DPVA asks FEC, SBE to look into Davis violations

The Democratic Party of Virginia has filed a legal complaint with the Federal Election Commission and the State Board of Elections, asking that they investigate violations of the law by Senator Jeannemarie Devolites Davis and Congressman Tom Davis.

A copy of the complaint can be found here (pdf). The entire letter is below the fold.

November 2, 2007

Ms. Nancy Rodrigues
Secretary
Virginia State Board of Elections
200 North 9^th Street, Suite 101
Richmond, VA 23219

Thomasenia P. Duncan, Esq.
General Counsel
Federal Election Commission
999 E Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20463

Dear Ms. Rodrigues and Ms. Duncan:

I am writing this letter to file a complaint with your respective offices regarding advertisements disseminated by Jeannemarie Devolites Davis’s campaign for Virginia State Senate. Upon information and belief, Mrs. Devolites Davis is currently airing television advertisements and mailing print advertisements in connection with her campaign, at a cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars, that have been paid for directly by the congressional campaign committee of her husband, Congressman Tom Davis. The television ads and mailings not only fail to disclose the true source of the financing for these communications, but also falsely convey the impression that they were paid for entirely by Ms. Devolites Davis’s campaign committee. This activity violates both State of Virginia and federal “stand by your ad” laws.

According to campaign reports filed by the Devolites Davis campaign on October 29, 2007 (attached as Exhibit A), the campaign has reported receiving almost $400,000 of in-kind contributions from Mr. Davis’s campaign committee for television and print media purchases. Further, while the Devolites Davis committee reports some expenditures for print media communications, it does not report any significant expenditures for television communications from its own funds over the past several months. Therefore, Mr. Davis’s campaign committee would appear to have paid for the advertisements in whole or in part.

Attached as Exhibit B are mailings and a television advertising script of an advertisement currently run by Ms. Devolites Davis in connection with her campaign. Based upon information and belief, all campaign materials and advertisements disseminated on behalf of the Devolites Davis campaign contain a disclaimer that states “Paid for and Authorized by Jeannemarie Devolites Davis for State Senate.” In a television advertisement, which is apparently paid for by the Davis for Congress campaign, Mrs. Devolites Davis appears at the end of the ad and states that her campaign sponsored the advertisement. The advertisement can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGZkIydbOeY.

The failure of the Devolites Davis campaign and Tom Davis for Congress to accurately disclose that Mr. Davis’s congressional campaign committee paid for the print and television ads, in whole or in part, is a serious violation of both Virginia and Federal election laws.

Violations of Virginia Law

Virginia’s “stand by your ad” law requires print and television advertisements sponsored by candidate campaign committees and others to identify who paid for the ads. See Code of Virginia, Sections 24.2-956 through 24.2-957.3. In addition, if such advertisements are jointly sponsored, then the required disclosure statement must “name all sponsors.” Both print and television advertisements must have written disclosure legends, and television advertisements must have oral disclosure statements.

Thus, the Devolites Davis campaign committee and Davis Congressional campaign committee have violated these provisions by failing to properly identify the true sponsor or sponsors of the advertisements. Rather than properly identifying the fact that the communications disseminated by the Devolites Davis committee were paid for, in whole or in part, by Tom Davis for Congress, the Devolites Davis campaign advertisements give the false impression that they were paid for entirely by her campaign committee.

Violations of Federal Law

In addition, the Tom Davis for Congress committee, a political committee registered with the Federal Election Commission, has violated, and continues to violate, the Federal Election Campaign Act and FEC Regulations by financing the aforementioned ads, without disclosing that fact in the ads themselves. Section 2 U.S.C. § 441d(a) provides that “[w]henever a federal political committee makes a disbursement for the purpose of financing any communication any broadcasting station . . . mailing, or any other type of general public political advertising,” the communication must “clearly state that the [it] has been paid for” by the committee.[1] This disclosure obligation applies regardless of whether the ads are paid for directly by the federal candidate’s committee, as appears to be the case here, or whether the payments were made through the state campaign or other conduit — so long as the purpose of the disbursement by the federal committee was to finance a public communication.

Moreover, the required disclosure “must be presented in a clear and conspicuous manner, to give the reader, observer, or listener adequate notice of the identity of the … political committee that paid for” the communication. 11 C.F.R. §110.11(a), (b), and (c). Television communications paid for by the authorized committee of a candidate must include either an on-screen appearance by the federal candidate in which the candidate identifies himself and conveys that he approved the ad, or a voice-over by the candidate to the same effect, accompanied by a clearly identifiable photographic or similar image of the candidate. 11 C.F.R. § 110.11(c)(3). In a printed communication, the disclosure must be contained in a printed box set apart from the other contents of the communication. 11 C.F.R. §110.11(c)(2). As stated above, it is our understanding that Congressman Davis does not make an appearance or voice-over in any television advertisement paid for by his campaign committee on behalf of the Devolites Davis campaign, nor do the mailings accurately disclose that Congressman Davis’s committee is the source of funding.

We urge the Virginia State Board of Elections and Federal Election Commission to promptly and thoroughly investigate these violations of both Virginia and federal election laws.