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MONT NDEMO R TS
P.O.Box 802Helena MT59624
Tel 4O6-442-952OFax 4O6-442-9534
[email protected]
June30,2014
Mr. LeeGoodmanChairmanFederal Election Commission999EStreet,
NWWashington, DC 20463DearMr.Goodman:
Bythis letter, I would like to file aformalcomplaint against
RyanZinkeandSpecial Operations forAm ericaPA C( SOFA ). SOFAw as
foundedbyRyan Zinkein2012. Ac cording to pressreports1,SOFA
wasfounded out of anger that President Obamawas taking credit for
themission that killed OsamaBinLaden. However, duringthe2012
election cycle,itappears that SOFA only spent $7,000on independent
expendituresopposing Barack Obama. Therestof
theover$180,000raisedby SOFA in2012 went tooperatingcosts,including
paymentstoZinke'sconsulting firm, Continental
DivideInternational,and toBattle Plan
Strategies,aconsultingfirmbelongingto Scott
Hommel,SOFA'streasurerandZinke'sformerchiefof staff.
While Zinke claimed thatthe hecreated SOFA forGod and country ,
andpubliclydeclared2thathewouldnottakeapaycheck, these paymentsto
his owncompany would seemto suggest otherwise.In2013, SOFA
raisedover $1.3million dollars. Ofthat amount over $900,000was
raised during thesecondhalfof2013,thesame timethatRyanZinkewas
exploringhis run for Congress. Mr. Zinke subsequently filed
paperwork w ith the Federal Election
CommissiononOctober24,2013to run for the A t-LargeDistrictfor
theHouseofRepresentatives from thestate ofMontana. Inadd ition,
accordingto FECreports,Mr.Zinke'sfirm received
paymentsforSOFAinearly 2013,aswellas alarge travelreimbursement in
August of 2013, a period in which the PAC does no t appear to
have
1 GOP Con gressional Candidate Using Campaign Money
SchemePioneeredby. . .Stephen Colbert ,Mother Jones November I,
20132SpecialOp erations fo rAmericawebsite,August2, 2012
P ID FORBYTHE MONTANA DEMOCR TS _
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beenactivein anycampaigns. Thus, this large travel reimbu
rsement begsthequestionastothe relationship to the travel payment
and Mr.Zinke s exploration of his candidacy.
According to pressreports3 Mr. Zinke resignedfromSOFA on
September 30,2013,merely 2 4 days prior to filing his campaign
paperw ork with the FEC. According toa latefiledForm 24 and its2013
Year-End report, SOFA began disseminating
advertisingsupportingMr.Zinke s electiononOctober, 22,2013,priorto
Mr.Zinke sfilingof hiscampaign's paperwork and a mere 22 daysafter
Mr. Zinke's resignationfrom SOFA.
Since September2013,SOFA has reported spending over $200,000
oncommunications advocatingtheelectionof Mr.Zinke. Inaddition,
SOFAhasbeensoliciting con tributions specifically for M r.Zinke
scampaign. In fact, donors whogavemorethan $50 were beingoffered a
Ryan Zinke commemorative coin.In ad dition,in2013,both
SOFAandZinke's campaign comm ittee reporthiringthe same individual
for purposes of research consulting, during the same m onth.
The
Zinke campaign reports paying $1,412.75 to Lester Cooper of
Charlottesville,VA onNovem ber 21 of 2013, while SOFA reports
paying Coopertwice;$1,000 on August 15 of2013,
andagainfor$3,030.45onNovember4 of2013. Thegroups'hiringof the
sameindividual just days apa rt would certainly facilitate
coordination between the two, and itwould seemveryunlikely that
informationCooper gained whileperforming research forone entity did
notinformhis actions and decisions while employed by the other.
Thiswouldconstitute an illegal coordination if Cooper used his
knowledge of SOFA'sintentions to make independent expenditures on
Zinke sbehalf during his subsequentemployme nt with Zinke's
campaign comm ittee.
Based upontheabove,i tappears asthough SO FA 's actual
purposefor the 2014cyclewas to be thededicated SuperPAC for
Mr.Zinke s congressional campaign.Althoughthis pheno menon is not
unique, what is unique is the factthat SOFA wascreated by M r.
