U.S. Rep. and gubernatorial candidate Mark Green, R-Green Bay, appeared in court Friday to challenge the State Elections Board order to return $468,000 of campaign cash contributed by Political Action Committees outside Wisconsin.
Since Green has filed suit, the 10-day period the board gave him to return the money is ineffective. The court's decision will determine whether Green must divest the money.
Don Millis, a Madison lawyer part of Green's defense team, said he hopes the court battle will be over before Nov. 7 election, in which Green will face incumbent Gov. Jim Doyle. Because of this, Green is asking the court to ""move as quickly as possible.""
The Green Committee, Millis said, is appealing the ""unjust and illegal"" decision of the ""impartial"" Elections Board. The lawsuit charges the board of making a biased decision based on partisanship.
Even Mike McCabe, executive director for the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, a group who informed the Elections Board of Green's illegal contributions, said though the board's decision was the correct one, he too, questioned its motives.
""The Elections Board did the right thing, but I'd be the first to say the Board probably did it for the wrong reasons,"" said McCabe. ""But the Board is more of a jury of the politicians' pals. It's a partisan kangaroo court, a classic example of the fox guarding the chicken coop.""
Critics say that the chief problem with the Elections Board is its composition. McCabe said the board's ""members are appointed by the very same political power brokers they are supposed to be overseeing and regulating.""
Along with the partisan accusations, Millis said the law under which the board made its decision is invalid. Because the funds were transferred just one day before the State Elections Board enacted ""an emergency administrative rule,"" Millis claims the rule is groundless and the money has since been spent.
After getting wind of the Board's intention to review the law, McCabe said the Green team acted deliberately in timing the transfer of the PAC funds before it became illegal.
""The transfer occurred the day before the Elections Board enacted its rule,"" McCabe conceded. ""That was a calculated move by the Green campaign. They moved the money after they learned the Board had the rule on its meeting agenda.""
Anne Lupardus, deputy spokesperson for Doyle, said Green had ample notice of the transfer being illegal because the laws he violated have been in the books since 1974.
""Congressman Green thinks he is in a special category, separate from most Wisconsinites, and he can therefore pick and choose which laws he has to follow,"" said Lupardus. ""That may work in the culture of Washington D.C. and in the halls of Congress, but it won't fly in Wisconsin.""
While Green's team takes their battle to court, McCabe said the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign is calling for a government accountability Board to take the partisanship out of decision-making and ""rigorously enforce elections, ethics, campaign finance and lobbying laws.""
