WisPolitics Courtwatch Blog

Mark Green did not violate federal law when he transferred money from his congressional account to his gubernatorial fund for his 2006 bid, according to an FEC ruling.

The decision was in response to a complaint the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign filed during the campaign, arguing Green's transfer of some $468,000 violated federal law because the transfer was not permissible under state statutes. But the FEC rejected that argument in its ruling, handed down April 30. It found the transfer was allowable under federal law and stated that a violation of state law did not equate a federal violation as well.

Mark Graul, who served as Green's campaign manager, called the decision a vindication for the Republican, who had argued the transfer was legal. Green reached a settlement with the state Elections Board earlier this year to settle the lawsuit he filed challenging the agency's ruling. In the settlement, the SEB acknowledged that Green was following past precedent and the advice of a board attorney in transferring the money.

"It validates, vindicates everything that Mark Green said, everything that his campaign said," Graul said, calling the SEB decision a result of manipulation by Gov. Jim Doyle and one of his attorneys, who had contact with several Dem members before the vote ordering Green to dump the money.

A Doyle spokesman declined to respond to the comment, pointing out the election is over.

WDC Executive Director Mike McCabe said the FEC punted on what is essentially a moot point. He said he sympathized with Green because the SEB gave him "horribly mixed signals," but he disagreed Green has been validated because he cannot use the disputed money for a gubernatorial bid as he originally intended.

"I think it's sort of a weak-kneed response," he said of the FEC ruling.
"They ducked the larger issues. But they came down very clearly saying that state law trumps federal law. How often do you see that?"

*See the FEC analysis:
http://www.wispolitics.com/1006/070507_Green_FEC_Analysis.pdf

*See the Green settlement with the Elections Board:
http://www.wispolitics.com/1006/Green_Settlement.pdf

Labels: Mark_Green-Elections_Board

In a scathing concurring opinion to the formal dismissal of the settled Green vs. State Elections Board case, Justice David Prosser railed against his colleagues. He said they "did not care" about justice.

"In the midst and aftermath of an important gubernatorial election, this court did nothing to ascertain and enforce rights, or to assure the integrity of the electoral process," Prosser writes. "Instead, it used every imaginable pretext to avoid making a decision."

Justice Patrick Crooks shot back in his written concurrence, characterizing Prosser's opinion as "hogwash, pure hogwash."

"The fact is that this court spent many, many hours working on the petition asking to commence an original action, as well as on the various submissions of the petitioners, the respondents, and the amicus," wrote Crooks.

The court's dismissal officially ends Green's lawsuit over campaign funds transferred from his congressional account, which was settled March 16. That agreement stipulates the Republican was following precedence and advice he received from board staff when he converted money from his congressional account to his gubernatorial fund, but also states the Electionsb Board was following its interpretation of the law when it ordered the Republican to dump some $468,000 money from out-of-state PACs that was included in the conversion. The deal also puts limits on how Green can use the money.

See the high court's dismissal and the Crooks, Prosser opinions: http://www.wispolitics.com/1006/070425_SC_Green_SEB.pdf

Labels: Mark_Green-Elections_Board

Dane County judge Richard Niess today denied Republican gubernatorial hopeful Mark Green's request for a temporary injunction preventing the state Elections Board from enforcing a ruling requiring him to dump nearly $468,000 in PAC contributions.

Niess wrote in his ruling, "The principal reasons for the Court's denial of Green's Motion for Temporary Injunction are that Green can demonstrate neither irreparable injury if the injunction does not issue nor a reasonable probability of ultimate success on the merits of its case."

Wisconsin statutes, Niess wrote, say that "Green must subject the donation from the federal campaign to the provisions of Wisconsin law governing 'contributions' to political campaigns. Thus ... it is simply unnecessary for this Court to enter the thorny procedural and constitutional thicket created by the Election Board's actions in promulgating the Emergency Rule and issuing its Order, let alone allow it to sidetrack the Court's decision on Green's Motion for Temporary Injunction. The bottom line is that the Elections Board reached the correct result, regardless of the infirmities, if any, in its process."

The campaign immediately announced it would put $467,844 into a separate account that will not be accessed until there is a final decision from the state Supreme Court.

Green's campaign is expecting to appeal the decision all the way to the state Supreme Court, according to a statement released after the ruling.

