Upon reading Sutton was treasurer: failed burrito baron's MNGOP fined $170K for shifting party funds, a friend of Bluestem wrote to remind us that Ben Golnik was executive director of the Republican Party from 2006 until March 2007. Prior to taking the position in January 2006, he served as political director beginning in April 2005.
Golnik's tenure as state party director becomes relevant when reviewing the period during which the party committed the acts for which the FEC fined it, and for Golnik's subsequent involvement in a party affair that concealed financial activity: the 2010 gubernatorial recount.
Unlike the Dayton campaign, which has publicly reported its recount spending, the Republican Party created a special account that isn't subject to public disclosure laws, the Associated Press reported.
The heady election of 2006
Back to the series of unfortunate financial events that happened during Sutton's watch as treasurer and Golnik's gig as Executive Director. Most of the mischief took place in 2006, an election year that ushered in Tim Pawlenty's reelection and Michele Bachmann's elevation to the national stage. Perhaps Sutton and Golnik were too busy to think about bookkeeping.
The consent agreement between the Republican party of Minnesota and the Federal Election Commission was generously posted at the Hot Dish Blog by Rachel Stassen-Berger. In it, readers learn that the party violated federal election law in two ways:
1.Respondents violated 2 U.S.C. § 434(b) by failing to report debts and obligations.
2.Respondents violated 2 U.S.C. § 441a(f) and 11 C.F.R. §§ 102.5(a) and 106.7(f) by making excessive transfers from the Committee’s non-federal account to its federal account for allocated administrative expense
Read the entire document for the details. According to sources who have worked with the MNGOP, expenses have to be approved by the Executive Director, and the ED reviews campaign finance reports for the treasurer. Current MNGOP chair, failed burrito baron Tony Sutton, was treasurer at the time the violations were set in motion.
The forgotten years of Ben Golnik
Golnik left the MNGOP and its mixed up financial files in March 2007 to work for McCain's early presidential campaign, the Big Question noted, but was demoted to volunteer Minnesota coordinator when the Arizona senator ran out of money. Golnik rose from the dead with the McCain campaign, the BQ reported, serving as "regional campaign manager for a territory stretching from Minnesota to Idaho, including the Dakotas, Montana and Wyoming."
A month after Golnik left the party without helping to clean up, Darren Bearson, now ED for the Ohio Republicans after serving as a regional political director for the RNC during the midterm elections, was hired as Golnik's replacement. The FEC reports were amended under his watch, if Bluestem reads the timeline of the consent agreement correctly.
Then Tony Sutton was elected chair in the summer of 2009. In New state GOP chairman reorganizes staff, Capitol View readers learned:
Republican Party of Minnesota Chairman-elect Tony Sutton today announced he would be appointing Ryan Griffin executive director . . .
Sutton praised the work of Carey and executive director Darren Bearson, who he says will continue to play a role in helping elect Minnesota Republicans.
"I was impressed by Darren's achievements during his tenure as executive director. His considerable skills in decision-making, political strategy and financial management have helped make our Party stronger. I look forward to continuing to work together in the future," Sutton said.
"2010 is going to be an important year for Minnesota Republicans. It will be an incredible opportunity to focus on the future of this great state, and I look forward to working with the new team," Darren Bearson said.
Ryan Griffin previously worked on Gov. Tim Pawlenty's successful 2002 race and has worked with both the House and Senate Republican Caucuses. . . .
Golnik would pop up again, working for energy concerns and Marty Seifert's gubernatorial endorsement bid, then move on to engineer the GOP senate caucus takeover of the chamber. Then the 2010 gubernatorial recount happened.
Counting them all properly in 2010
Tony Sutton quickly took over the recount efforts from the Emmer campaign, as MinnPost reported in GOP's saber-rattling Tony Sutton vows aggressive recount fight:
This time, the state GOP is taking over the legal reins for candidate Tom Emmer, and they've hired Michael E. Toner. He's the former chairman of the Federal Election Commission under George W. Bush. He is highly respected by election lawyers nationwide. But Democratic sources told me they were unaware whether he has any extensive recount experience.
Minnesota Republican Party lawyer Tony Trimble, who was one of Coleman's chief lawyers, is also on the team. . . .
A few days later, Sutton hired Golnik to run the recount effort for the Republican Party of Minnesota. Using AP and original reporting, Minnesota Public Radio reported in Emmer attorney says no thought to waiving recount:
Meanwhile, the state Republican Party, which is coordinating Emmer's recount efforts, announced that a prominent strategist would lead the team. Ben Golnik is a former party executive director, who ran presidential candidate John McCain's campaign in the state in 2008. . . .
The Republican Party then created Count Them All Properly Inc., a separate account free from state or federal disclosure.
