J.R. Romano, newly elected chairman of the Connecticut Republican Party, has declined a lunch invitation from his Democratic counterpart Nick Balletto, reports blogger and Republican former legislator Kevin Rennie. In a message to Mr. Balletto, Mr. Romano wrote that he will not do lunch unless Mr. Balletto and the Democrats comply with a May State Elections Enforcement Commission (SEEC) subpoena for “documents or communications related to meetings” Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and his inner circle may have had with the state Democratic Party on now-infamous mailers the party sent on Gov. Malloy’s behalf during last year’s gubernatorial campaign.
The SEEC has been investigating the mailer affair for months. Under a 2005 state law, it is illegal for executives at companies that have state contracts, or are eligible to bid on them, to contribute to candidates for state office and party accounts for state races. Contractors apparently donated to the Connecticut Democratic Party’s federal account to covertly benefit Gov. Malloy’s campaign. The party used cash from this account to pay for the aforementioned mailers.
In mid-June, the Democrats said they would not comply with the SEEC’s subpoena. They claimed the SEEC doesn’t have the authority to investigate because the mailers amounted to get-out-the-vote activity covered by federal law. The SEEC responded by unanimously voting to ask the office of state Attorney General George C. Jepsen to take the matter to court, to force the Democrats to comply.
I highly doubt Mr. Romano’s stance will prompt Mr. Balletto to step up, but the GOP chairman nonetheless deserves applause for making an issue of the Democrats’ obstinacy.
As we asserted in a June 20 editorial, the claim that the SEEC doesn’t have jurisdiction is ridiculous. The SEEC is charged by state law with “ensur(ing) the integrity of the state’s electoral process,” so it was well within its authority when it examined the Democrats’ practices in the race for the highest office in Connecticut.
Just a glance at the mailers makes clear the Democrats were drumming up support for Gov. Malloy – not making a generic get-out-the vote statement – and common sense tells us the mailers should have been financed via the Democrats’ account for state races.
From the hiding behind the weak “no-jurisdiction” argument, it fairly can be surmised that the state Democratic Party put banned contractor cash to work for Gov. Malloy. The SEEC and Mr. Romano deserve credit for trying to make sure the people of corruption-plagued Connecticut get the full story on this sleazy episode. Hopefully, Mr. Jepsen’s office will follow suit.