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Campaign Finance Complaints against Fieger & Fieger

By JGillman, Section News
Posted on Fri Nov 09, 2012 at 01:54:37 PM EST
Tags: Michigan, Fiegertime, Prop 2, Failure, Campaign Finance (all tags)

Have just been filed by Protecting Michigan Taxpayers.

Protecting Michigan Taxpayers today announced the filing of multiple campaign finance complaints against personal injury lawyer and failed gubernatorial candidate Geoffrey Fieger and his law firm, Fieger & Fieger, P.C. in connection with hidden spending by the firm in support of Proposal 2, the government union boss power grab overwhelmingly rejected by voters on Tuesday.

"Geoffrey Fieger may be a high-powered personal injury lawyer but that doesn't mean he is above the law," said Jared Rodriguez, Spokesman for Protecting Michigan Taxpayers. "His decision to flout campaign finance law and to illegally hide his spending on behalf of Proposal 2 from voters raises serious questions about the real amount of money spent by big labor on this failed, divisive attempt to put union bosses above the members they claim to represent."

Violations of Michigan's campaign finance law committed by Fieger and referenced in today's complaint include:

Violation of Section 24 of the MCFA by failing to file a Statement of Organization with the Michigan Department of State;
Violation of Section 34 of the MCFA by failing to file the pre-general campaign statement due October 26, 2012; and
Violation of Section 47(4) of the MCFA by failing to indicate that advertisements paid for by Fieger were paid for "with regulated funds."

Continued below the fold

Protecting Michigan Taxpayers has requested that the Secretary of State immediately investigate these violations and to assess all appropriate penalties for each violation.

Beginning on October 9, 2012, Fieger's law firm spent at least $33,600 to air television commercials in Detroit that expressly advocated the passage of Proposal 2 by asking viewers to cast a "YES" vote. The advertisements included a disclaimer indicating they were "Paid for by Fieger & Fieger, P.C."

Under the Michigan Campaign Finance Act (MCFA), any individual or organization that spends in excess of $500 in direct support of a ballot proposal is required to file a statement of organization establishing itself as a "Ballot Question Committee" and is required to report all contributions and expenditures by campaign finance filing deadlines. Fieger has refused to register his firm as a ballot question committee and hid his contributions from voters by illegally refusing to file campaign finance reports required under law.

Advertisements directly urging a "YES" vote are also required under campaign finance law to include a disclaimer indicating they were "paid for with regulated funds." Fieger's ads did not include this disclaimer.

Organizations from across the state worked together to defeat Proposal 2 including organizations representing school boards, school principals, school superintendents, small business groups, chambers of commerce and taxpayer organizations.

Protecting Michigan Taxpayers is a growing, grassroots organization that aims to keep Michigan moving forward by ensuring fairness for our state's taxpayers. To learn more about Protecting Michigan Taxpayers and defeating Proposal 2, please visit http://www.ProtectingMichiganTaxpayers.com.

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