OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — Attorney General Bob Ferguson wants a Snohomish County Superior Court judge to hold Tim Eyman and his political committees in contempt for failing to turn over documents in as part of an investigation into campaign finance practices.
Ferguson filed a motion seeking the order Wednesday, and said he was also seeking a similar ruling from a Thurston County judge against signature gathering firm Citizen Solutions.
Ferguson says that Eyman and the committees have failed to meet the court-ordered deadline for disclosing the documents.
Eyman has proposed numerous tax-limiting initiatives over the years. Last fall, the state Public Disclosure Commission said it discovered several potential violations of campaign-finance law.
The findings included allegations Eyman used $170,000 in contributions to a political committee for living expenses and that about half of $623,000 in payments from one of Eyman's political committees to Citizen Solutions was passed along to Eyman's for-profit company.
In response to Ferguson's move, Eyman's lawyer, Mark Lamb, sent the following statement to the Attorney General's Office:
"Though I am reviewing the balance of the motion, I wanted to immediately respond to the incorrect assertions in the attached motion regarding tax returns.
"Mr. Eyman turned over all copies of his federal and state business and personal tax returns from 2009-2014 by the deadline contained in the order. The returns provided to your office are complete and accurate copies of the returns electronically filed by his accountant. There are no federal business tax returns because the LLC is a disregarded entity for federal tax purposes and all income from this entity is reflected on Schedule C of Mr. and Mrs. Eyman’s personal return which was timely produced.
"There are no income tax records for any of the Washington state political committees as they do not pay federal income tax and thus have filed no returns.
"I am reviewing the balance of the motion and will respond as quickly as I can considering this motion for contempt is the first time I am hearing that your office believes there were deficiencies in the July 13, 2016 production."