Thanks to leading Republican legislators, a political attack group associated with the head of the state Democratic Party could accomplish their primary goal.
Sen. Al Mansell, R-Sandy, filed a letter of complaint against the Truth In Politics political action committee earlier this week with state election officials and the Attorney General's Office about the group's last-minute election mailers. In the letter, the former Senate president requested an investigation into the group's "activities" and asked for recommendations on how to close loopholes in state law that allowed the group, at least initially, to essentially operate anonymously.
"I do not want to limit free speech, but I am very interested in your ideas on strengthening our transparency and disclosure requirements," Mansell writes in the complaint. "Please assist us in making sure the public can better evaluate the real truth in political materials."
Although Truth In Politics was blatantly against Republican candidates and is connected to the state Democratic Party, Mansell said in his letter that he wanted to "avoid a repeat of this destructive, underhanded behavior — from either side of the political spectrum."
Should the Legislature actually create better transparency during their upcoming general session, then the group would have accomplished everything they set out to do with their mailings, said Debbie Willhite, senior adviser for Truth In Politics. The group was responsible for more than $100,000 in Salt Lake County-wide mailings that voters received less than a week before Election Day, including the "Salt Lake County Hall of Shame" and "Map of Corruption," which may have contributed to the losses of as many as four county and state Republican incumbents.
In fact, Willhite said she would prefer "total transparency" in disclosures of donors, as well as reports of new donations and expenditures within 24 hours during the final weeks of the campaign. She would not favor any limits on donations or expenditures.
"One of the things which we felt Truth In Politics could do is point out some of the problems with Utah election law," Willhite said. "We would be really excited if our activities — besides helping defeat four really bad officials — caused a reform in election and disclosure laws."
As for any punishable activities, Willhite was "quite confident that they will not find anything untoward" with the group's filing or financial reports. In their initial statement of organization, the group's only listed contact was part-time Park City resident C.L. Peacock, with a dead-end phone number that was actually found, through a public records search, to belong to Salt Lake County resident Craig Tassainer.
The PAC's current contact information, although still C.L. Peacock, includes a phone number and address for Willhite. The change was made, she said, "as soon as anybody contacted" the group to question the mailings.
The state "required us to do no more," she said. "But we think it would be very good if the state required that there is a real contact for every PAC."
Willhite also readily admitted that she is a friend of Utah Democratic Chairman Donald Dunn, who she got to know when he worked in Washington, D.C., for the Clinton administration, despite his denials about having any knowledge of the group at the time of the mailings. Additionally, the PAC purchased a voter list from the state Democrats, Willhite said, although "Donald had his own job to do" and did not help her plan the mailers.
The Attorney General's Office is still responding to the complaint, and "we will take appropriate action" if the group did violate any laws, spokesman Paul Murphy said. It is not uncommon, however, for them to receive complaints about PACs or candidates.
E-mail: jloftin@desnews.com