The state ethics commission handed down the second-largest fine in its history today, after a lengthy investigation concluded that supporters of a proposed Lewiston casino failed to satisfy state campaign finance report filing requirements. As A.J. Higgins reports, two political action committees and their backers have agreed to pay a $15,000 fine to the state.
When he began his investigation two years ago, Maine Ethics Commission Executive Director Jonthan Wayne was focused on the funding of two political action committees that were trying to win voter approval of a proposed casino in Lewiston.
Wayne says he initially learned that most of more than $400,000 dollars in contributions were coming from a single Georgia company known as GT Source. But he says new information recently obtained by staff sheds a different light on the facts.
"To our disappointment the money didn't come from GT Source," Wayne said.
Instead, Wayne says staff investigators concluded that the officers of two political action committees, Green Jobs for Maine and The People for Lewiston Auburn Committee, had unintentionally credited contributions to the wrong sources and that the matter was confused by a complicated funding strategy that stretched across the Atlantic seaboard and involved several individuals.
Wayne says after numerous interviews with contributors in Maryland and the PAC officers in Lewiston, he believes that there were reporting errors and late filings by the PACs, but it's also clear there was no intention to mislead investigators.
"It seemed to the staff that this was a matter where some of the facts were pretty clear, and that what we should try to do is see if we could come to sort of consent agreement where certain facts were agreed to and the commission could conclude there was a violation and a penalty would be paid," Wayne said.
Wayne says the PAC officers in the casino effort have agreed to pay a $15,000 fine to the state in a consent agreement that does not attribute fault or wrongdoing by those involved.