APOC says Dunleavy backers won’t respond to investigation without subpoena

In an investigation into alleged violations of marketing campaign finance legal guidelines, an impartial expenditure group supporting Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s reelection has refused to reply to requests for data, in keeping with the state’s marketing campaign finance watchdog company. 

In early September, nonprofits Alaska Public Curiosity Analysis Group and the 907 Initiative filed a grievance with the Alaska Public Places of work Fee in opposition to Dunleavy, his reelection marketing campaign and others for alleged violations of marketing campaign finance legal guidelines.

The grievance mentioned the Republican Governors Affiliation and Dunleavy are “engaged in a scheme” to subsidize and coordinate the marketing campaign actions of the impartial expenditure group A Stronger Alaska with these of Dunleavy’s official marketing campaign committee. Different events concerned within the alleged wrongdoing are Brett Huber and his firm Strategic Synergies, in keeping with the grievance.

Coordination between a candidate or a candidate’s representatives and an impartial expenditure group is prohibited by regulation.

Having 30 days to do an investigation, APOC workers confronted a deadline on Monday to file a advice to the fee on whether or not or not there’s a violation and, in that case, what the treatment could be. 

As a substitute, on Oct. 7, workers filed a request for an extension of time “as a result of, regardless of its requests, Respondent, A Stronger Alaska, has refused to adequately reply to workers’s requests for data whereas finishing up its investigation,” and the refusal “makes it unattainable for employees to finish its investigation and put together its investigation report within the time required,” the submitting mentioned. The request is for a further 30 days from when the impartial expenditure group responds to workers’s request for data. Voters will determine on the subsequent governor within the Nov. 8 basic election.  

“We have now instructed the fee that we can not full the investigation with out this data and the opposite facet is just not cooperating,” mentioned Tom Lucas, marketing campaign disclosure coordinator at APOC.

The request for an extension notes that A Stronger Alaska has refused to reply to workers’s requests until introduced with a subpoena. On behalf of APOC workers, the lawyer basic’s workplace on Oct. 3 filed a movement to challenge subpoenas to A Stronger Alaska Treasurer Erim Canligil and Chair Dave Rexrode. Canligil and Rexrode are additionally a part of the Republican Governor’s Affiliation – Canligil is chief monetary officer and Rexrode is government director.  

“However the subpoena is just not asking them about them of their capability as ideas of RGA; reasonably the subpoena is asking them about what they’ve performed of their capability as officers of A Stronger Alaska,” Lucas mentioned.

The subpoenas ask for Canligil and Rexrode to determine each person who has information of A Stronger Alaska’s marketing campaign plans, initiatives or wants; to state every particular person’s function in A Stronger Alaska’s marketing campaign; to determine their communications with the Republican Governors Affiliation since Feb. 24, 2021; and to determine their communications with Strategic Synergies, together with Brett Huber, since Feb. 25, 2021. Huber and Strategic Synergies are additionally listed within the authentic grievance.

The fee has not but dominated on the workers’s movement to challenge subpoenas and Lucas mentioned there isn’t any time restrict for the fee to make that call. If the subpoenas are issued, Canligil and Rexrode would have seven calendar days to reply.

In the meantime, Alaska Public Curiosity Analysis Group and the 907 Initiative on Monday have filed a request to expedite the APOC investigation to ban A Stronger Alaska from making any marketing campaign expenditures for the 2022 gubernatorial election.

“Complainants need APOC Employees to proceed utilizing its subpoena energy to arrange a Employees Report in order that the Fee can finally resolve their grievance on an strange timeline. However within the interim, the Fee should act instantly to forestall ASA from influencing the result of the election due to illegal coordination,” the submitting mentioned.

In its response to the unique grievance, A Stronger Alaska denies violating any Alaska regulation, maintains “there was completely no Coordination between ASA, the official workplace of Governor Dunleavy, and the Dunleavy for Governor marketing campaign,” and asks the fee to dismiss the grievance. The Republic Governors Affiliation made a movement to dismiss the allegations within the grievance in opposition to it, saying, “as a result of there are not any info alleged which might give rise to a violation of regulation and/or regulation, RGA should be summarily dismissed immediately.”

Alaska Beacon is a part of States Newsroom, a community of reports bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Alaska Beacon maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Andrew Kitchenman for questions: data@alaskabeacon.com. Observe Alaska Beacon on Fb and Twitter.