State Democratic Party chairwoman Pat Waak wants prosecutors to hold political operatives and politicians accountable for what they say about the opposition this election year, she said in a widely dispersed letter to prosecutors this week.
Last year, the legislature expanded the truth-in-politics law to allow for the prosecution of “reckless” lies. Previously, the lies had to be “knowing.” An offense is a misdemeanor.
“It is our hope that the upcoming election cycle will be a civil discourse on issues and candidates, but we know through experience that is not always the case,” Waak wrote. “Toward that end, we urge you to be most vigilant in the prosecution of any person or entity who tries to influence the outcome of an election with false information.”
Waak wrote her letter in the wake of recent Republican complaints about Democratic fundraising.
Those charges include a lie this week from state GOP spokeswoman Ra chael Sunbarger, Democratic House Majority Leader Alice Madden said Wednesday. The day before, Sunbarger had accused Madden of receiving “questionable funds from third-party groups she claims not to know.”
Madden has received no such contributions, she said. Though some Democratic lawmakers have reported receiving in-kind donations from a group called Research and Democracy, whose backers are unknown, Madden’s publicly available disclosure report shows no such donation.
“We can take this, and we know this isn’t going to be easy, and that people are going to come after us,” said Madden, who is considering running for governor. “But it is against the law to outright lie.”
Sunbarger denied lying or even misspeaking, but she offered no evidence.
“This is nothing more than an obvious attempt by her to take the microscope off of her office and off of her Democratic colleagues,” Sunbarger said.
Attorney General John Suthers on Wednesday asked Waak to let him know if she comes across “any evidence that a person of either party has violated the new law.”
