Country Crossing files fundraising complaint against anti-gambling group
The Country Crossing Bingo facility south of Dothan Ala., on US 231. Country Crossing has filed a fundraising complaint against the anti-gambling group Citizens for a Better Alabama, claiming it has not disclosed details of its fundraising. Citizens for a Better Alabama president Eric Johnston says his group is not required to disclose those details. MONTGOMERY, Ala. — A Country Crossing representative on Thursday filed a complaint with the Attorney General’s Office, accusing a prominent anti-gambling group of breaking the law by not disclosing details of its fundraising to the state.
But the president of the anti-gambling Citizens for a Better Alabama, Eric Johnston, said state law doesn’t require such disclosures from his type of group, and the complaint is a ploy to distract from an ongoing criminal probe into pro-gambling lobbying.
“I think all they’re trying to do is call attention from the FBI investigation, just point fingers back in the opposite direction,” Johnston said.
Country Crossing spokesman Jay Walker said the complaint he filed is “very real and very serious.”
“It is a crime in Alabama not to disclose a political action committee’s financial records,” Walker said. He added that “the investigation that a lobbyist for Country Crossing is under is as political as a race for county commissioner.”
Investigators have, in recent days, questioned Jarrod Massey, who lobbies for the Dothan-based gambling and country music venue, as well as other interests.
In a letter, dated Thursday, to Assistant Attorney General Brenda Smith, Walker notes that Johnston’s group received $138,000 in contributions from GOV PAC. Gov. Bob Riley, a staunch gambling opponent, is listed as the chairman of that political action committee, or PAC.
However, two different PACs named Citizens for a Better Alabama — one of which Johnston chairs — have not filed campaign finance reports with the Secretary of State’s Office recently.
“I ask that an investigation of these organizations be conducted immediately, and that both organizations be compelled to file any required current financial disclosures,” Walker’s letter said.
A Riley spokesman noted that a leading pro-gambling group, the Let Us Vote Coalition, also has not disclosed details of its fundraising.
Both the pro- and anti-gambling lobbies have been running advertisements on the issue, but neither group likely needs to produce campaign finance records for the state, Johnston said. Such disclosures are only required for groups seeking to influence Alabama elections — not for groups lobbying only for particular issues, according to Johnston.
“We haven’t raised money to influence a campaign or a referendum, so there’s no requirement to file,” Johnston said.
Marion Steinfels, a spokeswoman for the Let Us Vote Coalition, said her group is also not required to file campaign finance reports under state law. She said “hotel operators, track and facility operators and entertainment providers” fund the coalition, but did not give more details.
“As for a list of contributors, with the ongoing barrage of attacks and efforts to intimidate anyone who disagrees, I’d be hesitant to ask our funders to put themselves in their crosshairs,” she said in an e-mail.
Steinfels added that her group has disclosed more information than has Johnston’s.
State law requires that a PAC file campaign finance reports prior to any election in which the group “receives contributions or makes expenditures with a view toward influencing such election’s result.”
Asked how the statute would apply to the gambling lobbies in question, staff within the Secretary of State’s Office said that determination would have to be made by the Attorney General’s Office.
Attorney General Troy King has feuded publicly with Riley about gambling and is currently trying to take control of the state’s gambling litigation from the governor. King Chief of Staff Chris Bence indicated that would not impact the decision.
“It will be treated as all other complaints of violations of the Fair Campaign Practices Act,” Bence said. “Beyond that, we cannot comment at this time.”
From the Mobile Press-Register. Article By George Altman; Photo by Joe Songor
April 09, 2010, 8:31AM
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