Over on Slog, Josh has cross-referenced Satterberg donors with those who have also recently contributed large, lump sum contributions to the WSRP. What did he find?
[P]eople who made big donations to Satterberg, the Republican candidate for KC Prosecutor, subsequently made large donations to a Washington State GOP account that has now downloaded about $125,000 to Satterberg.
Of the 18 donations to this GOP account, 13 donations were made by big Satterberg supporters. Or put another way: 78 percent of the money in the account, $139,500 out of $176,700, came from Satterberg supporters.
Was the GOP soliciting money from Satterberg donors, telling them the money would go directly to Satterberg—and then making good on that promise? That would be illegal: Parties cannot earmark donations for specific candidates. The GOP denies they earmarked the money. […] It certainly looks like Satterberg donors and the GOP are circumventing contribution rules…
Yes, it certainly does. Of the 18 donations to the WSRP “Non-exempt” committee, one donation for $200 was made in April of 2007; the other $176,500 was dumped in over the past few weeks.
17 wealthy contributors laundering $176,500 through the WSRP and into Satterberg’s account during the final days of the campaign is not politics as usual — it is a blatant and cynical effort to skirt our state’s campaign finance laws. By comparison, the Dems “non-exempt” committee has raised money from over 4,300 donors, mostly in contributions of $100 or less… and no large, lump sum, last minute contributions. The difference couldn’t be more stark.
Think about it: the WSRP committee had only $4,000 in the bank as recently as October 9. How could the $125,000 since spent on Satterberg have been raised for anything else? It defies belief to argue that Rowley, Selig and McCaw wrote checks totaling $100,000 for any other purpose. It just doesn’t pass the smell test!
What the fuck does it take for our dailies to connect the dots?
UPDATE:
Bill Sherman will be my guest tonight at 7PM on News/Talk 710-KIRO. Tune in to find out if he’s as angry as I am.