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Governor Margaret Wood Hassan must return twenty four thousand dollars in campaign contributions received from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Worker’s PAC.
Hassan: Accepted illegal campaign contributions
That was the ruling made late Friday afternoon by Attorney General Joseph Foster in response to a complaint filed by the New Hampshire Republican Party over a twenty five thousand dollar contribution given by the I B E W’s national PAC. The G O P also contested two ten thousand dollar contributions to Hassan’s campaign made by PACs from the Service Employees International Union and the United Food and Commercial Workers, but because their contributions were received the day Hassan filed her candidacy and declared she would not abide by the voluntary spending limits, not the day after like the I B E W contribution, Foster ruled a contribution violation had not been committed. The Attorney General’s findings, which we’ve uploaded with this newscast at Girard at Large dot com, weren’t restricted to whether or not campaign contribution limits were violated. In related determinations, the A G said there was insufficient evidence to challenge the unions’ assertions that the donations enabling their contributions were twenty five dollars or less and that, under N H law they didn’t have to itemize the receipts as a reslut. However, the A G did find that the unions filed their political action committees with the Secretary of State’s office several days after they donated to Hassan’s campaign, prompting Foster to send a cease and desist order. But, since he didn’t require the return of the funds and didn’t specify exactly what the cease and desist order was for, we’re left wondering just what that means. State G O P Chair Jennifer Horn issued a statement lauding the findings saying quote “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.” Horn called on Hassan to immediately release her campaign finance reports in advance of the August 20th filing deadline saying the public has a right to know if the governor has accepted any other illegal donations that could improperly influence the gubernatorial campaign. We were unable to find any statements by Hassan on social media in response to the report.
News from our own backyard continues after this.
Brown: Shaheen, Obama policies encourage illegal immigration
Former Bay State Senator and NH G O P candidate for the U S Senate Scott Brown released a statement regarding the two point seven billion dollar border funding bill that the Senate voted down late last week. Quote: “Senator (Jeanne) Shaheen sent a clear message that she stands with President Obama and his failed pro-amnesty policies by voting to move forward with a bill that does not include any policy measures to stop the immigration crisis at the border…The pro-amnesty policies of President Obama and Senator Shaheen have created incentives for illegal immigrants to cross the border in unprecedented numbers and disobey our laws.” End quote. Brown thanked Senator Kelly Ayotte for voting against the bill Shaheen supported.
Baer: Moves to dismiss charges
The attorney for Billy Baer, the man hauled out of a Gilford School Board meeting for allegedly speaking out of turn, has filed a motion to dismiss the criminal charges made against him by the Gilford Police Department. Attorney Mark Sisti said the charges fall into two separate categories. The first contains two alleged offenses; that Baer caused a breach of the peace by disrupting the school board’s business meeting, and that he refused to obey a lawful order issued by a peace officer to move from any public place. The second category is that Baer’s actions did not rise to the level of disturbing the peace. Sisti argues the charges should be dismissed because each of these complaints seek a criminal penalty rather than a civil remedy. He said the prosecution seeks to limit the rights of Baer’s free speech in public, something that’s not allowed by the First Amendment. Sisti also said the order given by police was unlawful inasmuch as there was no breach of the actual business meeting and that Baer was not warned by the School Board Chair he could be removed for speaking out of turn, and that Gilford Police Lieutenant James Leach’s actions removing Baer were unreasonable and unconstitutional. We’ve linked to a story in the Laconia Sun with all the details.
Manchester Academic Standards: Opponents are gathering
Opponents of the Manchester Academic Standards were out distributing literature this weekend in South Manchester. Their goal is to get parents to attend next Monday’s meeting of the School Board to ask for standards that are truly better than Common Core, not the Common Core rewrites presented to the Board of School Committee on June ninth. Those organizing the lit drop have also placed an ad on that giant electronic billboard on South Willow Street urging opponents of the Common Core to attend the meeting. Organizers are hopeful that their efforts to distribute literature around the city and otherwise alert folks to Monday’s school board meeting will offset the disengagement that comes with summer as folks scurry away for vacation or otherwise enjoy the weather. They believe that had the so called public hearings been held in June before vacation season hit, more parents would have turned out. Here’s the flier they’re distributing.
That’s news from our own backyard, Girard at Large hour ___ is straight ahead!
