Murray To Pay $80K In Campaign Finance Settlement

Murray

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By Matt Murphy State House News Service

Former Lt. Gov. Timothy Murray was hit today with a $10,000 personal fine and agreed to forfeit $50,000 in campaign contributions as part of a settlement with Attorney General Martha Coakley to resolve her investigation into Murray accepting campaign contributions unlawfully solicited by disgraced former Chelsea Housing Authority Executive Director Michael McLaughlin.

The settlement calls for Murray’s political committee to pay the $50,000 to the state and pay a $20,000 civil fine, while Murray will pay a personal $10,000 fine. The committee has a balance of more than $227,000, according to its most recently filed report. Murray has 14 days to comply with the terms of the settlement.

The agreement also requires Murray, who had strongly considered running for governor in 2014 after loyally serving as Gov. Deval Patrick’s number two for more than six years, to dissolve his political committee. He may not serve as an officer or fundraising-related employee of any political committee for two years.

The settlement marks a milestone on an issue that has dogged Murray since late 2011 when questions were first raised about his relationship with McLaughlin, who was in frequent contact with the lieutenant governor. Coakley’s investigation also found inappropriate fundraising activity by a state highway department employee.

“Based on our investigation, we allege that two separate public employees unlawfully solicited tens of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions for the former lieutenant governor,” Coakley said in a statement. “The lieutenant governor will now pay back those contributions as well as pay a significant fine.”

Murray resigned in May to become the executive director of the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce, and has denied that his decision to leave politics had anything to do with the McLaughlin investigation.

Murray today reiterated that he never asked McLaughlin to solicit funds for his campaign, but accepted responsibility for failing to properly oversee and monitor the committee’s fundraising activity.

“The finding that Michael McLaughlin violated the law by asking people to donate to my committee is not shocking today given what we now know about his character and criminal actions. As a result of his criminal activity, many people have been hurt, most importantly many good people in Chelsea who simply sought dignified and affordable housing for themselves and their families,” Murray said in a statement.

He continued, “If I knew in 2006 what I know today about McLaughlin, I would have never had any association with him at all.”

A spokesman for Murray said the Worcester Democrat is already in the process of dissolving his committee as a condition of his employment contract with the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce.

Richard Burke, a member of the chamber’s board of directors, stood by Murray on Thursday, issuing a statement defending Murray’s transparency on the campaign finance issues.

“In his first three months, heading the chamber, Tim has injected a new energy level and he is very committed to helping Worcester and surrounding area businesses and institutions grow, create jobs, and improve the quality of life for people in our region. We are very pleased to have him representing the chamber and our area,” Burke said in a statement.

Shortly after announcing the Murray settlement, Coakley announced that a Suffolk County grand jury had indicted McLaughlin for unlawfully soliciting contributions from state employees to Murray and Israel Reyes, a 2009 candidate for mayor in Lawrence. Authorities allege that McLaughlin regularly asked housing authority employees to perform political work for Murray and Reyes, including holding signs and working at polls.

“We allege that McLaughlin used the CHA as a base for political fundraising, including in support of the former lieutenant governor, in violation of campaign finance law,” Coakley's office said.

McLaughlin will be arraigned on Sept. 5.

Coakley’s office does not assert that Murray was aware of McLaughlin’s illegal fundraising on his behalf, though McLaughlin was working as a field organizer for his campaign in the Merrimack Valley. In the disposition, Murray admitted to seeking McLaughlin’s support and failing to “exercise reasonable care” to ensure the contributions to his campaign were legally solicited.

As a public employee, McLaughlin was barred from fundraising activity. After Boston Globe reporting raised allegations of impropriety, Murray asked the Office of Campaign and Political Finance in January 2012 to investigate McLaughlin’s activities on behalf of his campaign.

The Office of Campaign and Political Finance in January referred the matter to Coakley’s office after finding evidence that McLaughlin, Murray and the former lieutenant governor’s political committee “did not comply with” campaign finance laws governing the solicitation or receipt of contributions.

McLaughlin has since pled guilty in federal court to unrelated charges of falsifying his Chelsea Housing Authority salary to federal officials.

Coakley’s investigation determined that McLaughlin helped organize three separate fundraisers for Murray in Methuen between 2008 and 2010, introducing Murray to supporters and soliciting tens of thousands in contributions.

A MassDOT supervisory employee was also found by Coakley to have organized three additional fundraisers in the Worcester area between 2008 and 2010 that resulted in “numerous DOT employees” making contributions to Murray’s campaigns. The total raised from the six fundraisers amounted to approximately $50,000.