June 12,2009 Director Karen Osborne Maricopa County Department of Elections 1118. Third Ave #102 Phoenix, AZ 85003 Ms. Osborne, Pursuant to ALJ Thomas Shedden’s order issued May 26, 2009, as accepted and adopted by Maricopa County Elections on May 27, 2009, I submit the following information: ‘The final order in this matter provides in part as follows: IT IS ORDERED that within 20 days of the effective date of the final order issued in this matter, Mr. Fox shall pay a fine of $450 for the proven violation of ARS § 16-913(B)(. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Mr. Fox shall have 20 days from the effective date of the final order issued in this matter to provide the County copies of the Records the County requested in the December 3%, 2008 ORDER REQUIRING COMPLIANCE, NOTICE OF CIVIL PENALTIES AND HEARING pursuant to ARS § 16-904. As to the first item, ARS § 16-913(B) includes subsections 1, 2 and 3, but it does not contain a subsection 4, As to the second item, at { 34 of the December 3, 2008 Order Requiring Compliance, Notice of Civil Penalties and Hearing pursuant to A.R.S. § 16-924, Mr. Messing requests the production of records pursuant to ARS § 16-904 sections (D), (F), (G), and (H). Those provisions provide as follows: D. A political committee shall exercise its best efforts to obtain the required information for any incomplete contribution received that is required to be itemized on a campaign finance report pursuant to section 16-915, subsection A, paragraph 3. A political committee will not be deemed to have exercised best efforts to obtain the required information unless the treasurer or his agent has made at least one effort after the receipt of the contribution to obtain the missing information by a written request sent to the contributor or by oral contact with the contributor documented in writing and shall comply with the follo 1. The request must clearly ask for the missing information and inform the contributor that the committee is required by law to obtain the mailing address, occupation and employer of each individual contributor and the mailing address and identification number of each political committee contributor. 2. Any information required for the identification of a contributor received by the political committee after the contribution has been disclosed on a campaign finance report required pursuant to section 16-913 shall be reported on an amended report. F, Unless specified by the contributor or contributors to the contrary, the treasurer shall record a contribution made by check, money order or other written instrument as a contribution by the Person whose signature or name appears on the bottom of the instrument or who endorses the instrument before delivery to the committee. Ifa contribution is made by more than one person in a single written instrument, the treasurer shall record the amount to be attributed to each contributor as specified. G. All contributions other than in-kind contributions must be made by a check drawn on theaccount of the actual contributor or by a money order or a cashier's check containing the name of the actual contributor or must be evidenced by a written receipt with a copy of the receipt given to the contributor and a copy maintained in the contribution records of the recipient. H. The treasurer shall preserve all records required to be kept by this section and copies of all finance reports required to be filed by this article for three years after the filing of the finance report covering the receipts and disbursements evidenced by the records. ‘Thus, in sum, each of these subsections describes procedural matters to guide a political committee treasurer in the performance of his duties. Specifically, subsection D describes what to do with an incomplete contribution, subsection F describes how to determine the name of the donor and what to do with a single check from multiple donors, subsection G establishes the requirement that contributions made by check must bear the name of the contributor, and subsection H defines the length of time that records must be retained. With respect to A.R.S. § 16-904(D), SCA did not receive any incomplete contributions. In reference to A.R.S. § 16-904(F), SCA did not receive any contributions or donations consisting of multiple donors on a single instrument, and did not receive any monies for the purpose of influencing an election, With respect to ARS. § 16-904(G), all of SCA’s donations were made by check or were deposited into the SCA account by the donor using the SCA account number. No receipts were issued. Finally, in reference to A.R.S. § 16-904(H), I shall discuss that provision below. It is my belief that A.R.S. § 16-904(B) requires the treasurer of a political committee to record the names, addresses and occupations of all contributions. However the County did not request the records pursuant to subsection E in its compliance order. While it is possible that the reference to the nonexistent ARS § 16- 913(B\4) and the omission of ARS § 16-904(B) in the compliance order’s request for records are errors, this is the order that was accepted and adopted by Maricopa County Elections as certified by the decision signed by \da Weedon, Director Designee, on May 27, 2009. The Department of Elections had the opportunity to modify or reject the ALJ's order, but instead, chose to accept and adopt it; therefore, this is the order to which I am complying with, Enclosed please find a personal check in the amount of $450. Despite the non-existence of ARS § 16- 913(BY(4), the Accepted Order still requires a payment in this amount, and 1 wish to comply with the Order. However, as stated herein, there are no records to create or produce in reference to ARS § 16-904, subsections D,F,andG. With respect to A.R.S. § 16-904(H), that subsection uses language that is very difficult to retroactively apply. 1 have not filed campaign finance reports, nor have I been ordered to, and because the time frame for records retention begins with the filing of a campaign finance report, it is unclear to me why this subsection was included in the demand for records. If the intention was for SCA to file campaign finance reports, this intention has not been communicated, and even if SCA did file a campaign finance report, the three-year retention period would not begin until then. The resolution sought for the alleged failure to file campaign finance reports was not to file the missing report, but for a fine of $450. The enclosed check should settle this portion While it has not been requested or ordered according to my understanding, | assume that it is the intention of County Elections to discover the names of the donors to SCA, and although I have complied with the final order in this matter, | would be willing to meet and discuss with you the proper method for doing so. My appeal in this matter has never been due to a desire to keep election contributors a secret; it was due to the outrageous fine, primarily, and a desire to maintain the privacy of people who were completely unaware of SCA’s donation to the Republican Party. A recent op-ed piece in the Arizona Republic entitled “Bankrollers of creepy attack ads to be revealed” (May 28, 2009) illustrates the potential damage and libelous newspaper articles that will likely be written in the event the names of SCA’s donors are released to the public.It is the improper and unfounded conclusion that SCA donors paid for “creepy” attack ads that requires particular privacy in this matter, not a desire to avoid the lawful public disclosure of elections contributions. If I can be allowed to provide the names to you of those who gave money to SCA privately, it will be obvious to, you that I have been telling the truth the entire time. Specifically, SCA is not a political committee and did not receive any contributions made for the purpose of influencing an election and no publie disclosure is necessary or required beyond what has already occurred. I would look forward to that opportunity. While there are several legal and factual grounds on which to appeal this case to the Superior Court, | would prefer to conclude this matter to the satisfaction of everyone involved, going beyond what has been required in the final order. If consideration can be given to those who are involved only because they innocently sent money to a bank account almost a year or more prior to the election, I believe we can easily do 50. ‘That being said, please treat this letter as compliance with the Order adopted by the Maricopa County Elections Department. Ifyou believe that this response is deficient in any way, please contact me at your earliest convenience. Very truly yours,