Labels: Mark_Green-Elections_Board

E-mails uncovered showing Mike Maistelman, an attorney for the Doyle campaign, contacted individual state Elections Board members to lobby them to side against GOP gubernatorial Mark Green were not introduced into evidence at the hearing today.

"[The e-mails have] not formally been introduced as evidence, so I think the facts that were reported today speak for themselves. I have nothing more to say than that," said Don Millis, one of the attorneys for the Green campaign, in a post-hearing talk with reporters.

In the emails, attorney Mike Maistelman told the board members that the Democratic Party and the governor's campaign would give them "cover" on the issue, and that even if the case ends up in court it would be a "PR victory" for the Doyle camp.

Millis said the e-mails may show what motivated the decision. The fact they weren't brought up court today means they can't be introduced at the Court of Appeals level, Millis said.

"Well they're not in the record, that's right," Millis said.

Millis said he did not contact any board members who voted on the issue.

"The only contact I had was to contact my colleague (board member Patrick Hodan) to tell him he had to recuse himself," said Millis.

DOJ spokesman Mike Bauer said the department would look into whether the e-mails constitute a walking quorum, but said he didn't think any investigation would go beyond that."

As far as I know I don't think that's inappropriate," Bauer said. "I don't believe it's illegal"

Labels: Mark_Green-Elections_Board

The state Elections Board order that Republican Mark Green's campaign divest $468,000 in federal PAC money was retroactive and "hijacked half a million dollars of Mark Green's free speech," his attorney said in court today.

Green's attorney Dan Kelly said the board's prior ruling allowing Democrat Tom Barrett to transfer his federal PAC money set a precedent that was broken by the ruling last month against Green.

"Nobody seems to know what the law is, but everyone seems to want to apply it against Mark Green," said Kelly.

Attorneys for the state Department of Justice, representing the Elections Board, argued that the Elections Board was wrong in the Barrett case, and that Green is subject to state and federal laws that allow only a one-time donation of $43,128.

See a filing from the DOJ: http://www.wispolitics.com/1006/060921DOJbrief.pdf

Dane County Judge Richard Niess said at the 2 1/2 hour hearing today that he plans to have a written ruling Monday afternoon. Niess said he was trying to expedite the case because he doesn't expect to have the final word in the matter.

"Dispatch is more important than anything I have to say on the law," Niess said, saying several times throughout the course of the hearing that he expects the case to go to the Court of Appeals and state Supreme Court.

Niess later said, "I feel like a chef who dropped all the eggs and now has to make an omelette."

The individual Elections Board members named in the suit were dropped from it by the plaintiff today. Green campaign co-counsel Don Millis explained the individual members were dropped to expedite the case.

Labels: Mark_Green-Elections_Board

Dane County Judge Richard Niess said today he plans to rule Monday on the effort by Republican Mark Green's campaign to fight an Elections Board order to divest his campaign of $468,000 in federal political action committee money.

Niess said he was trying to expedite the case because he doesn't expect to have the final word in the matter.

"Dispatch is more important than anything I have to say on the law," Niess said.

Niess is hearing arguments from each side today in a hearing that started around 1:30 p.m. and took a break around 3 p.m.

Labels: Mark_Green-Elections_Board

U.S. Rep. Mark Green, the Republican candidate for governor, has filed for an injunction to a ruling by the state Elections Board ordering him to divest his campaign of $468,000 in federal political action committee money.

A 1:30 p.m. hearing has been set for Sept. 21 in the case.

In the filing, Green's attorneys argue that the Elections Board order violates the constitutional right to equal protection because it treats federal campaigns that convert cash to state campaigns differently from state campaigns that convert cash to another state campaign.

The PAC donations in question were raised while Green was still a candidate for federal office. They were converted to his state gubernatorial fund in January 2005 as part of a nearly $1.3 million transfer. The Elections Board said Green had to divest himself of any money from PACs not registered in the state, and to get under the $485,190 limit for PAC contributions in a gubernatorial cycle.

Green's lawyers also argue that the Elections Board order constitutes "retroactive rulemaking by imposing an additional registration requirement on funds that were already lawfully on hand" prior to the ruling, and orders that the cash was lawfully spent before the ruling.

In a supporting affadavit from Green Campaign treasurer Victoria Renard, she states of the $1,285,973 transferred by Green from his federal account, $503,656 was from PACs registered with the Federal Elections Commission. Of that roughly half-million in PAC money, no more than $467,884 was contributed by PACs not registered with th estate.

Labels: Mark_Green-Elections_Board