{"id":2448679,"date":"2019-09-12T21:15:00","date_gmt":"2019-09-13T03:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/?p=312797"},"modified":"2019-09-13T07:05:59","modified_gmt":"2019-09-13T13:05:59","slug":"pence-visit-to-aspen-underscores-murky-area-of-campaign-finance-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/pence-visit-to-aspen-underscores-murky-area-of-campaign-finance-law\/","title":{"rendered":"Pence visit to Aspen underscores murky area of campaign finance law"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
Vice President Mike Pence arrives at the Aspen\/Pitkin County Airport on July 22. In August, two private donors covered some of the costs absorbed by supporting local law enforcement, raising questions about whether the contributions were political in nature. (Photo by Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times)<\/strong>
Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

While Vice President Mike Pence\u2019s fundraising visit to Aspen has come and gone, a lingering question has been whether the anonymous donations made to cover expenses absorbed by supporting local law enforcement agencies were political contributions.<\/p>\n

Those payments came from two individuals, Mark Horace Love and E. G. Kendrick, who cut checks to Pitkin County in the identical sums of $9,087.50, according to the county\u2019s response to an open records request from The Aspen Times.<\/p>\n

The checks covered the amount of $18,175 Sheriff Joe DiSalvo said was owed to local agencies \u2014 not including Aspen and Snowmass Village \u2014 for security detail they provided during Pence\u2019s July 22 visit, which included a private fundraiser at the posh Caribou Club in downtown Aspen and an overnight stay for Pence and his entourage at the Aspen Skiing Co.-owned Limelight Hotel in Snowmass Village.<\/p>\n

The Federal Election Commission\u2019s limit for contributions is $2,800 per individual per federal election in 2019-20. The FEC, which oversees campaign finance law in national elections, also requires individual donors, either themselves or through their political party, to report the contributions.<\/p>\n

Yet the law isn\u2019t definitive when it comes to the type of contributions Love and Kendrick made.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think there are rules that address this situation,\u201d said FEC spokesman Myles Martin, adding the issue has not come before the FEC in the past.<\/p>\n

As is typical in party politics, one camp believes the payments were in-kind political contributions, while the other argues they were not.<\/p>\n

The Pitkin County Republicans were not involved in Pence\u2019s fundraising stop for the Republican National Committee and the re-election of President Trump, but they helped broker the payment to the Pitkin County government, which received the checks in August.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do not believe it is a political donation,\u201d said Anna Zane, chair of the Pitkin GOP. \u201cI believe it was two good Samaritans that stepped up to pay the security costs that Pitkin County and neighboring jurisdictions incurred when the sitting vice president visited our town.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yet Denver attorney Mark Grueskin, whose area of expertise includes campaign finance law, said the contributions should be reported and the donors\u2019 identities should not be protected.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was clearly a payment to benefit a federal campaign and a national political party,\u201d he said, adding \u201cit must be reported by the candidate or the party or both to the FEC.\u201d<\/p>\n

Grueskin has ties to the Democratic party that include his serving as local counsel to the 2008 Democratic National Convention held in Denver, as well as Colorado counsel to Barack Obama\u2019s 2008 and 2012 presidential campaigns.<\/p>\n

Another Denver attorney well versed in campaign finance law, this one with Republican allegiances, disagreed with Grueskin\u2019s opinion.<\/p>\n

According to Christopher O. Murray, who was deputy general counsel for Mitt Romney\u2019s 2012 presidential campaign, Love and Kendrick\u2019s payments were not political contributions because they did not cover expenses the Pence campaign or the RNC were legally obligated to pay, or had previously committed to pay.<\/p>\n

Had the Pence campaign or the RNC agreed beforehand to pay local jurisdictions but then backed out of the deal, any contributions made to cover for them would be considered political donations, he said. Yet that wasn\u2019t the case with Pence\u2019s Aspen visit.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat it comes down to,\u201d Murray said, \u201cis who is legally responsible for paying for that protection, and here the local law enforcement is providing assistance to the Secret Service. And unless they ask a third party to pay for that in advance, and the third party agrees, local law enforcement remains legally responsible for paying their share of the cost.\u201d<\/p>\n

The justice department makes clear that law enforcement agencies are obligated to provide support during presidential visits.<\/p>\n

\u201cLocal law enforcement agencies continue to have the responsibility to assist in providing protection to the president while the president is visiting their localities, to conduct criminal investigations involving violations of state and local statutes which result from a presidential visit, and to furnish police officers in adequate numbers to control demonstrations and other disturbances occurring in close proximity to places where the president is visiting,\u201d according to the U.S. Department of Justice\u2019s Criminal Resource Manual.<\/a><\/p>\n

The same rule applies to others under Secret Service protection, Murray said.<\/p>\n

Payments calmed down backlash<\/p>\n

DiSalvo publicly voiced his frustration about the bill after Pence left, saying the visit strained resources of law enforcement agencies in the Roaring Fork Valley. The sheriff said he was particularly chafed because law enforcement provided support to the Secret Service though Pence was here strictly to drum up political donations while barely showing his face in public.<\/p>\n

