“Bizarre and unprecedented” It’s also just plain weird. AG & judge say that I, Tim Eyman, am a PAC. It’s absurd.
Bob Ferguson’s 7-year litigation against and persecution of me and my family took an Orwellian turn today. There was a hearing on the AG’s motion to declare / find / hold / rule that I, Tim Eyman personally, am a political committee (PAC).
Here’s the statement by my attorney (former supreme court justice Richard Sanders):
“In all my years in private practice and on the state supreme court, I’ve never seen such a bizarre and unprecedented situation as this.
Today, Judge James Dixon of the Thurston County Superior Court granted the State’s motion for partial summary judgment against my client Tim Eyman, characterizing Mr. Eyman as a “continuing political committee” under our election laws. We respectfully disagree with the judge’s ruling believing it was contrary to the facts, the law and the Constitution. This ruling is not a final ruling subject to appeal but may be revised by the judge anytime prior to final judgment. We hope he will.
The crux of the state’s claim against Mr. Eyman is that when he asked his friends and supporters to voluntarily help him and his family survive the AG’s litigation that meant he is a “political committee” which must report all income and expenditures to the government, even though none of this money was solicited or used to support any election campaign.
Mr. Eyman is politically outspoken and engages in issue advocacy, as is his right under the First Amendment. However, the Fair Campaign Practices Act requires contributions or expenditures in support of, or in opposition to, “any candidate, or ballot measure” be reported. RCW 42.17A.005 (40)
Contributions to a politically outspoken individual intended and used to survive the AG’s attacks on him and his family are not reportable under the statute. No case has ever held they are in this state, or anywhere else. This is bizarre and unprecedented. It is an effort to ruin Mr. Eyman’s reputation and prevent him from speaking out. Moreover, it also violates Mr. Eyman’s First Amendment right to freedom of speech and association. This proceeding was designed by Attorney General Robert Ferguson to silence Mr. Eyman’s dissent to big government and high taxes.
We will never acquiesce to this tactic and at the end of the day, on appeal if necessary, we rely on our court system to protect Mr. Eyman and all others from this activist in the Attorney General’s office who has so little regard for the rights of all Americans to freely speak their minds and dissent from an abusive government.
Our brief in support of our motion for summary judgment is a correct statement of the law and is available upon request.
Richard B. Sanders
P.S. Mr. Eyman also wrote about this in April 2019:
https://permanentoffense.com/the-ags-case-against-me-is-an-elaborate-hoax-heres-how-its-fundamentally-flawed/
Here’s an excerpt from my April 2019 update:
The AG says: “Mr. Eyman is absolutely and undeniably a PAC … he is not registered as a PAC which is a violation of the law.”
Let that sink in for a second. They’re saying I gotta register with the government to exercise my free speech rights and if I don’t, I’m breaking the law.
It’s Orwellian.
This all started with a complaint made in early 2012. Because I had been through witch hunts like this before, I knew how brutally expensive they are (unless you’re a big donor to the AG). The AG’s litigation against me has been unprecedented. They’ve spent more taxpayer money on my case than all the other campaign finance cases in the last 5 years combined.
There was simply no way I could possibly afford it on my own.
So I asked friends and family to help me. I asked for work as a political consultant, I asked for donations to my legal defense fund, I asked people to contribute to an organization that owed me money, and I asked folks to give to me and my family personally. The cost for my attorneys has been $800,000+ so far and the State is seeking $2.3 million in fines and $1 million+ for investigative costs. If I didn’t ask for help, the AG woulda crushed me.
Ferguson maintains that his case against me isn’t political — if that’s true, if it’s not political, then neither is the money I’ve raised to fight back against it. None of the funds I’m raising are being used for a political campaign – they’re being used to help me and my family survive this brutal legal assault.
I don’t “take” anyone’s money. Each person is free to help me or not. Every agreement is voluntary.
It’s perfectly legal for me to ask friends and family for help. And it’s perfectly legal for them to do so. We live in a free country where citizens are allowed to help one another if they want to.
People don’t like bullies and they recognize political persecution when they see it.
Fergie is furious. He figured I would’ve broken by now. But I haven’t. Far from it.
Yes, far from it. Since that was written, voters overwhelmingly passed our $30 Tabs Initiative, almost all of I-976 has been upheld by the court, and I’m the leading challenger to Jay Inslee in my run for Governor. I have not and will not allow the government to stop the voters from hearing from me and voting on my ideas. It is my guaranteed right under the First Amendment.
