If you would like the quick and dirty summary of the report you can read a good account from the Bozeman Daily Chronicle.

Not surprisingly, their “Director of Government Affairs,” Dan Fuchs, based out of Billings, resigned before the ruling came out. Apparently the attention was getting to be a little to much for someone who liked to ruin people’s political careers from the shadows.

Donny Ferguson - Executive Director WTP and D.C. Insider

Just a clarifying note, WTP’s Executive Director, Donny Ferguson lives in Virginia…not really a bastion of “western traditions.” Donny Ferguson is a D.C. insider, he is not a Montanan.

WTP is the lead plaintiff in the legal challenge to Montana’s ban on corporate spending for candidates. In addition, they also tout their organization’s secrecy as a benefit of giving them money.

A former employee of WTP apparently leaked some materials to the Montana Political Practices Commissioner. WTP believes that a huge benefit to donating to them is that “donations are confidential” and that they don’t have to report names or amounts of any contribution. This comes as no surprise since they make a habit out of secrecy and deception. I personally believe, and I know most Montanans will agree with me, that in a Representative Democracy, there must be openness and accountability for our system to work. I think WTP would feel more comfortable operating in a Communist country.

Here is another gem coming from the presentation

“Our success won’t depend on which party is in power,” the presentation [WTP] said. “Politicians get the message loud and clear when their colleagues get beaten in the ballot box.”

This is another standard operating procedure of WTP: Threaten and intimidate candidates if they don’t turn in their poorly written and edited “surveys” that they send out.

I have left the best for last. The investigator for the State also found that WTP “intends to or has tried to solicit donations from officers of several foreign corporations or their affiliations, including some based in Canada, South Africa and the United Kingdom.”

So, not only do they want to hide their funders from the public and the voter, they want corporations from foreign countries influencing Montana’s elections. That doesn’t sound very patriotic to me.

One thing that the article did not point out is that WTP is directly connected to convicted criminals. See this article about their connection to Colorado political operative Scott Shires.

Don't let dirty politics win in Montana

You will soon be getting my Open Letter to Voters of House District 57 in the mail explaining, in detail, the illegal and unethical activities of the organizations that supported my opponent Dan Kennedy. I hope you will take the time to read it and do your own research into the extremist groups such as Western Tradition Partnership and Assembly Action Fund. These groups have no respect for Montana’s campaign laws and Dan Kennedy has never repudiated their tactics or misleading attack pieces.

I appreciate all of the support that people have given me over the last couple of months and hope you will consider writing my name on your ballot in November.

Sincerely,

Debra

http://coloradoindependent.com/57656/colorado-political-group-  western-tradition-linked-to-nasty-montana-race

Western Tradition Partnership and Assembly Action Fund as well as a  business called Direct Mail and Communications (which Dan Kennedy used to send out attack mailings) are all connected to  Scott Shires, a man who has been hauled into court and found guilty of  numerous election law violations, tax fraud and has been involved in  money laundering and bilking the EPA out of millions of tax payer  dollars.

Is Scott Shires the type of person we really want influencing Montana elections with out of state money? Does Dan Kennedy, my opponent, condone this behavior?  He never signed the Code of Fair Campaign Practices. I am asking him to to publicly repudiate the illegal tactics and criminals who worked to get him elected.

It is also important to hold the candidates who are the beneficiaries of these illegal activities accountable. For example, my opponent Dan Kennedy, never signed the Code of Fair Campaign Practices (Form C-3), a code that candidates sign voluntarily to uphold the basic principles of decency, honesty and fair play that every candidate for public office has a moral obligation to observe and uphold. (Form C-3, Montana Code Annotated 13-35-301) One provision directs candidates to publicly repudiate any unethical tactics that groups use on their behalf.

I am asking Mr. Kennedy to sign the Code of Fair Campaign Practices.  According to his profile on the Montana GOP website, he states that  ”his parents instilled in them the basics of hard work and honesty.” Unfortunately, his refusal to come out against the activities of these groups has shown that he believed that the ends justified the means and that honesty and ethical campaigns take a back seat to winning at any cost.

My campaign was based on myself and my ideas for Montana’s future. His campaign was based on attacking me and working with groups who filled their mailings and radio ads with outright lies. This is why I am running a write in campaign. Voters in House District 57 deserve a choice.

To read the full Billings Gazette article: http://billingsgazette.com/news/local/government-and-politics/article_31a859de-8bdb-11df-98fc-001cc4c03286.html

Debra Bonogofsky Launches Write-In Campaign to Combat Unethical and Illegal Campaign Tactics

And asks her opponent to publically repudiate illegal campaign tactics that  were used on his behalf.

BILLINGS—Debra Bonogofsky, a local small business owner, who recently ran a clean and ethical campaign for House District 57, but lost the Republican Primary by 229 votes, announced a write-in campaign to confront the outright lies, distortions and illegal campaign tactics that her opponent and his supporters leveled at her during the last week of the campaign. Constituents in the district called her after the narrow loss to ask her to not give up.

“Politics shouldn’t be about lies and scare tactics, it is about improving people’s lives.” Bonogofsky said, ”Unfortunately, my opponent, Dan Kennedy, condoned illegal and erroneous mailings and radio ads against me in the last week of the election. I ran a clean campaign on ideas and policy, he ran his with attack ads from special interest groups. People should have a choice in November.”

According to the Office of the Commissioner of Political Practices, Dan Kennedy, Bonogofsky’s Republican primary opponent, never signed the Code of Fair Campaign Practices (Form C-3), a code that candidates sign voluntarily to uphold the basic principles of decency, honesty and fair play that every candidate for public office has a moral obligation to observe and uphold. (Form C-3, Montana Code Annotated 13-35-301) One provision directs candidates to publicly repudiate any unethical tactics that groups use on their behalf.

“Dan Kennedy never signed on to conduct a fair campaign and never repudiated the mailings and radio ads that were full of innuendos, distortions and lies. That says to me that his campaign had little substance and that the only way he could think of to win was through scaring people.” Bonogofsky stated. “Right now, I am asking Dan Kennedy to sign the Code of Fair Campaign Practices and repudiate the illegal activities that were conducted on his behalf. If he doesn’t, that tells me he doesn’t think he can win an election without attack ads.”

Illegal mailings were sent in the last week before the election, from groups like Western Tradition Partnership, Montana Citizens for Right to Work and Assembly Action Fund. Today, Bonogofsky filed formal complaints against these groups to the Commissioner of Political Practices, Dennis Unsworth.

“It’s true that extreme groups like Western Tradition Partnership and Montana Conservative Alliance don’t like me very much, but they aren’t who I will represent in Helena.” said Bonogofsky, “I couldn’t care less about what they think of me or about their extremist views. I care about the constituents of House District 57. If Dan Kennedy wants to cater to the extreme right, that is his prerogative. However, it is the voter’s business if Dan Kennedy is pandering to people and organizations who don’t have their best interest in mind and who conduct illegal activities to win elections.”

“A candidate who preys on people’s fears and uses lies is a candidate that doesn’t belong in Helena. I won’t let those groups bully me into staying silent. A write in campaign may be a long-shot but all the voters of HD57, not just primary voters, deserve a choice in November.”

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