OOPS. This time three clients of Dave Gilliard’s are in the same mess. I am not referring to Gilliard Client Phil Paule and his multiple arrests, Gilliard Client Barbara Ortega and her DUI, nor Gilliard Client Doug LaMalfa and his exploding scandal that has revealed that he may have illegally paid for an attack website put up by his own chief of staff.
I am referring to Jim Nielsen, Bob Williams and the Tehama GOP.
This time the three got caught red-handed circumventing Prop 34 contribution limits using the Tehama GOP as the conduit. Many of us in the North State have known that Dave Gilliard is ruthless and uses whatever means necessary to get paid a.k.a. get his candidates elected – however, in 2012 team Gilliard is getting caught repeatedly.
The Territorial Dispatch set Dave Gilliard, Jim Nielsen and Bob Williams on fire this morning:
Jim Ledgerwood, Vice-President of the Butte County Republican Assembly called for a complete investigation of unethical and possibly illegal activities conducted by the Bob Williams’ Assembly campaign. Legerwood indicated that a formal request to the Fair Political Practices Commission to investigate the Williams campaign for the following potential violations should be filed:
• Violating Laws Governing Independent Expenditures.
According to the Fair Political Practices Commission, the rule regarding independent expenditures is that there be no “coordination” between the candidate’s campaign and those campaigning for the candidate through independent expenditures. Yet, the Secretary of State’s site shows that on Friday, the Tehama County central committee made an independent expenditure of $12,762 for radio advertising and mailers through Gilliard, Blanning and Associates.
This firm, run by Dave Gilliard, also has been serving as the campaign consultant to Williams.
Ledgerwood noted that “Williams campaign team seems to have blatantly disregarded the law in an effort to advance his candidacy.”
• Money Laundering
It is illegal for an Assembly member or state senator to make an independent expenditure on behalf of a candidate or to donate to a committee for that purpose. However, Williams’ campaign directly benefited from a $20,000 donation made by Assemblyman Nielsen to a committee that needed to act in a manner that was totally independent of the Williams campaign.
*** Assemblyman Nielsen has endorsed Williams and Nielsen approved a quote in the very “independent” mailer that his donation paid for the mailer.
*** Nielsen, Williams and the organization supposedly acting independently of both share the same consultant – Dave Gilliard.
Ledgerwood said it was inconceivable to him that Williams, Nielsen and Gilliard and did not know that Nielsen’s $20,000 donation was being used to advance Williams candidacy when the money was spent by a campaign consultant they both employ and that the “independent committee” employs. Ledgerwood said the transactions appear to be a “thinly veiled money laundering scheme intended to allow a Williams supporter to exceed the maximum amount of money ($3900) that could be donated.”
Ledgerwood noted that the Chico Enterprise Record had already editorialized against Williams’ dirty tricks campaign. He said indications that the campaign was violating multiple campaign finance laws showed that Williams was participating in unethical and possibly illegal activities
I still stand behind my earlier post that the Tehama GOP got screwed by the state GOP – but that does not give them license to break the law.
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