Jackson campaign says disclosure error was an oversight

E.W. Jackson failed to disclose a $9,000 in-kind donation to his campaign.

E.W. Jackson

Markus Schmidt | Richmond Times-Dispatch

Saturday, August 10, 2013

E.W. Jackson’s failure to disclose a $9,000 in-kind donation by a car title lending company was an oversight, his campaign says.

“When this was brought to our attention yesterday, we searched all our communications to see who, if anyone, had even notified us that this donation needed to be accounted for,” Jackson spokesman Chip Tarbutton said Friday. “We found an email that had been missed giving us the amount to report.”

It was the third time since his nomination as the Republican candidate for lieutenant governor three months ago that the Chesapeake pastor failed to properly disclose donations to his campaign by the deadline set by state law.

The $9,000 campaign contribution paid for Jackson’s share of a three-day trip that took the Republican ticket across Virginia by plane shortly after the GOP Convention in May.

A recent listing of campaign funding disclosures by the Virginia Public Access Project shows gubernatorial candidate Ken Cuccinelli and attorney general nominee Mark Obenshain reported their in-kind contribution of the same amount from Select Management Resources, which operates as Loan Max outlets in Virginia.

But the group had no record that Jackson listed the trip as a donation.

Tarbutton said that Jackson’s campaign disclosure record was corrected early on Friday morning to reflect the $9,000 donation.

Just three weeks ago, Jackson amended his midyear campaign finance disclosure to list 23 donors whose names were not included in his original report filed July 15.

The amended report listed total donations between May 30 and June 30 of $141,823, up from $118,608 in his July 15 filing.

Topping Jackson’s original list of donations was a contribution of $48,155 attributed to Jackson for Lt. Governor, his own political action committee, showing that his campaign had made its largest one-time contribution to itself.

In June, the Virginia State Board of Elections fined Jackson $100 for waiting too late to disclose a $25,000 loan to his campaign.

At the time he reported raising more than $120,000 from April 1 through May 29, including the $25,000 loan. The remaining $95,000 in donations also was not itemized.

“Virginians deserve transparency in their government. Jackson’s failure to disclose is not only a violation but further evidence that ethical reform is absolutely necessary,” said state Sen. Donald McEachin, D-Richmond, who chairs the campaign for Sen. Ralph Northam, D-Norfolk, Jackson’s opponent.

“Yet, Jackson continues to oppose even minimal ethics reform. His conduct just demonstrates that he is unwilling to meet even the minimal laws to give Virginians the transparency they deserve in their government,” McEachin said Friday.

Last week, Jackson said in an interview that he opposes strengthening Virginia’s ethics laws, but he called for higher ethics standards among politicians.

“I think that we have to hold ourselves to a higher standard, rather than always simply looking for ways to change the law to make people do what they already know is right,” Jackson said in the interview.

Monday, August 12, 2013