Experts: Brunner deal iffy
FEC approval to use state campaign assets for Senate bid was needed beforehand, some say
WASHINGTON -- Verify first, transfer valuable equipment second.
Several campaign-finance and ethics experts say Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner should have asked the Federal Election Commission to determine the legality of a secret agreement before it took effect instead of nearly four months afterward.
Brunner contends that the unusual deal allows her campaigns to pull off a maneuver that normally would be improper: using assets bought by her state campaign fund in her U.S. Senate campaign.
"It seems like she should have asked for the advisory opinion first," said Melanie Sloan, executive director of the nonpartisan Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington and a former federal prosecutor.
Although Brunner's agreement might prove legal, "Certainly it is on the shady side, and you don't expect the secretary of state, of all candidates, to engage in activities like that. She should have checked first."
That also is the conclusion drawn by a lawyer who is a Democrat but who asked for anonymity because he is commenting on a fellow Democrat. The lawyer is not involved with either Brunner's campaign or the campaign of Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher, Brunner's Democratic opponent in the Senate primary.
"As Ohio's chief campaign finance officer, Secretary Brunner should have sought an advisory opinion from the FEC before entering into this agreement," said the lawyer, who is familiar with campaign-finance law.
At issue is about $15,000 in office equipment, supplies and cell phones bought by Brunner's secretary of state campaign in the week before it was shut down on Feb. 17, the day she announced her Senate candidacy. FEC regulations prohibit a candidate from directly using money or other assets from a state campaign fund to help finance a federal race.
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