MPR reported in MNGOP won't disclose recount fundraising:
The Republican Party of Minnesota and Republican Tom Emmer's campaign for governor will not disclose the money it raised to help with the recount. Minnesota Republican Party Chair Tony Sutton said today that the group created a separate corporate account, Count Them All Properly Inc., for their recount efforts. He said they won't disclose the amount of money raised or by whom -- and state and federal laws don't require them to release it.
Golnik's firm does show up in the RPM's state account end of year report. According to the amended RPM year-end campaign finance report, Golnik Strategies LLC was paid $6000.00 on November 19, 2010, by the Republican Party of Minnesota, for fundraising and political consulting. It's likely this is his fee for the recount.
But since the public doesn't get to see the secret account, Bluestem will never know what was spent, but at last Golnick and Sutton had found a way to keep those thugs at CREW off their backs while they hid money.
Golnik-Emmer tensions continue
Perhaps the story should end there, but there's a sequel every bit as dramatic as the pelf: the Great Golnik-Emmer Conflict of 2011.
Golnik's involvement in the recount didn't end tensions between the one-time Seifert supporter and Emmer. Both threw their hats into the ring for an open RNC committee seat, while political observers with a keen eye order popping corn by the dump truck load.
They didn't disappoint. A Weekly Report in PIM from reported:
We also hear Emmer and political operative Golnik mixed it up a little this week at an 8th Congressional District Republican gathering in McGregor. There's, of course, history between Emmer and Golnik. Golnik was a campaign advisor for Emmer's 2010 GOP endorsement opponent, Marty Seifert. However, Golnik also managed the Emmer campaign's recount efforts following the razor-thin general election.
The final sentence has value only if one assumes that Sutton's takeover--which ran the recount, not the Emmer campaign--was entirely welcomed and voluntary on Emmer's part. Sources tell Bluestem that efforts to extract not only the recount effort itself, but the remaining dollars in Emmer's campaign committee kitty, weren't entirely amicable.
That effort is said to have fortified Golnik when he was able enact his revenge against Emmer at the 2011 state central committee meeting when Jeff Johnson was elected RNC delegate in one ballot. Golnik himself had wanted to be a RNC committee member, but withdrew when he decided to spend more time with his young family. Bluestem looked at the politics of his departure in Disturbance at the elephant house: MNGOP party platform purity tests RNC candidates.
Upon leaving the RNC committee member race, Golnik threw his energy behind the remaining candidate Not Named Tom Emmer. PIM's Charlie Shaw wrote in RNC upset: Johnson spanks Emmer on one ballot:
. . .Johnson ran an aggressive effort that included a strong floor presence at the State Central Committee meeting. In some respects, the RNC election was a rematch of the 2010 GOP State Convention fight in which Emmer beat Seifert. Key operatives for Seifert, including campaign veterans Gregg Peppin and Ben Golnik, helped execute a thorough floor strategy. "A lot of the Seifert team was in [the Johnson campaign's] red T-shirts, and that made a difference," one attendee noted. . . .
. . .On the campaign finance front, Emmer drew the ire of some in the party by not using the $46,000 in leftover cash to help the state GOP pay off its legal expenses from the statewide ballot recount that followed last year's general election. While the issue of financial support would be mere background noise in the context of a campaign for public office, the issue was a sore spot to some party activists. . .
In many feuds, that would have ended it, but a chafing public embarrassment remained for Tony Sutton and the Republican Party. As part of the recount effort, the Republican Party--and not the Emmer campaign--had ordered every county to send copies of every election related record to it post haste, with threats of legal action if the records weren't prepared immediately.
Then the party failed to pay many of the counties.
Newspaper reports of the bad debts flowered like spring beauties in the hills, Senator John Howe pleaded for senate majority caucus members pony up, and then Cindy Brucato's column appeared MinnPost, Emmer sends checks from campaign fund to reimburse counties for recount expenses.
Bluestem used the final item in that series to ask Missing at Minnpost: Why isn't Tony Sutton talking about Count Them All Properly Inc. recount fund? because we could.
In short, the FEC fine doesn't look out of character for guys like Sutton--it only looks like an early career blunder, before they learn better ways to hide the lettuce. If it weren't for those pesky rural counties, that is.
Update: Ben Golnik is now serving as a campaign adviser to freshman congressman Chip Cravaack, and was recently heard from in Cravaack's Campaign Disputes Legal Bill:
A New Jersey law firm has filed a claim against U.S. Rep. Chip Cravaack for unpaid legal services.
Jeff Neu, of J.C. Neu & Associates of Red Bank, N.J., says his firm is seeking reimbursement of legal services provided to Cravaack during his congressional campaign. The Republican congressman reported a $32,250 claim from Neu to the Federal Elections Commission and characterized the bill as "disputed." Cravaack's campaign adviser, Ben Golnik, tells the Duluth News Tribune that it's an ongoing legal matter which they are working to resolve.
Neu says the case is in arbitration. No hearing has been scheduled before the New Jersey Arbitration Board. . . .
Popcorn, anyone?
Photos: Ben Golnik, above; Tony Sutton, below.
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