Complaint Filed with FEC on Potential Simon Violations

Phoenix The Arizona Republican Party filed a formal complaint on September 20, 2006 with the Federal Election Commission to investigate former Cleveland ACLU President Ellen Simon for apparent campaign finance violations. Arizona Republican Party Executive Director Glenn Hamer said the probe should be exhaustive and begin immediately. "Cleveland ACLU President Ellen Simon is one of the most ethically challenged candidates for Congress this state has ever seen," Hamer said. "Not only did ACLU President Simon sit idly by as her husband dodged hundreds of thousands of dollars in child support payments to his sick children, but now it appears she's been in violation of federal election laws. Ellen Simon must be living in a fantasyland if she doesn't see her house of cards beginning to fall apart." In an August 11, 2006 letter, the Federal Election Commission demanded that Ellen Simon provide "full public disclosure" of her campaign donors, warning that she must provide "the full name, complete mailing address, occupation, and name of employer." "Why is Ellen Simon hiding the complete mailing addresses of her campaign contributors?" Hamer asked. "Perhaps she doesn't want voters to know that from the 259 campaign contributions she received, only 11 came from the First District." Hamer also urged the FEC to probe Simon for improperly reporting the terms of a personal loan she made to the campaign. On July 14, 2006, the candidate filed a report stating that she made a straight contribution to her campaign from "personal funds." A month later, on August 11, 2006, Simon amended the report and moved $275,000 from "contributions from candidate" to "loans made/endorsed by candidate." However, the funding was not just a loan, and not from just personal funds either, facts Simon originally hid from the FEC. It was not until September 1, 2006, that the former ACLU operative came clean and disclosed the terms of her loan - a loan from a lending institution and collateralized by personal assets. The letter to the FEC follows: September 20, 2006 Office of General Counsel Federal Election Commission 999 E Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20463 To Whom It May Concern: I write to you today in my capacity as executive director of the Arizona Republican Party in reference to 2 U.S.C. 437g(a)(1) regarding Democrat Candidate for Congress Ellen Simon. It is my belief that Ms. Simon is in violation of several laws and regulations pertaining to campaign finance. Most troubling is the apparent attempt by Ms. Simon to deceive voters about the true nature of her contributions to her own campaign. On Ms. Simon's July 14 filing she stated that she was using "personal funds" in the amount of $275,000 as a contribution to her campaign. But then on August 11 amendment, she changed the contribution from a personal contribution to a personal loan. However, classifying the contribution as a personal loan was a misrepresentation of the facts. The contribution funds were from a lending institution and collateralized by personal assets. On September 1, Ms. Simon finally disclosed the terms of the loan from Wells Fargo Bank. This makes it clear that Ms. Simon intentionally filed a false report to the FEC on July 14. Any reasonable person recognizes that writing a check from one's personal bank account is a personal contribution, while applying for and then receiving a loan from a bank is quite different. Yet Ms. Simon filed a completely false report with the FEC on July 14, a clear violation of federal election law. Second, Ms. Simon has numerous instances of under reporting in her filings with the FEC. It appears that her violations were so onerous that it spurred the Commission to write a letter of inquiry to Ms. Simon under 11 CFR § 104.3(a)(4)(I), and it appears further that Ms. Simon continues to be out of compliance with FEC directives. Specifically, she has only amended her reports to say "best effort," but does not provide documentation that proves she has made this best effort. While I understand that Ms. Simon has good reason to attempt to hide who her donors are, likely out of embarrassment that only 11 people in the entire district gave to her campaign, this is still a violation of the law. Finally, Ms. Simon filed a statement of candidacy on May 1 of this year, and by her own admission had raised or spent over five thousand dollars by June 5 of this year. Accordingly she should have filed a report to the FEC acknowledging she crossed the five thousand dollar threshold. She did not do this, and waited until the quarterly report before disclosing amounts she raised. Again, this appears to be a clear violation of federal election law. So that I am in full compliance with the Federal Election Commission here is my contact information: Glenn Hamer Executive Director Arizona Republican Party 3501 N. 24th Street Phoenix, AZ 85016 Additionally you will see that this letter has been notarized and three copies are attached. I thank you for your attention to this matter and look forward to your response. Sincerely, /s/ Glenn Hamer Executive Director Arizona Republican Party