A group behind a last-gasp effort to defeat Democrat Sara Innamorato in last year's election for a Western Pennsylvania state House seat now faces a challenge of its own.
On Monday, the D.C.-based Campaign for Accountability, a nonprofit accountability watchdog group, called on the Allegheny County Board of Elections and District Attorney's office to investigate the key players in a group called Americans Against Socialism for allegedly violating campaign finance reporting laws.
In a complaint sent to elections officials and District Attorney Stephen Zappala, the center alleged that multiple violations were committed by local businessman Robert Kania, Republican activist Gary Britcher and Kania Enterprises -- which, according to reporting by local NPR affiliate WESA last year, were behind the anti-socialism group that waged a campaign to encourage voters in the 21st House District to write in Democrat Dom Costa’s name in the general election.
WESA reported that the group -- which put out yard signs and texts urging, "Vote against Socialism! Write in: Dom Costa" -- was not registered with the state, while its website and Paypal account were linked to Mr. Kania, who is on the board of directors of the Port Authority of Allegheny County.
The complaint, citing WESA's reporting, alleges that Mr. Kania and his business violated the state's ban on corporate contributions and expenditures in Pennsylvania elections, and that Mr. Kania consented to these expenditures to pay for his group. Both violations are misdemeanors punishable by fines of up $10,000 each and up to one or two years in prison.
Mr. Britcher, an Aspinwall Republican, told WESA in December that he and Mr. Kania established the committee to oppose the election of Ms. Innamorato, who defeated Mr. Costa in the primary and was a member of the Pittsburgh chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America. There was no Republican on the ballot.
Because the group was clearly a "political committee" that received $250 or more in contributions, it had to register with the state within 20 days of receiving the money, the complaint alleges. The group was also mandated to report its treasurer and information about its bank account. These violations are also misdemeanors, but with lesser fines.
Zach Wallen, a lawyer representing Mr. Kania, called the situation the "result of an administrative snafu, not the dark plot the Democratic Party-aligned Campaign for Accountability implies."
In the lead-up to the 2018 midterm elections, Mr. Kania attempted to register Americans Against Socialism with the state, but "ran into clerical issues with the registration statement," his lawyer said in a statement Tuesday.
"After the election, the registration simply slipped through the cracks," Mr. Wallen said.
Mr. Wallen said the committee's registration statement was sent via overnight mail to the Pennsylvania state department on Tuesday afternoon.
In response to allegations that his client violated Pennsylvania's ban on corporate contributions and expenditures in state elections, Mr. Wallen said the charge is "based on a misunderstanding of Pennsylvania campaign finance law" -- pointing to a 2014 court order allowing political committees to accept contributions from corporations if they don't contribute to or coordinate expenses on behalf of candidates or committees controlled by political parties.
That order, however, also said that those committees must register with the state as required.
The Campaign for Accountability purports to work "on behalf of the public interest" to expose corruption and unethical behavior in government, but has been criticized by Republicans -- like Mr. Kania and his lawyer -- for its links to Democratic politics. The right-leaning conservative think tank Capital Research Center has called it an "ostensibly nonpartisan left-wing advocacy organization" -- citing its focus on investigating conservative lawmakers and its board of directors, which includes two Democratic political consultants.
Daniel Stevens, the organization's executive director, said the group is nonpartisan, and files complaints regarding members of both parties. When asked if the organization discloses its donors, Mr. Stevens said it doesn't, but files all required disclosures as a 501c3.
The Campaign for Accountability's counsel, in a statement, asserted that Mr. Kania and Mr. Britcher "illegally operated a secret campaign to influence an election outcome, duping voters and running afoul of Pennsylvania's campaign finance laws in the process."
"When groups like Americans Against Socialism try to operate in the shadows and in tandem with corporations, the state can’t ensure everyone is playing by the rules, and the public loses," counsel Alice Huling said. "If Americans Against Socialism violated any campaign finance laws, they need to be held accountable.”
In confirming that Allegheny County received the complaint, elections division manager David Voye said it's currently being reviewed by the solicitor and, "if appropriate, will be referred to law enforcement for investigation."
Julian Routh: jrouth@post-gazette.com, 412-263-1952, Twitter @julianrouth.
A headline on a previous version of this story incorrectly said the complaint was against Democrats.
First Published: April 9, 2019, 7:26 p.m.
