Campaign lawsuit filed against 2 Grant County residents

MOSES LAKE — Two Grant County residents are facing a $454,000 campaign finance lawsuit for allegedly concealing their involvement in a political mailer that was sent to Grant County residents in the 2014 race for Grant County prosecutor.

The lawsuit, which was filed by Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson, states Ken Greene, a local business owner, and Jerry Moberg, a former Grant County Superior Court judge and owner of Jerry Moberg & Associates, opposed candidate Garth Dano in the 2014 race for Grant County prosecutor, which pitted him against Angus Lee. Dano was elected prosecutor.

Greene reportedly decided to sponsor a political mailer to be sent to Grant County voters and obtained, through Moberg, the name of the Borns Group, a South Dakota-based company, to prepare and distribute the mailer.

In October 2014, the anti-Dano mailer started arriving at about 14,000 homes around Grant County and identified “Grant County Concerned Voters” as the sponsor for the mailer, despite the group not being registered with the Public Disclosure Commission (PDC), which is required by law, according to the lawsuit. The flyer included allegations about Dano’s personal life in an attempt to sway the election.

There was no public disclosure of expenditures on the PDC’s website by the group, which resulted in a dead end when locals sought to see who was behind the mailer and how much was spent. In response, the PDC received two complaints and the Borns Group was sent a subpoena from the PDC. The subpoena revealed Greene had paid $3,872 for the mailer, but Moberg was named as the individual the company worked with to produce and distribute the mailer. Both Greene and Moberg initially asserted Greene was solely responsible for the mailer.

In July 2016 during statements given under oath to the PDC, Greene and Moberg again stated Greene was responsible for the payment and production of the mailer. On Sept. 28, however, only after PDC staff “sought” copies of Greene’s bank records, Greene and Moberg admitted Moberg gave Greene the money to pay for the mailer.

PDC records reportedly show Moberg obtained a check from his law firm to the tune of $4,000, payable to himself, on Sept. 30, 2014. That very day, Greene submitted a check to the Borns Group for $3,872. On Oct. 1, Moberg allegedly gave Greene $4,000 and on Oct. 3 the Borns Group cashed Greene’s check.

"While Mr. Moberg did not 'reimburse' Mr. Greene, he did provide Mr. Greene with the funds he needed to pay the Borns group for printing and mailing services, and he failed to disclose that fact when asked during his PDC interview if he helped Mr. Greene pay for the flyer,” reads the PDC’s report. “In addition, during Mr. Greene's PDC interview, when staff asked Mr. Greene if anyone offered to help him pay for the flyer, Mr. Greene did not disclose that Mr. Moberg had provided the funds needed to pay for printing and mailing the Garth Dano flyer.”

“Two years after these transactions, Mr. Moberg and Mr. Greene have acknowledged that Mr. Moberg provided $4,000 in cash to Mr. Greene so that Mr. Greene could pay the Borns Group for the flyer.”

If all of the violations are proven, the defendants face $83,616.30 each in penalties. Jointly they face penalties of $286,620, for a total of $453,852.60 in penalties. The state is also seeking to recover attorney's fees and coverage of the costs associated with the PDC investigation. If the unlawful conduct is found to be intentional, penalties can be tripled, according to state law.

“Washington law allows people to participate in the political process through political advertising — but you must stand up and put your name on it,” Ferguson said. “I will continue to ensure dark money does not unlawfully influence our elections.”

Greene and Moberg could not be reached for comment on this story.

Richard Byrd can be reached via email at city@columbiabasinherald.com.