TAB pleads guilty to campaign finance charge

[sonias]

AAS 10/21/08
State's largest business group pleads guilty to campaign finance charge
Texas Association of Business pays $10,000 fine for misdemeanor.
By Corrie MacLaggan
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Tuesday, October 21, 2008

The state's largest business organization pleaded guilty today to violating campaign finance law six years after helping elect a slate of Republican lawmakers.

The Texas Association of Business pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge, unlawful direct campaign expenditure, and paid a $10,000 fine.

Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle claimed victory for the people of Texas, but the settlement was a setback for Earle, who had pursued felony charges of unlawful political contributions by a corporation.

Those charges were dropped today with an agreement that they can be re-filed if the association violates the law in the next year.

Tuesday's settlement involved the last of the criminal charges against the Texas Association of Business in a six-year investigation by Travis County prosecutors.

:bounce:

They needed to have paid more though!

Sonia

[hobbit709]

1. $10 mill would be about right-that would have got their attention

[cosmik debris]

2. Does this open the door for civil suits?

It seems like there should be a victim somewhere willing to file suit to recover damages.

Every losing opponent in every race to which they contributed should file suit.

[sonias]

3. Well there were individual lawsuits filed earlier

For example Representative Ann Kitchen sued TAB but lost her lawsuit eventually.

Here are some of the victims
Who's Suing Whom Austin Chronicle 3/2003

The Texas Observer 4/2008
(snip)
On April 5, state District Judge Joe Hart dismissed the civil lawsuit filed against the TAB by former Democratic state Rep. Ann Kitchen, who lost her seat in 2002 after a series of TAB issue ads flooded her district on behalf of her opponent. A year ago, state District Judge Mike Lynch dismissed the criminal indictments of the TAB, a decision that Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle’s office is appealing.

Don't know if they will try again.

Sonia