Rossi the Hypocrite

SEATTLE – Unaware of Gov. Gregoire's intention to forego campaigning until the end of the upcoming bill signing period, Republican Dino Rossi's campaign issued a challenge last week that they’ll probably end up wishing they hadn’t, given Rossi's history of using campaign finance loopholes for his own personal and political benefit.

In a Feb. 28th press release, Rossi called on Gov. Gregoire to voluntarily abstain from fundraising until the completion of bill signing:

Even if a loophole allows this to legally take place, Gov. Gregoire should make a personal decision to uphold the integrity of our state government’s lawmaking system.”

This is particularly ironic and hypocritical, because even though a loophole allowed it to legally take place, Rossi has repeatedly refused to make public the finances and identity of high-dollar donors to his sham non-profit, Forward Washington Foundation, which was nothing more than an unregulated front group for his 2008 gubernatorial bid.

Today, Washington State Democratic Party Chair Dwight Pelz renewed his call for Rossi to honor the spirit of the law by finally coming clean and opening the books from his campaign front group – a call also made by the editorial board of The Seattle Times and even the PDC commissioners that voted to acquit Rossi, who suggested they were powerless to regulate Rossi’s activities due to a “loophole” in the law.

“Republican Dino Rossi’s lectures are akin to his draft-dodging friend George W. Bush questioning the patriotism of war hero John Kerry,” said Washington State Democratic Party Chair Dwight Pelz.

Rossi used the foundation to finance his travel across the state in 2007 and give speeches in front of GOP audiences and other friendly interest groups, as well as to pay himself and his campaign political operatives’ salaries.

“Republican Dino Rossi raised and spent tens of thousands of dollars campaigning, while using a loophole to conceal the identities of his political patrons through a tax-sheltered foundation,” said Pelz. “Rossi should now follow his own advice and live up to the spirit of Washington state’s campaign finance laws by finally opening the books on his sham, tax-sheltered campaign front group.”

What others have said about Rossi’s activities (keep in mind, the PDC Commissioners voted to acquit him):

• Seattle Times editorial: “Even if it is not technically required, Rossi ought to announce contributors and the amounts donated.”
  
• PDC Commissioner Earl Tilly: "Since this is my swansong this is going to be a difficult one for me to decide which way to go on because I really felt that there was a candidacy here all the time. … But, you know, it has been proven that they met the code of Washington, so I'm going to vote for to you know in addition to second, I'm going to support the motion, but I do feel that there is a – there's a loophole here."
  
• PDC Commissioner Ken Schellberg: "But one would hope that an organization that, again, was operated exclusively for the promotion of social welfare, promoting the common goals and general welfare of the people of the community, one would hope that that sort of organization would be proud to disclose their donor lists. And I would hope that perhaps Forward Washington might think of that. It would certainly defuse the issue in my mind."
  
• PDC Commissioner Bill Brumsickle: "I wonder what people involved in this really, you know, were trying to do. However, it appears to me after five months of investigations that the staff has determined that there were no violations, how shady that might be I don't know, but I'm going to support the motion."
  

For more information, visit The Real Dino Rossi.