The Election's Over, Your 10 Days Are Up, File Your Damned Campaign Finance Statements
Richard D. McLellan
A scratch corporation named Michigan’s Voice (LARA 71630M) was registered with Michigan’s Licensing and Regulatory Affairs Department on 26 October by a connected lawyer, Richard D. McLellan. He signed the Articles of Incorporation on 15 October.
Michigan’s Voice Flyers
Just in time to mail two obnoxious, lying flyers knifing Jim Storey, the second place finisher in the 80th House District special primary held on 03 November. The address used for the Michigan’s Voice LARA filing and printed on the flyers was not Richard McLellan’s, rather it was that of Eric E. Doster’s law firm Doster Law Offices, PLLC.
Close Up, Michigan’s Voice Flyer
The Michigan Campaign Finance Act, PA 388 of 1976, requires all committees engaged in Michigan politics to file a Statement of Organization within 10 days of being formed. MCL 169.221 Section 21(9) also requires all committees to designate a Treasurer before receiving and disbursing funds. MCL 169.232 Section 32(9) further requires all committees to report late contributions [those received after 18 October in this election] be filed with the SoS within 48 hours of receipt as well. Michigan’s Voice has done none of this.
Committees are defined in MCL 169.203, Section 3(4) as:
“a person who receives contributions or makes expenditures for the purpose of influencing or attempting to influence the action of the voters for or against the nomination or election of a candidate,………., if contributions received total $500.00 or more in a calendar year or expenditures made total $500.00 or more in a calendar year.”
The word ‘person’ in this act is used in the legal sense and most definitely refers to a corporation registered at LARA, fiddling in politics. Michigan’s Voice is assuredly a committee under the MCFA.
Michigan’s Voice Articles, Page 1
Twenty-one days have passed since Richard McLellan signed Michigan’s Voice’s Articles of Incorporation and 10 days have passed since those Articles of Incorporation were officially filed by LARA. I received the first Michigan’s Voice flyer on 28 October, so arrangements and payments must have been made days before that. Arena Communications of Salt Lake City, the Michigan’s Voice mailings’ designer and printer, isn’t that quick and the U.S. Postal Service certainly isn’t. So the MCFA 10 day grace period has been sorely abused.
Michigan’s Voice Articles, Page 4
Mr.McLellan has said that he signed Michigan’s Voice’s Articles as a favor to Eric E. Doster. Perhaps he needs to seek a little legal advise from his friend. Eric E. Doster wrote the (very expensive) book on Michigan’s campaign finance law, so he should be of some assistance here. The obvious violations of the MCFA are mounting and the fines are piling up. Eventually they become misdemeanors.
Eric E. Doster
At the very least, Jim Storey deserves to know who planted the knife in his back at the eleventh hour. Everyone else in Allegan County will also be interested, particularly if the money came from the Great Lakes Education Project or some Richard DeVos seneschal. Arena Communications also printed the nine mailed flyers I received from Great Lakes Education Project on behalf of the winner Mary Whiteford. So coordination, legal or otherwise, occurred at some level here.
Making things a bit more interesting, Senate Majority Leader Arlen Meekhof wheeled $ 10,000 from his Moving Michigan Forward Fund II PAC (BoE 516287) into GLEP (BoE 510264) through the Michigan Freedom Network PAC (BoE 516317) on 07 October. Just about the cost of two well targeted primary election mailings in the 80th House District. Senator Meekhof has made no secret of his disdain for Jim Storey. So Michigan’s Voice activities may well predate 15 October.
Greg McNeilly
Michigan Freedom Network is a PAC subordinate to Greg McNeilly of Michigan Freedom Fund, an individual who is also a Director of GLEP. Not to be left out of the picture, Eric Doster just happens to be the resident agent of the Michigan Freedom Fund, an entity he actually created as the Atlas Strike Fund in 2012. Did GLEP establish Michigan’s Voice as a deniable cutout to further their agenda and the antagonisms of Senator Meekhof? Or was Michigan’s Voice a device to conceal the scope of GLEP’s involvement in the 80th House District special primary until after 03 November?
One or more of these characters was absolutely determined to orchestrate the nomination of Mary Whiteford, and willing to game the Michigan Campaign Finance Act in the process to conceal their identity(s). The important question is why, and who gains what, by her election.
Altruism is not an end in today’s Michigan politics. Money is.
(16)Nuh Uh.
(1)
Good info as always--
I think we're thinking about this simply all wrong. The big picture here is corporate shell games are afoot. We lack actual government for the people, by the people, of the people, and are really being controlled, manipulated, etc by corporations. Government is merely a bobble-headed, stringed puppet with lots of strings attached being pulled by these same corps. The movie "Roller Ball" with James Caan, while noted as science fiction, is exactly what we're living now. Corporations dictate to the government no matter what the people want. The sooner we figure this out, the better we'll all be. Elections are bought before the election, throw in unsafe, easily hacked election machines, and a guaranteed stupid public, and what you have is sporting game.
As Donald Trump has said strategy is best kept secret. Harm is cause if strategy is exposed before the game is played and won. Waiting until after the fact does no harm, merely a minor oversight,
A little story: Extremely dangerous round-abouts using our tax moneys were built on M72. There is no logic to this thunking--other than death to us. These two round-abouts are incredulously designed solely to steer traffic into a newly built Meijers--the same Meijers which literally caused the demise of those opposed and was the subject of election tampering in Acme township. (As for me, I will never step foot into that Meijer.) What they did to 72 they want to do to Division--both roads lead to Meijers. Your gas tax at work?
How is the above relevant to your thoughts 10x25? The hand-slap Meijer got in the election fixing shell-game became the manual for future shell-games, of which GLEP et al has played many times already. This shell game has become a large cottage industry, designed to cloud the tracking of political money, leading to the round-about fiasco built with tax moneys.
Brilliant. Incredible work Mister!
I hope Storey has the motivation to take this to the next level and perhaps challenge the election based on the coordination aspect. The ball could not be more clearly in his court.
Given the players involved, I wholeheartedly agree.
However, there are several problems with that.
First of which, SoS Ruth Johnson is not exactly the sharpest tool in the shed. Sitting next to Gubernatorial wannabe Bill Schuette, she failed to not only witness a blatant campaign finance violation committed right in front of her face, but broadcast live on statewide TV & radio as well.To the best of my knowledge, neither of them have moved on this.
Second, Ms. Schwartz hit the nail right on the head: We have two systems in play not only here in Michigan, but nationally as well.
As I alluded to above, I see the likelihood of anything happening on the state level about as much as I see Loretta Lynch siccing the full force of the federal Department of Justice on one Hillary Clinton for her numerous violation of federal record keeping laws.
We all know that Pres. B.O. will step in, knowing his M.O. very likely at the last possible minute after they drag this "investigation" out as long as humanly possible, and make sure that she never even glimpses the inside of a prison cell.
Just don't get too disappointed when SoS Johnson does likewise.
Ha! Schuette? Can't even get a slam-dunk out of this or, this.
Well, as the old saw goes... wish in one hand and shit in the other, see which fills first, right? Right? RIGHT??
Shystering up for a paper war costs money pal, gotta have deep pockets for that shit in which only the shysters win.
I would force Whiteford to take a position on her opponent's treatment early and often.
Our problem isn't politicians. It's the fact that "We the People" never force them to do anything that they don't want to.
Hmmm, the biggest difference I see here is that y'all still fail to distinguish the minor difference between the Thousand-Cuck Stare from the Thousand-C*** Stare, which is very similar.
Doubt it? Look at their eyes.