DiSalvo said he couldn\u2019t identify who actually put on the Caribou Club event, which meant he didn\u2019t know whom to bill.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was getting stonewalled like I\u2019ve never been before,\u201d he said, adding that \u201cwhat made this case different for me is no one would tell me the name of the host, and I think I had eight days\u2019 notice\u201d about Pence\u2019s Aspen stop.<\/p>\n

Enter two Arizonans who were here when Pence made his visit. Love \u2014 a financial adviser from Phoenix \u2014 and Kendrick \u2014 part owner of the Arizona Diamondbacks baseball team \u2014 provided the payments to Zane some two weeks after Pence\u2019s fundraiser. Zane, in turn, produced the checks to the county, saying they were donations made anonymously.<\/p>\n

Because the payments to the county contained further public backlash over Pence\u2019s visit, they should be considered political contributions, Grueskin said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was clearly a payment to benefit a federal campaign and a national political party,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was done in order to limit any public criticisms of the candidate of that party, and therefore it was done as a benefit to them. It has to be reported as an in-kind contribution by the two contributors.\u201d<\/p>\n

The fundraiser was held in the middle of the day. A small group of protesters gathered on East Hopkins Avenue in front of the venue, while supporters circulated in the area as well. Pence, under heavy guard, exited and entered the Caribou Club from its alley entrance and out of public view.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf (Pence) had come out of that meeting (at the Caribou Club) shaking hands with protesters or supporters, or if he had just answered a few questions from the public, that would be worth picking up the bill,\u201d DiSalvo said.<\/p>\n

The amount owed covered expenses ranging from $200 for protection at Aspen-Pitkin County Airport, as well as $6,187 absorbed by the Pitkin County Sheriff\u2019s Office. Police from Basalt ($937.50), Carbondale ($800) and Glenwood Springs ($1,200) also provided support, as did other agencies. DiSalvo said Pitkin County distributed funds from those two payments to the agencies.<\/p>\n

Expenses assumed by police departments in Aspen and Snowmass Village, however, weren\u2019t included in that bill, because both agencies declined to be reimbursed.<\/p>\n

Brian Olson, the police chief in Snowmass, said his department took on \u201cbarely\u201d $1,000 for its detail. Because Pence stayed overnight in Snowmass, Olson said \u201cI felt a bit of an obligation to provide coverage for his protection. We were happy to step up and do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added, \u201cThe ask was minimum. I felt that when he was in the Village, it was our obligation and our responsibility.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aspen Police Chief Richard Pryor could not be reached Thursday for comment.<\/p>\n

Issue not unique to Pence visit<\/p>\n

When she was seeking the Democratic nomination for the 2016 presidential race, Hillary Clinton made a fundraising stop at a private Aspen residence in August 2015 and received Secret Service protection because she was a former first lady.<\/p>\n

Both DiSalvo and Garfield County Sheriff Lou Vallario expressed frustration for the costs and hassles that came with providing deputies to escort Clinton and her entourage to and from the Rifle airport, as well as other security details.<\/p>\n

Fundraiser hosts Soledad and Robert Hurst declined to pay what DiSalvo<\/a> said was about $5,000 for Pitkin County\u2019s staffing and time, citing concerns that it might be considered a political donation. DiSalvo also was denied by the Clinton campaign, which said it doesn\u2019t pay for such costs. As a result, local agencies had to bear their own expenses.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s an issue that has become increasingly common in Aspen and Pitkin County. Some readers questioned why the same level of scrutiny wasn\u2019t paid to Joe Biden\u2019s private stop in Aspen<\/a> \u2014 a quickie with no public appearances \u2014 for a fundraiser at the home of Jane and Marc Nathanson.<\/p>\n

Yet Biden did not have Secret Service support because former vice presidents lose that protection six months after leaving office.<\/p>\n

Major vice presidential and presidential candidates and their spouses \u2014 as identified by the secretary of Homeland Security \u2014 receive Secret Service protection within 120 days of the general presidential election. Barack Obama was an exception; Homeland Security gave him Secret Service protection in May 2007, more than a year and half ahead of the 2008 election, because of his candidacy\u2019s historic nature and of the potential threats aimed at it. As vice president, Biden also popped into Aspen for less than 24 hours for an event put on by Forstmann Little & Co., a private equity firm, in September 2014.<\/p>\n

Biden and his motorcade traveled from Eagle County Airport to Aspen, causing traffic snarls and increased staffing by police agencies. DiSalvo and Vallario at the time said local taxpayers shouldn\u2019t shoulder the costs for such visits.<\/p>\n

Ultimately they were paid, DiSalvo said.<\/p>\n

rcarroll@aspentimes.com<\/a><\/p>\n

via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Vice President Mike Pence arrives at the Aspen\/Pitkin County Airport on July 22. In August, two private donors covered some of the costs absorbed by supporting local law enforcement, raising questions about whether the contributions were political in nature. (Photo by Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times)Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times While Vice President Mike Pence\u2019s fundraising visit […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2448679","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-26 16:16:39","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSPN The Valley's Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2448679","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2448679"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2448679\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2448688,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2448679\/revisions\/2448688"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2448679"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2448679"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2448679"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}