The Mower County Charges -

The Mower County Charges - The American Bankers story is back in the news - and it's weirder than ever.

I explained the American Bankers and Insurance settlement last summer in a five part article that drew the untold story from sources close to the events. To sum it up:

• The Ventura administration's Commerce Department, under Jim Bernstein, tried to settle with American Bankers and Insurance. No settlement was ever signed.
• In the summer of 2002, American Bankers hired lobbyist and Mike Hatch pal Ron Jerich, who promptly cut checks to both the Republican and DFL parties. While the check to the DFL apparently went, as required by law, to the Democratic Governor's Conference, the check to the Republicans went directly to the state party - which promptly sent the check to the Republican National State Elections Committee, as required by law. A computer generated a form "thank you" letter to Ron Jerich. The letter found its way to Mike Hatch under circumstances that seem just too convenient.
• Mike Hatch may or may not have proposed allowing American Bankers to settle the action, with no publicity, in exchange for a large donation to a charity. This would have violated state law. According to Tim Pawlenty's Commerce Commissioner, Glenn Wilson, Mike Hatch sprang this plan on Wilson by surprise, the day after Tim Pawlenty's inauguration last January.
• The investigative machinery, in the form of the Legislative Auditor's Office, reached a decidedly mixed conclusion that chided the Commerce department for its procedures, and stopped barely short of criticizing the Attorney General's ethics.
• As if by magic, the media learned the story - or at least a version very amenable to Mike Hatch - at a time when the arrangements were known only to very few people.

Powerline comments on the current iteration of the flap:

"Here are the facts: in the 2002 election, American Bankers Insurance Co. wanted to support both Republican Tim Pawlenty and Democrat Roger Moe. It therefore donated $10,000 to both national parties, with the understanding, apparently, that the money would be spent to support the candidacies of Pawlenty and Moe. (It is legal for corporations to donate to the national parties, but under Minnesota law it is not legal for corporations to donate to the state's parties.) American Bankers mistakenly sent the Republican contribution to the state's Republican Party headquarters, and Eibensteiner forwarded it to the national party. That's it. Oh, one more thing. Ron also wrote American Bankers a letter thanking them for their contribution. I don't know where American Bankers mailed its contribution to the Democrats, but that check presumably found its way to the national Democratic Party as well, where the money was spent to benefit Moe.

Just to clarify on the behalf of Powerline: According to sources at the DFL, the check was apparently never recieved locally. Their $10K apparently adhered to state law.

And if you believe Ron Eibensteiner, he didn't "write" the thank-you, merely signed it.

The indictment is, of course, ridiculous. Mower County, located in extreme southestern Minnesota, has nothing to do with the events in question other than the fact that it has a Democratic county attorney who is willing to do Hatch's bidding. The indictment was triggered by a 'complaint' by a Mower County resident whose identity Flanagan refuses to divulge. (He apparently didn't complain about American Bankers' contribution to the Democrats.) Ron did nothing wrong, let alone criminal."

Here, the Powerline guys are correct. I'm going to do a little digging and see if there's any more backstory we're not getting here.

The big question - what does Hatch expect to gain from this ridiculous action?

I'll see what I can find out.

Posted by Mitch at October 6, 2003 06:04 AM