October 13, 2015 11:45 AM UTC

Ethics Complaint Filed: Coffman Must Disavow Pay-To-Play "Patriot Program"

• 2 Comments
• by: ProgressNow Colorado

(Promoted by Colorado Pols)

POLS UPDATE: Politico reports on the American Democracy Legal Fund’s complaint against congresscritters who signed the National Republican Congressional Committee’s “Patriot Program” contract:

The American Democracy Legal Fund, a liberal group that has filed dozens of campaign finance and ethics complaints against Republicans over the past year, is launching a new complaint over recently disclosed agreements between GOP incumbents and the National Republican Congressional Committee.

The complaints, filed with the Office of Congressional Ethics accuses 23 House Republicans enrolled in the NRCC’s Patriot Program for vulnerable incumbents of violating “House rules prohibiting official resources from being used for campaign or political purposes.” The complaint alleges that, by signing a document that committed the representatives to providing the NRCC with political justifications for their legislative goals, the representatives broke House rules designed to keep politics and legislative business separate.

The particular sticking point cited by the ADLF is the signature not just of the lawmaker, but also the lawmaker’s chief of staff–a taxpayer-funded position that should have no partisan political obligations. It’s interesting to see this story retaining its punch after many weeks of Republicans trying hard to downplay it–and Democrats insisting there is no analogue for this contract on their side.

The longer this story sticks around, the more the NRCC’s “help” becomes a liability. Original post follows–

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After the filing last week of an official complaint with the U.S. House of Representatives Office of Congressional Ethics against Rep. Mike Coffman of Colorado over his participation in the controversial Republican Party “Patriot Program,” ProgressNow Colorado, the state’s largest online progressive advocacy organization, renewed its call for Coffman to immediately withdraw from the program.

“The complaint filed last week by the American Democracy Legal Fund accuses Mike Coffman of violating both federal law and congressional ethics rules,” said ProgressNow Colorado executive director Amy Runyon-Harms. “The contract Coffman signed with national Republican donors obliges Coffman to use the official resources of his office to coordinate legislative plans with a partisan political organization. That’s against the law, as well a huge breach of trust with the citizens Coffman represents in Congress.”

In its complaint filed with the Office of Congressional Ethics, ADLF notes that “the Patriot Program is designed only for current members of the House of Representatives; thus, the contract contemplates that the Members would have official resources available…to make it even clearer that official resources are at stake, the Members’ Chief of Staff is also listed as a contracting party and required to sign the contract separately.” Federal law, 31 U.S.C. § 1301 and House rules both prohibit official resources from being used for campaign or political purposes. [1]

“By signing the ‘Patriot Program’ contract, Mike Coffman has signed over his office to national Republican donors and special interests,” said Runyon-Harms. “The sad fact is, this latest incident wouldn’t even be Coffman’s first case of violating campaign laws. In 2004, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that Coffman had violated the Fair Campaign Practices Act, using official resources to conduct partisan political activity.”

“Playing by his own rules has been Coffman’s habit for years,” said Runyon-Harms, “but it may finally be catching up with him with a national spotlight on his long record. We’re asking for Coffman to immediately withdraw from the ‘Patriot Program,’ and apologize for once again putting his political survival above the interests of the people he was elected to serve.”