Blog

Thursday, July 28th, 2011

From Judge Kennedy: GOP hard at work circumventing their own ethics laws

A week ago, I told you about an illegal PAC-to-PAC contribution committed by Governor Bob Riley just months after he signed a law banning them.  Today, I’m here to tell you that two other prominent Republican leaders have also violated that law. Senate Majority Leader Jabo Waggoner and House Speaker Mike Hubbard have also used PAC-to-PAC contributions after the law banning them was signed.

Verifiable facts in public records show clear evidence of a conspiracy to violate the law.

On December 20, 2010, the day the PAC-to-PAC transfer bill was signed into law, Monica Cooper, an employee of Senate Majority Leader Jabo Waggoner, made a $100,000 personal contribution to the 136 Years PAC, which was organized by the Alabama Republican Party under then chairman Rep. Mike Hubbard.  Two days later, the New Republican Leadership PAC, managed by Senate Majority Leader Jabo Waggoner, reported a $100,000 payment to Ms. Cooper and the official report actually lists the payment as a “reimbursement” to Cooper.

According to state records, Monica Cooper made $43,000 a year working for the Republican leadership.

Since it was illegal for a PAC-to-PAC transfer to take place as of December 20, the Republican Party wasted no time in attempting to circumvent the law. It is clear that the New Alabama Leadership PAC wrote this $100,000 check to reimburse one of its officers for a political contribution made to another PAC on its behalf. But in trying to circumvent the PAC-to-PAC ban, the Republicans violated two provisions of the law instead of just one. First, New Alabama Leadership PAC violated Alabama Code section 17-5-15(a) because it used Monica Cooper to make a contribution in its name. If 136 Years PAC knowingly accepted this illegal contribution, it too is in violation of this provision. Second, because Monica Cooper acted as an intermediary, the fact remains that this was an illegal PAC-to-PAC transfer, which is a violation of Alabama Code section 17-5-15(b).

At this point, it’s unclear whether or not the Republican Party reimbursed Ms. Cooper for her tax liability on such a substantial contribution since political contributions are not deductible for income tax purposes. It is also possible that all the parties involved violated check-kiting laws.

Beyond the illegal Monica Cooper transaction, we have also identified several other illegal PAC-to-PAC transfers, which further illustrate the extent to which the Republican Party Leadership will go to circumvent the law and deceive the citizens of Alabama.

(1) On December 20, 2010, Mike Hubbard’s PAC, NETPAC, contributed $5,000 to the Republican’s 136 Years PAC;
(2) On December 21, 2010, Jabo Waggoner’s PAC, New Alabama Leadership PAC, accepted a $1,000 contribution from Gulf PAC;
(3) On December 21, 2010, Jabo Waggoner’s PAC, New Alabama Leadership PAC, accepted a $1,000 contribution from Sun PAC; and,
(4) On December 23, 2010, the Jabo Waggoner’s PAC, New Alabama Leadership PAC, accepted a $3,000 contribution from the South Alabama PAC of Higher Ed.

This is just further evidence that there is corruption at the highest levels of the Republican Party and among current Republican legislative leadership.  Senator Waggoner, Speaker Hubbard, and the Republican Party were only too ready to ban a practice that they continued to benefit from after it was made illegal.  I am again calling on Governor Bentley to appoint an independent investigator to look into these egregious violations, and will forward this information to the Montgomery County DA for her consideration.

The words “fraud” and “hypocrisy” are not sufficient to describe what the Republican leadership has done.  If it is legal to have an individual make a personal contribution to PAC only to be reimbursed by another PAC, then there is no ban on PAC-to-PAC transfers.