NH AG Orders Hassan to Return $24K

Attorney General Joseph Foster has issued a ruling in a complaint filed by Jennifer Horn, the executive director of the New Hampshire Republican Party, against Gov. Maggie Hassan, D-Exeter, and political action committee contributions made to her friends committee.

In a seven-page ruling, Foster stated that most of the contributions that were made were legal and allowed under the law. The state law allows for contributions to be made to a “friend’s committee,” for exploration purposes, before a candidate officially files. After officially filing, a candidate can only accept contributions of up to $1,000 for a person or organization.

One contribution, a $25,000 donation made by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) PAC, a union that is advocating the approval of the controversial Northern Pass project, was deemed inappropriate since it was delivered a day after Hassan officially filed to run for governor. Foster stated that his office would order $24,000 of the $25,000 contribution to be returned to the PAC.

The request to investigate was issued on July 16, by Horn and the Republican Party who questioned the donation, as well as others, and Hassan’s position on the project.

In a statement, Horn called on Hassan to release all of her campaign finance reports before the Aug. 20, filing deadline, so the public could examine any problems with them.

“Today’s ruling confirms that Governor Maggie Hassan broke the law by accepting an illegal campaign contribution from a special interest union PAC. Governor Hassan was caught red-handed trying to funnel tens of thousands of dollars in illegal donations into her campaign bank account, and her behavior raises serious ethical questions about her administration,” she wrote. “The Department of Justice ruling has established a troubling loophole that allows elected officials like Governor Hassan to accept infinite amounts of money from special interests while in office. It appears that Governor Hassan is the only official who has attempted to exploit this questionable exception and allow the corrupting influence of unlimited special interest donations to poison her campaign. It will up to the next responsible Republican governor to close the ‘Hassan Special Interest Loophole’ and restore integrity to our campaign finance system.”

Updates

Walt Havenstein, a Republican candidate for governor, offered the following statement about the AG’s ruling:

“Now that the AG’s Office has confirmed that the Governor has broken campaign finance law, the NHGOP is right to request that she release her campaign finance reports in advance of the deadline. The people of New Hampshire have a right to know if the Governor has broken the law more than once. Maggie Hassan has just demolished the integrity of New Hampshire’s campaign finance rules for her own selfish political ends. In putting her own political career over the interests of the citizens of New Hampshire, she has paved the way for unlimited special interest contributions to swamp our elections. Having been caught with her hand in the cookie jar, she now has the gall to call for the legislature to fix her mess. As Governor, I will work with the legislature to close the Hassan Loophole by applying the same rules to PAC-to-PAC donations as apply to individuals.”

Andrew Hemingway, another Republican candidate, stated:

“The AG today added much needed clarity to NH’s outdate campaign finance laws. The fact remains, Gov. Hassan is taking obscene amounts of money to promote Northern Pass.”

The campaign also offered a graphic from Hemingway’s Facebook site showing Hassan with both anti- and pro-Northern Pass supporters.

Read Foster’s full letter on the NH Department of Justice website.

The New Hampshire Patch Network will update this story when more statements become available.