Stephan seeks donors' identity

Topeka Capital-Journal, The, Nov 2, 2006 by Tim Carpenter

By Tim Carpenter

THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL

Former Kansas Attorney General Robert Stephan urged the state ethics commission Wednesday to initiate an inquiry into political fundraising activities of fellow Republican Phill Kline.

Kline, elected attorney general in 2002 with Stephan's blessing, is in the middle of a caustic campaign for re-election against Democrat Paul Morrison, the district attorney in Johnson County. In September, Stephan resigned a part-time position in Kline's office and two weeks ago went public with questions about Kline's tactics of raising money in churches.

Stephan's letter to the Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission urges an investigation to identify the source of $41,552 in unitemized contributions listed on the campaign finance report submitted Monday by Kline. Nine other Republican and Democratic candidates for statewide office had a total of $4,352 in unitemized campaign contributions on the latest report.

"There may or may not be a violation," Stephan said in an interview, "but people like me wonder. That's a fantastic amount of money on the unitemized list."

Under state law, Kline wasn't obligated to report individual donations of less than $50. The Kline campaign did keep track of these smaller donations but chose not to divulge on the campaign finance report the names and addresses of those contributors.

"We follow the campaign finance laws closely," said Sherriene Jones, a spokeswoman for Kline.

When asked why it was necessary to keep that information confidential, Jones said, "For Phill, it was about the privacy of individual donors who were giving what they could without being in competition with the person who could write a $2,000 check."

Stephan said that explanation was inadequate.

"I think elected officials have to be more responsive," he said.

Carol Williams, executive director of the Kansas ethics commission, said it was policy to not comment on requests for official inquiries.

In an interview and in the letter to Williams, Stephan said his request went beyond unitemized contributions to include the "possible use of contributions obtained through church donations."

Stephan pointed to a July appearance by Kline at Light of the World Christian Church, 3301 S.W. Gage Blvd., in which the Rev. Greg Varney told the congregation that anyone making a "love offering" to further Kline's Christian ministry should make checks out to Light of the World. The church, Varney said, would cut a check to Kline's nonprofit organization.

However, Varney actually wrote a $1,339 check to SWT Communications, a for-profit company controlled by Kline's wife, Deborah.

"The public has a right to know how many other churches may have made contributions in the same way and if those contributions circumvented state campaign reporting requirements," Stephan said. "It should also be determined if tax deductions were improperly taken for a contribution to a church when it was known that the contribution was actually going to SWT."

In addition, Stephan said, it should be determined whether contributions from churches were mingled with other SWT funding and used for political purposes.

SWT has contributed $1,181 to the Kline re-election effort, but Jones said that occurred before the check was received from Light of the World. Jones said that none of the Light of the World money was advanced to Kline's campaign.

Jones said there was nothing improper about Kline accepting donations at churches when he delivers a sermon. That work is outside his duties as attorney general, she said.

Meanwhile, Stephan also requested that the ethics commission explore the Kline campaign's payment of $3,600 to SWT for storage of campaign material and office furniture at the Klines' residence outside Topeka. The storage fee charged by Kline was appropriate, Jones said.

SWT, created by the Klines nearly 10 years ago, generates most of its revenue from production of radio spots on historical topics. Until 2003, Phill Kline was the company's president. His wife assumed that role upon Kline's election as attorney general.

Stephan, who served as Kansas attorney general from 1979 to 1995, endorsed Kline in the 2002 campaign. In the 2006 campaign, Stephan hasn't endorsed anyone. He worked with Kline on several legal projects before resigning two months ago.

Republican Carla Stovall Steckline, who preceded Kline as attorney general, endorsed Morrison.

In terms of fundraising, Kline reported Monday that he raised $613,777 from July 21 to Oct. 26. Unattributed contributions represented more than 6 percent of Kline's total.

Morrison raised $1.2 million in that reporting period but listed no unitemized contributions.

The other statewide candidates without unitemized donations were Secretary of State Ron Thornburgh, gubernatorial candidates Kathleen Sebelius and Jim Barnett, and insurance commissioner candidates Sandy Praeger and Bonnie Sharp. In their campaign finance reports, those candidates listed the names of people who donated less than $50, as well as the amount.