2022 that she considers it a government for the structure of California “undemocratic” and “contrary to the spirit” at the boundaries of the boundaries The contribution, but not for the illegal. She said this week that she believes the committee has come to the right conclusion.

But she also called the letter for the decision “Namby-Pamby, without a deep explanation” and said that he lacked the clarity that should be provided by an investigation, especially the one that took more than two years.

“I don’t understand why it took so long and I think it’s harmful to the public,” said Ravel, who received $ 25,700 from the California Network management when running for State Senate in 2020. “It’s hard for people to be difficult people . “It is difficult for people to people. To be accused of things and for not having a result ”for such a long time.