September 22, 2009 08:49 PM UTC

Prosecutor: Diggs Brown's manager 'violated campaign finance law'

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• by: twas brillig

(Campaign staff “Diggs” Brown quite a hole, too. And what are the odds, really, that Boucher can go without violating a campaign finance regulation by next year? – promoted by Colorado Pols)

Another scalp for Colorado Ethics Watch. The indefatigable Bob Moore writes that Andrew Boucher, who runs the Draft Diggs Brown committee, is under deferred indictment for campaign finance violations relating to his Fort Collins city council campaign:

A special prosecutor has ruled there’s probable cause to believe Andrew Boucher, a political consultant and unsuccessful Fort Collins City Council candidate, unintentionally violated city campaign finance laws in the April election.

As part of an agreement Boucher reached with special prosecutor Jerry Gordon of Boulder, no charges will be filed if Boucher isn’t accused of any other campaign finance violations before Sept. 3, 2010.

Boucher’s spin–apart from refusing to take responsibility for himself–is that the complaint was “dismissed” and therefore never had merit, but that’s pretty hard to square with his agreement to not break the law for a year before getting out from under a possible prosecution. That just means the prosecutor is a prudent fellow, since this isn’t the first time Ethics Watch has scalped Boucher:

This is the second time that Boucher has entered into a settlement over campaign finance violations brought by Colorado Ethics Watch.

The group alleged that a Boucher-led group, the Northern Colorado Victory Group, did not properly document independent expenditures against legislative candidate John Kefalas in 2006. That case was settled when Boucher agreed to provide the documentation to the Colorado secretary of state.

If Diggs Brown genuinely wants to be a congressman, he’s going to have to make some tough decisions if he wants a campaign that is both viable and credible.