SHASTA COUNTY, Calif. — Shasta County Supervisor Patrick Jones and the woman who managed his 2019 State House District 1 campaign finances have been charged with filing a lawsuit against the state attorney general for violations he committed while recording his campaign. He was given the maximum possible fine by the Political Practices Commission. Donation.
Almost exactly five years after he ended his campaign without receiving enough votes, Patrick Jones and Linda Kent of Redding have filed two lawsuits to track donations to Jones’ campaign. He was fined $10,000 by the FPPC for the violation. Investigators say they intentionally left the source of the thousands of dollars unknown. The investigation began in January 2022.
Asked why he broke the law, Patrick Jones said: “Obviously I didn’t understand the rules at the time.” We tried to follow all the rules and didn’t try to hide anything. ”
State election law requires donations of $25 or more to record the donor, address, total amount donated and when. If your donation is $100 or more, we will require more information, such as your company or employer. Additionally, donations of $100 or more cannot be made in cash.
Jones says he didn’t realize it even though he started his political career almost a decade ago.
“Linda was pretty new to this field, so we tried to make sure we did everything right. As far as the dollar amount goes, I really appreciate her help in running my campaign,” Jones said. Let me explain. ”
According to FPPC, of the $94,456 raised, $21,262 was in cash. Only 18% of these cash transactions are accurately recorded. The records for the remaining $17,000 had no information such as donation amount, date, name or company.
Investigators with the FPPC report said Linda Kent intentionally targeted approximately 25 donors with a plan to keep donations below the $100 limit and to keep donors anonymous. He admitted giving him $1 in change. Jones claims he thought this was allowed under election law.
“Politics is a very dirty business sometimes, and some people are very unscrupulous, and when they lose business they want to be anonymous,” he says. That it will be anonymous. ”
This violated campaign finance record-keeping laws and led to the first indictment. However, FPPC says that even with these 25 transactions, a significant portion of the cash still remains unknown. At least 34 transactions representing $11,600 in cash donations are also estimated to have been illegal donations of more than $100. Investigators say in the complaint that there may be more violations that they are not aware of due to a lack of information, but only one charge has been added.
So it was clearly a miscommunication on my part and we will accept their consequences, pay the fine and probably never do it again.
Because it was a so-called intentional violation, the FPPC imposed the maximum possible fine for both charges, totaling $10,000. Jones said she paid the full amount herself, although she felt the amount was too high.
He insists he has been completely transparent throughout the investigation process. But Jones believes the move is politically motivated, as an investigation will begin three years after the 2022 election and will result in the largest penalties ever seen. are.
“If you look at the timing, it’s clear there’s some kind of political motive,” he said, explaining that the investigation began around the same time he led the recall effort against Leonard Moti. Quite expensive for some administrative mistakes. ”
The full investigation report and recommendations can be read below, and the fine was approved at the FPPC meeting on October 18th.