What I said to the Seattle Times on July 7, 2018 is even truer today: “What I know is that State Attorney General Bob Ferguson is trying to drive me out of politics, permanently,” Eyman said. “So you know what my reaction to that is? It’s to become as politically active as I have ever been in my life.”
Amen.
I ask you to do 2 things:
1) If you support my First Amendment right to continue fighting for taxpayers as an activist and as Governor, then please donate $30 (or more) to my campaign (credit card or PayPal here: or mail checks to: Governor Eyman for WA, PO Box 2107, Olympia, WA, 98507). Your contribution tells Bob Ferguson that none of us will succumb to his tyranny.
2) Forward/share today’s update with friends, family, and co-workers. Help us get the word out. Make sure to send them this “one page” about my race for Governor: https://tim4gov.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/EymanForGovernor-Flyer4_color.pdf. Invite them to join our team.
If you oppose Bob Ferguson’s attacks on our constitutional rights, then please donate $30 (or more) today and convince others to do the same.
I make you this promise: support me in this effort and I’ll give you a race for Governor like you’ve never seen before.
I love you all.
Tim
P.S. Support my efforts to defend I-976 by donating $30 today: And please forward this update and this “one page” to your family, friends, and co-workers (https://tim4gov.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/EymanForGovernor-Flyer4_color.pdf). Thanks very much.
You can mail checks to:
Governor Tim Eyman for WA State
PO Box 2107
Olympia, WA, 98507
Make sure to write your occupation & employer on the memo line – if retired, write “retired”
Online donations:
Monday, August 29, 2022
You probably heard about the Canadian trucker protest — GoFundMe cancelled their accounts when the government complained.
Fortunately, the well-respected Christian crowdfunding site GiveSendGo stepped up and helped out.
Besides being a Christian organization that only receives fees through voluntary donations, what’s especially impressive about GiveSendGo is they don’t to succumb to intimidation or censorship.
I’m so grateful to the supporters who suggested GiveSendGo and for setting up a crowdfunding page there for my legal defense fund.
Click on this image to check it out:
If that doesn’t work, try this: tinyurl.com/GSGEymanLDF
For years, I had a GoFundMe account for my legal defense fund.
But just before trial, they cancelled it without explanation.
It’s not difficult to guess why:
After 10 years of investigation, litigation, and persecution, the only reason I’m still here and I’m still fighting is because of the heartfelt prayers, love, and support from friends and family members who recognize this abuse of power and are willing to help me fight back against it.
This 10 year ordeal has cost me every dollar I’ve ever earned in my lifetime.
It has cost me my home.
And the AG is bragging about it.
But thanks to you, we are appealing this because it’s a legal precedent that cannot be allowed to stand.
Because if he gets away with it with me, he’ll target others.
And I cannot and will not let that happen.
I urge you to please donate to my legal defense fund today (and to share and forward this update far & wide).
Options:
* Mail check — made payable to “Tim Eyman Legal Defense Fund” — to: Tim Eyman Legal Defense Fund, 500 106th Ave NE #709, Bellevue, WA, 9800
Despite all the roadblocks thrown in our way, I’m still fighting for our state and our nation.
I’m urging everyone to support this David versus Goliath effort.
Mail-in donation: Tim Eyman Legal Defense Fund, 500 106th Ave NE #709, Bellevue, WA, 98004
By GiveSendGo (credit/debit card)
By PayPal
By PayPal (credit/debit card)
And now a message from Larry Jensen & Sid Maietto:
We’re asking folks to donate to our PAC so we can keep fighting for taxpayers with Jim Walsh’s initiative I-1491, the STOP ALL INCOME TAXES INITIATIVE.
The taxpayers of Washington need our help now more than ever. Donate to our political committee so we can keep fighting for you:
Mail your check — made payable to “Permanent Offense I-1491” — to: Permanent Offense, PO Box 6151, Olympia, WA, 98507
Or donate online: PermanentOffense.com
Kindest Regards,
Sid Maietto & Larry Jensen
— END —
Thanks everyone.
Larry, Tim, & Sid
P.S. Again, please donate to my legal defense fund today:
Mail-in donation: Tim Eyman Legal Defense Fund, 500 106th Ave NE #709, Bellevue, WA, 98004
By GiveSendGo (credit/debit card)
By PayPal
By PayPal (credit/debit card)
