The “dark money” team of Tea-Publicans Tom Forese and Doug Little, secretly backed by APS and the “Kochtopus” Carbon Monopoly for the Arizona Corporation Commission, are in legal trouble as early ballots are being cast.
The director of Arizona’s Clean Elections Commission yesterday recommended that the commission investigate Tom Forese and Doug Little for violations of campaign finance laws. The Arizona Capitol Times (subscription required) reports, Clean Elections director calls for full investigation of Forese, Little:
The executive director of the Arizona Citizens Clean Election Commission has recommended a full investigation into the campaigns of Republican Corporation Commission candidates Doug Little and Rep. Tom Forese over possible violations of campaign finance laws.
The five-person commission will discuss Executive Director Tom Collins’ recommendation at tomorrow’s meeting, and may vote to move forward with an investigation. The recommendation comes after two complaints were filed with the commission by the state Democratic Party.
Some portions of the complaints were found not to have merit, according to the analysis by the commission’s director and staff. But they found Little and Forese may have violated the law by spending more money than they had on hand when they made some expenditures and failed to report expenditures for campaign signs and paid nominating petition signatures.
Collins’ report also raises questions about the amount each candidate reported paying for materials, specifically signs and associated costs. As the Arizona Capitol Times previously reported, several local sign vendors say the prices Little and Forese say they paid is far below market value. Collins explained that a full investigation could include an analysis of the reported prices.
