HELENA, MT (Legal Newsline) - The Commission on Political Practices (COPP) is abusing its authority to prevent constitutionally protected political speech in Montana, according to an organization that seeks to keep check on government overreach.
"Unfortunately, COPP has a history of making up rules to interfere with free speech in Montana," said Mark Meckler, president of Convention of States Action (COSA). "This corrupt behavior is expected in D.C., but is out of line with Montana values."
COSA is standing up for the Convention of States Political Fund (CSPF) which is accused by COPP of violating Montana’s campaign reporting and disclosure laws through radio ads and mailers that backed three state legislative candidates in the June 7 primary.
Commissioner of Political Practices Jeff Mangan's June 16 ruling against CSPF stemmed from a May 20 campaign practices complaint filed by Florence resident Von Dailey against first time candidate Wayne Rusk of Stevensville, running in the Republican primary in House District 88. The complaint alleged that a "political advertisement for Wayne Rusk was paid for by the Convention of States Political Fund but does not include a political address or a treasure.”
COSA, which is not affiliated with CSPF, advocates for an Article 5 Constitutional Convention to return power to the states. As a 501c4 social welfare organization, "COSA does not engage in political candidate campaign activities," the organization says.
Meckler said he believes that COPP is abusing CSPF in order to undermine the organization he leads, COSA, since most legislators do not know the groups are independent of each other.
"Using COPP as a political tool is indefensible and the sort of behavior that we see all too frequently in D.C. these days," he said.
"No one who values democracy should tolerate abuses by partisans who use their government positions to shut down lawful political activity,” Meckler added. "Every organization should follow the example of the Convention of States Political Fund to refuse to be intimidated or bullied by COPP.”
In his June decision, Mangan determined that CSPF had violated Montana campaign finance law by not properly registering for its political activity because it used Michigan filings. COPP claims that CSPF's headquarters are in Washington, D.C.
In a June 21 response to COPP, CSPF attorney Mike Wittenwyler wrote that his client has not violated any reporting requirements in Montana.
“CSPF has followed Montana law and disclosed all of its Montana political activities to COPP in advance of when it would be required to do so as a Michigan PAC as it is not a Montana political committee,” Wittenwyler wrote.
CSPF asserts that it is headquartered in Michigan and only keeps a Washington, D.C. mailing address for "record keeping purposes."
“Given that neither ‘headquartered’ nor ‘home state’ are defined by Montana statute or code, COPP cannot credibly use CSPF's mailing address as its default address for its headquarters or home state,” Wittenwyler wrote.
Wittenwyler's letter also outlines where all of CSPF's activities and reports have been made to satisfy Montana requirements.
On June 16, the same day COPP notified CSPF of its findings, COPP sent its decision to the Lewis and Clark County Attorney requesting CSPF be prosecuted for violating campaign law. According to the letter, prosecution was declined and returned to COPP within one business day.
CSPF and Wittenwyler have requested a meeting with COPP, but COPP has yet to respond to setting a date.