Aug. 25—Former gubernatorial candidate Jeff Apodaca has claimed his fledgling nonprofit “educational” group, The New Mexico Project, has raised nearly $1 million.
Exactly what has been done with the funds, and where they came from, became no clearer after a two-hour court hearing last week in which attorneys for the state Ethics Commission argued that under state law, The New Mexico Project is really a political campaign committee and should divulge its independent expenditures and sources of funding.
“The state Ethics Commission is not interested in stopping free speech,” state Ethics Commission Executive Director Jeremy Farris told state District Judge Josh Allison of Albuquerque. “All we’re seeking is disclosure.”
But Apodaca’s attorney, A. Blair Dunn, said the commission lacked the proof to support its claim that the group has spent enough to qualify as a political or independent expenditure committee.
“They don’t have the evidence, and we’re not going to give it to them today,” Dunn said.
The commission has been attempting since May to try to get Apodaca to comply with the law.
As Thursday’s hearing began, Apodaca’s lawyer threatened to call the executive director of the commission to testify. There was also talk that Apodaca, if called to testify by the ethics commission attorneys, would refuse to testify and cite his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination on the advice of his attorney. Dunn contended the commission was guilty of “malicious prosecution.” In the end, no one testified.
It was the first time since the commission notified Apodaca of the alleged violations of state campaign finance law that the merits of the case, and some evidence, were presented to a judge.
The group’s primary objective is to “educate moderate Latino voters on the best candidates to vote for,” stated the commission in a court filing. “The website mainly consists of a “Priority Candidates” page in which TNMP “identified key state and county races as strategic priorities, where our influence can sway pivotal outcomes and shape the future political landscape of the state.” The site points to a slate of Democratic candidates who were up for election in the June 4 primary.
Allison is expected to rule in the next week on the commission’s request for a preliminary injunction ordering that Apodaca and or his group register as a political campaign committee and file the proper disclosures. Dunn filed a competing request for a preliminary injunction against the commission.
Apodaca said after the hearing that The New Mexico Project was still accepting contributions, but added, “This case is hurting us.” He said his group doesn’t endorse candidates and blamed the progressive Democratic leaders in the state for “weaponizing” the independent ethics commission.
Apodaca, a former media executive, is the son of the late New Mexico Gov. Jerry Apodaca and ran an unsuccessful bid in 2018 for the Democratic nomination for governor against then-U.S. Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham.
On Friday, Chief U.S. District Judge William P. Johnson filed an order requiring The New Mexico Project pay nearly $9,000 for ethics commission attorney fees and costs related to Apodaca’s decision to remove the ethics case from state to federal court in June. Johnson ordered the case returned back to state court.
The ethics commission has been trying to get Apodaca and the group to comply with the state Campaign Reporting Act since at least May 15, according to a letter from the commission to Apodaca that informed him of the violations for not reporting.
The letter noted that on May 1, “you represented to Mr. Bob Clark that TNMP does not have to disclose its donors. This view is inaccurate. In 2019, the Legislature amended the Campaign Reporting Act to shine light on ‘dark money’ in state elections, requiring persons that pay for advertisements and advocacy in support of candidates to be minimally transparent about who funds those advertisements and advocacy efforts.”
The letter said Farris was prepared to request authorization from the seven-member ethics commission to file a civil action against Apodaca and TNMP.
“However, to avoid expensive and potentially bruising civil litigation, I offer the following proposed settlement agreement in lieu of further action,” Farris wrote. The commission would not file a civil action seeking civil penalties and other relief and agree that Apodaca’s violations were “not knowing and willful, avoiding any potential criminal referral” if he filed reports of the group’s expenditures and contributions by May 20 and paid $1,000 for one violation of the campaign law.
Outside the courtroom, Apodaca on Thursday said he never received a copy of the letter.
The commission contends records show The New Mexico Project received at least $15,000 from one contributor, and spent more than $5,000, the monetary threshold required for reporting of independent expenditures by law.
Dunn told the judge that Apodaca and TNMP would appeal if a preliminary injunction was ordered against them. Ethics Commission officials emphasized during the hearing how important it was for New Mexico voters and residents to have the requested disclosure before the next election, not after. The general election is Nov. 5.
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Publish date : 2024-08-25 03:01:00
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