A consultant to a conservative group claims in court that a state
official gave "Frontline" access to stolen documents suggesting that the
group illegally coordinated with Republican candidates.
American Tradition Partnership consultant Christian LeFer and his wife, Allison, sued Montana Commissioner of Political Practices Jim Murry in Lewis & Clark County Court, seeking to block him from disclosing the documents to other media and demanding that he return them immediately.
Boxes of files were stolen from Allison LeFer's car in 2010 and reportedly found in a meth house near Denver, according to the lawsuit. The boxes contained files on 23 conservative candidates in state races in Montana, including candidate surveys, mailers, notes and bank records.
LeFer claims Murry somehow obtained the documents and showed them to a "Frontline" reporter investigating the influence of outside money on Montana's elections since the U.S. Supreme Court lifted restrictions on corporate political speech.
Information from the files was featured in stories on PBS' and ProPublica's websites, and in a "Frontline" news documentary called "Big Sky, Big Money," which aired Tuesday night.
The documentary suggested that American Tradition Partnership, formerly Western Tradition Partnership, had coordinated its efforts with Republican candidates and their wives in violation of Montana's Corrupt Practices Act.
The accusation sparked a protest in Helena, in part because the tax-exempt social welfare group was behind a lawsuit challenging Montana's campaign law. ATP had argued that "contributions made to committees making independent expenditures do not give rise to corruption."
The Montana Supreme Court upheld the 100-year-old Corrupt Practices Act, but the U.S. Supreme Court summarily reversed the state high court's ruling.
Montana's law barred corporations from making "an expenditure in connection with a candidate or a political committee that supports or opposes a candidate or political party." It was similar to the federal law that the Supreme Court struck down in Citizens United .
Read more: http://www.courthousenews.com/2012/11/02/51947.htm
American Tradition Partnership consultant Christian LeFer and his wife, Allison, sued Montana Commissioner of Political Practices Jim Murry in Lewis & Clark County Court, seeking to block him from disclosing the documents to other media and demanding that he return them immediately.
Boxes of files were stolen from Allison LeFer's car in 2010 and reportedly found in a meth house near Denver, according to the lawsuit. The boxes contained files on 23 conservative candidates in state races in Montana, including candidate surveys, mailers, notes and bank records.
LeFer claims Murry somehow obtained the documents and showed them to a "Frontline" reporter investigating the influence of outside money on Montana's elections since the U.S. Supreme Court lifted restrictions on corporate political speech.
Information from the files was featured in stories on PBS' and ProPublica's websites, and in a "Frontline" news documentary called "Big Sky, Big Money," which aired Tuesday night.
The documentary suggested that American Tradition Partnership, formerly Western Tradition Partnership, had coordinated its efforts with Republican candidates and their wives in violation of Montana's Corrupt Practices Act.
The accusation sparked a protest in Helena, in part because the tax-exempt social welfare group was behind a lawsuit challenging Montana's campaign law. ATP had argued that "contributions made to committees making independent expenditures do not give rise to corruption."
The Montana Supreme Court upheld the 100-year-old Corrupt Practices Act, but the U.S. Supreme Court summarily reversed the state high court's ruling.
Montana's law barred corporations from making "an expenditure in connection with a candidate or a political committee that supports or opposes a candidate or political party." It was similar to the federal law that the Supreme Court struck down in Citizens United .
Read more: http://www.courthousenews.com/2012/11/02/51947.htm
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