Rossi Under Investigation

I mentioned last week that Dino Rossi's travelling sideshow looked more like a political campaign than a public service... And clearly I'm not the only one who thinks something about it stinks. Hey... if it walks like a campaign and quacks like a campaign, it must be a campaign.

There's more about the WA State Democrats complaint at Postman on Politics

Here's the press release from Washington State Democrats:

Dino Rossi's Phony Non-Profit
Rossi pays himself with cash from unknown special interests while campaigning statewide, attacking Governor
SEATTLE – Washington State Democrats today asked the Public Disclosure Commission to investigate Dino Rossi’s non-profit "Forward Washington Foundation" (FWF). The tax-free entity, formed after Rossi’s 2004 gubernatorial loss to maintain his public presence for a potential future run, is now being used by Rossi as a vehicle to conduct the activities of his 2008 political campaign.

Key Background: In December 2004, Dino Rossi officially became – and remains today – a declared candidate for governor in the 2008 election. After complying with reporting requirements for more than a year, Rossi 2008 abruptly stopped filing PDC reports, morphing operations into the non-profit Forward Washington Foundation less than a week after its February 2006 PDC filing. The Foundation’s non-profit 501(c)(4) status allows Rossi to solicit unlimited contributions in excess of campaign finance limits, while eliminating all transparency as to the source of Rossi’s money, because no disclosure requirement exists.

In reality, Dino Rossi is conducting a political campaign: he is currently on a multi-stop, statewide "listening tour" on which he is appearing before crowds of local Republican activists, attacking the Governor and Democratic legislators, and seeking to garner local media coverage for his activities.

In addition to financing Dino Rossi’s political travel and paying the salaries of former Rossi campaign political operatives, regulatory filings from his non-profit suggest that Dino Rossi has personally pocketed more than $100,000 from special interests he refuses to disclose for his "non-partisan" "non-profit" "work."

"Dino Rossi is paying himself – with cash from special interests he refuses to disclose – to run a sham, tax-free organization to campaign for Governor," said Washington State Democratic Party Chair Dwight Pelz. "By using his phony non-profit to circumvent Washington state's campaign finance laws, Dino Rossi has eliminated all transparency and accountability as he continues his perpetual campaign for Governor."

A copy of the complaint filed by Washington State Democrats with the PDC is available at:

http://www.wa-democrats.org/pdf/sham501c4rossi2008.pdf

6/25/07

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