Are Colorado Republicans Breaking the Law?

Are Colorado Republicans Breaking the Law?
This post was published on the now-closed HuffPost Contributor platform. Contributors control their own work and posted freely to our site. If you need to flag this entry as abusive, send us an email.

The rise of independent groups in this election cycle has been unprecedented. No controls exist on outside dollars spent, and accountability and transparency are totally absent.
Within this state there are benign-sounding 527 organizations and independent expenditure committees funding attack ads on statewide candidates. Under state law, 527s and independent expenditure committees are prohibited from coordinating with political parties, and are also required to file disclosure reports if any contributions are received or spending is made to fund political activities supporting or opposing candidates for state office. But one of these separate groups running "independent" attacks against State Treasurer Cary Kennedy appears to be ignoring these state law requirements.
There is an awfully close connection between the "independent" group Sound Economy Colorado and the Denver County Republican Party:

Sound Economy Colorado has produced a video attacking Cary Kennedy that expressly advocates viewers to vote for her Republican Party opponent for the office of Colorado State Treasurer. This group is listed on the IRS website as a 527 organization but they have not registered as a 527 organization with the Colorado Secretary of State or filed any disclosure reports. On the video (http://www.soundeconomycolorado.com/) Ryan Call is identified as the registered agent of Sound Economy Colorado's independent expenditure committee.
Ryan Call is also the legal counsel to the Colorado Republican Party and he is the Chair of the Denver County Republican Party.
So my question is, does Mr. Call violate the state campaign finance rules by "coordinating" with and "communicating" between the state Republican Party, the local county party, and these so-called independent 527s and independent expenditure committees? Smells mighty fishy to me.

Popular in the Community

Close

What's Hot