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April 09, 2006
Mannix Story All Too Familiar
Today’s Oregonian contains the anticipated expose on Kevin Mannix’s campaign finance activity. The activity is strikingly familiar.
Probably the most outrageous information uncovered by Les Zaitz of The Oregonian is this:
Since 1996, political committees or foundations controlled by Mannix have paid $838,000 to his law firm, other businesses or personal accounts. On multiple occasions, money moved several times -- from donor, to campaign or foundation, then into one of Mannix's private enterprises -- all in a single day.
The theme of Mannix funneling money from donors into accounts where he had personal access to it runs throughout the article. That fact dramatically undermines the credibility of Mannix’s assertion that he is making personal sacrifices in order to advance public policy changes. Over at NW Republican, Blue Oregon’s Kari Chisolm observes an even more sinister assumption that I had not previously considered:
Here's the unanswered question: If anyone who gave money to a Mannix committee KNEW it was going to be transferred, then they knew they were putting money directly into his pocket. That is, into the pocket of someone they hoped would be the next attorney general or governor of Oregon.
Yes, folks, we’re talking about bribery. Could this be why Loren Parks has given so much money to Mannix? Could it be Parks has been trying to buy himself a politician whose palms can be greased? Just a question, as I don’t have the answer.
Janice Thompson, executive director of the nonpartisan Money in Politics Research Action Project, said she knew of no other politicians moving large sums to their private enterprises -- "certainly not anything of this scale."
Most candidates routinely reimburse themselves for personal campaign expenses. The $838,000 that flowed to Mannix or his businesses was different: direct payments for rent, management fees and other services.
Campaign financing laws allow a plethora of finance options for the creative politician. For instance, when a politician has multiple entities operating simultaneously, an assistant who may do work for all of the entities, including both political and personal ones, can be paid entirely by the entity with the most cash. For example, during the Sizemore gubernatorial campaign, two staff people who worked for his campaign received their paychecks from Oregon Taxpayers United’s 501(c)(3) Education Foundation. In Mannix’s case, his legal secretary and his campaign’s consulting firm were put on the Oregon GOP payroll while he was Party Chair.
Mannix also appears to be either less than honest or so forgetful about money matters that one has to wonder whether he is competent to oversee any budget – let alone the budget of the State of Oregon. For example, he had an arrangement in which he received a commission for money he raised for the state GOP. When I first heard this it didn’t seem to be such a big deal because fundraisers routinely earn commissions rather than salaries. But in Mannix’s case, the commission was 70%. The arrangement earned him substantial income, but when asked about it he either lied or forgot:
Mannix initially was emphatic that there was never any deal to pay him commissions, calling the idea "ludicrous." He later said he would not dispute Yue's recollection of the arrangement.
The expected money laundering and funneling of money to himself are evident throughout the story and there’s no need to repeat it here. Suffice it to say, Mannix lacks the character we need to respectfully lead this state.
The fact that obvious money laundering and funneling of money to personal accounts (which is either embezzlement or bribery) can continue without formally breaking the law indicates we need to do some serious thinking about our campaign finance system. We cannot ever prove what someone's intent was, but I am very confident that the spirit of the law was broken in this case. Mannix, as an attorney, certainly knows the law well; therefore, we can assume he also knows how to break it with impunity.
Posted by Becky at April 9, 2006 11:37 AM
