With a high-profile Senate race underway in Colorado, you would think the media would leave no stone unturned. But a Federal Election Commission complaint alleging that Ken Buck illegally coordinated with outside 527 groups in the spring has gone largely ignored. Possibly, reporters believe that the undeniable political motivation of the complaining party means that his allegations should be discounted. Or they believe that “everyone does it.”
It’s true that Charles Grice, who filed the complaint in May, has all but admitted that he did so for political reasons. Grice, reportedly a supporter of Jane Norton in the primary, told The Colorado Independent that he now supports Buck and so wants to withdraw his complaint — a move not permitted by FEC rules.
That doesn’t mean, though, that Grice wasn’t telling the truth when he filed the complaint, which is full of detailed information that a party insider and few others would know. For example, Grice says that when Ken Buck interviewed potential campaign consultants in March 2009, he was accompanied by the CEO of Hensel Phelps Construction, Jerry Morgensen, who told interviewees he was prepared to “invest” $1 million in “independent” expenditures to support the campaign.
Grice also said that Buck received a sweetheart loan on a townhome he owns in Greeley, then used the proceeds to finance his campaign. These are very specific allegations, sworn to under penalty of perjury by someone in a position to know, that the FEC should not ignore simply because the politics have changed.
One of the main reasons there is a battle before the FEC right now over how strong the commission’s anti-coordination regulations should be is that many candidates and outside groups take compliance seriously, even if they don’t like it.
Most likely the FEC won’t take Mr. Grice’s recommendation and drop the complaint. However, it could be years before we learn of an ultimate decision. In the meantime, this story has earned the distinction as Colorado’s most ignored major story of 2010.
Luis Toro is director of Colorado Ethics Watch, a non-profit, legal watchdog group.
