Gubernatorial Scandals

PawletyUnlugged

Facts about Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty

WAS TIM PAWLENTY A KEPT MAN?

¹“Politicians’ Telecoms Wronged Consumers,” St. Paul Pioneer Press, page A1, July 13, 2003; “Pawlenty Reveals Consultant Work – Another Baer Telecom Paid Him During Campaign,” St. Paul Pioneer Press, Page A1, July 16, 2003.

²“Telecom Firm Paid Pawlenty,” Star Tribune, page 1A, July 16, 2003.

³“Pawlenty Reveals Consultant Work – Another Baer Telecom Paid Him During Campaign,” St. Paul Pioneer Press, Page A1, July 16, 2003.

⁴“Pawlenty Reveals Consultant Work – Another Baer Telecom Paid Him During Campaign,” St. Paul Pioneer Press, Page A1, July 16, 2003.

⁵“Candidate Pawlenty Kept Business Pursuit in Background,” Associated Press, July 17, 2003.

⁶“Stand-up Guy or Gov. Slick?  All of A Sudden, Pawlenty’s Image Isn’t So Simple Anymore,” Star Tribune, 2B, July 17, 2003.

⁷Telecom Firm Paid Pawlenty,” Star Tribune, page 1A, July 16, 2003.

⁸“Aide:  Pawlenty Followed Advice On Reporting Pay,” Star Tribune, July 17, 2003.

⁹“Pawlenty Amends Campaign Forms,” St. Paul Pioneer Press, A1, July 22, 2003; “Pawlenty Didn’t Register His Firm,” Star Tribune, B1, July 18, 2003.

¹⁰“Telecom Firm Paid Pawlenty,” Star Tribune, page 1A, July 16, 2003.

¹¹“Pawlenty Amends Campaign Forms,” St. Paul Pioneer Press, A1, July 22, 2003; “Pawlenty Refuses Request to Air Tax Returns,” Star Tribune, B4, July 22, 2003.

Pawlenty has 60,000 reasons for hiding his tax returns from voters

                As a candidate for governor in 2002, Governor Pawlenty concealed from voters his receipt of $4,500 each month from a telecommunications company owned by a political supporter whose other telecom companies were sanctioned by regulators in numerous states for cheating consumers.¹

 

                The Governor received payments from the company, Access Anywhere, totaling about $60,000 between August, 2001 through September, 2002.²  Access Anywhere is owned by a longtime Pawlenty political associate.  The Governor could not recall how much time he spent working for the company, nor did he know where it was incorporated or even where it had its office.³  This is significant, because Minnesota law prohibits a corporation from making a political contribution to a candidate by subsidizing that candidate to run for public office through a job in which he performs little or no work.

 

                The Governor configured the following scheme to hide the payments from the public.

 

First, the Governor never mentioned his “work” for the company while campaigning for governor--even though he received as much money from the company as he did for serving in the Legislature,⁴  and even though his “campaign biography was so detailed it noted his membership in the Eagan Lions Club and his work as a youth soccer coach.”⁵

               

Second, the Governor formed a company called BAMCO to receive the payments.  BAMCO’s only employee was Pawlenty, and its only client was Access Anywhere.⁶

 

                Third, the Governor listed BAMCO as a “security,” rather than a “source of income,” on the economic disclosure form he was required to file publicly as a legislator.⁷  This was significant, because it implied that BAMCO was simply a passive investment (like the ownership of a mutual fund) rather than an active source of income.  The Governor, a savvy attorney, said he didn’t properly disclose the money because the reporting forms confused him.⁸

 

Fourth, the Governor failed to register BAMCO with the Minnesota Lawyers Professional Responsibility Board, which a lawyer is required to do when receiving payments for legal work.⁹

 

                When the BAMCO/Access Anywhere payments were uncovered after the election, the governor admitted that he “probably should have disclosed it.”¹⁰  Governor Pawlenty, however, has refused to this day to do what most other governors in most other states have done:  disclose a copy of his personal tax returns from 2001 and 2002 so that voters can see what he earned from Access Anywhere, whether he was paid money from any other political “sugar daddies,” and whether he paid taxes on those earnings.¹¹

 

                In 2006, voters and the press should not let Governor Pawlenty off the hook so easily.  Having concealed such an important item from voters in order to first get elected, the Governor must come clean during his reelection campaign by allowing the press to inspect the relevant tax returns.