Zinke and controlled by him until a mere few days prior to the
creation ofhis own campaign com mittee. There fore, it strains
credulity for SOFA to argue that ithad spontaneously decided to
support Mr. Zin ke's campa ign subsequen t to hisresignation,
independentlyfrom Mr.Zinkeand hiscampaign, wheninfact,
itbegandisseminating communications supporting his campaign prior
to the establishment of Mr.Zinke sowncampaign committee.
Based upontheabove,andinformationan dbelief,I request that the
FECthoroughly investigatethe connections between SOFAandRyanZinke
scampaigncommittee. I believe a thorough investigation will reveal
that Mr. Zinkeleft SOFA with aturn-key independent
expenditureoperation tosupporthis campaign andtherefore,
allcommunications disseminated by SOFA would result in coordinated
communications asdefinedby the Federal Election Commission in
11C.F.R . 109.21(b). In addition, sinceSOFAwasestablishedby
Mr.Zinke,i tsstatusas anindependent expenditure onlycommittee that
is making communications in support of his candidacy must be called
into 3 GOP Congressional CandidateUsing Campaign Money
SchemePioneered by...Stephen Colbert ,Mother Jones November1
2013
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question. Ultimately,the Commission must determine that SOFA is
affiliated with Mr.Zinke s camp aign comm ittee. 11 C.F.R.
100.5(g).The Commission must promptly and aggressively investigate
these clearviolationso f federal campaign finance regulations and
seek any and all injunctive and
financial penalties permitted by law.
Sincerely
SWORNTO NDSUBSCRIBED beforemethis 6_day of un 2014
No RL L DUNH MNOT RYPUBLICfor thetate
ofMontanaResidingatBillings Montanay CommissionExpiresJuly19 2
15
DarlaL.Dunham
ResidingatBillings MontanaYellowstoneCounty
MyCommissionExpires: July 19 2 1
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in
O10o
Bowditch DeweyRE Eiv
2 0 I 2 J U N I 5 Ml I I OBV|MDtVtoF E
NY M65P 3EII20DC XBJ29WO
June 14. 2012
Via redKx Tracking A a. 7985IOISSM7tFederal Eleclion
CommissionATTN:Statement of Organization999 EStreet,
NWWashington.DC 20463
Rt Special Operations for America,Independent
ExpenditureCommitteeTo Whom IIMay Concern:
For filing,kindly find the enclosed Statement o f Organization
(Form 1) and the enclosedindependent Expenditure Committee Letter
(IE-Only Letter . If you have a ny questions, pleasecontact me.
Thankyou.Regards,
VincenlDcVito
cc: ChnstophcrHyatt (w/cnclosurcs)
Admiuim Dh>k of TitlmnhU -Cinnmcnmatlh of Mu*rfruMte - Ste)f
of Mm V U M I Moor i
*4 fT.CO
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SpecialOperations For America336West2nd StreetWhilefeb MT
59937
June 14, 2012
Federal Election Comm ission
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rFEC
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He'srunning forCongress because America needs him He has
earnedoursupportand Ihopevoiwillsupportour effortstohelphim
winwithacontributionof 10. ^5. 50. 100. 175, 250. 500.oreven
1.000today.And ifyour contribution is 50 ormore, willsendyou
alimited edition Spec ia lOperationsfo rAmer icaRyan Zjnke bronze
challengecoinas atokenof our thanks,personalkeepsake.
an dreminderof thevaluesyou and RyanZinkeshare
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Image*H960347B43SCHEDULE :ECForm 3X]ITEMIZED DISBURSEMENTS Use
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usingthpname and addressot anypolitical committee10 solicit
contributions Irom suchcommittee.\EOF COMMITTEE |ln Full| SPECIAL
OPERATIONSFORAMERICA
FujiName (Last. Fust. Middle Initial)A- LESTER COOPER
2013
City Stale 2ipCodeCHARLOTTESVILLE VA 22901Purpose3
DtsbufsernantRESEARCH CONSULTING.. ij Idlbf .Lie
OttKeSought. HU.IS,.-SenatePresident
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Amount ol Eacfi DisDursement this Period100000
FijiName (Last. First. Middle initialB. LESTER COOPERMailing
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Dale olDisbursement
11 4 2 13CyCHARLOTTESVIU E
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DisbursementForPnmaryOther
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TranuctkxiID . SB21B.21913
Amountol Eacn OiSOursemeniihisPetiod3030.45
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SCHEDULE B (FECForm3)ITEMIZED DISBURSEMENTS Usa sepaiate
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Amourfl of Eacn Disbursemenl Mus Period289.00
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