One PAC, two PAC, red PAC, whose PAC?

COEUR d’ALENE — Despite discouraging words from the chairman of Idaho’s Republican Party, it appears a handful of elected precinct committeemen may be involved in the formation of a controversial political action committee.

Political action committees, or PACs, are formed to raise and spend money on behalf of a cause or candidate. Individuals can donate up to $1,000 of their own money to a candidate’s campaign, and the campaign has to disclose who made any donations over $50. That same individual can donate as much money as they want to a PAC, but the same disclosure rules apply.

According to David Johnston, executive director of the state Republican Party, Chairman Steve Yates addressed the issue of party officials participating in political action committees during their winter meeting in Boise earlier this year.

"It is important you know that the state party has no operational role in any PAC and no PAC has any operational role in the state party. The state party and its chairman support no PAC,” Yates told the party’s executive committee. “Personally, I have no involvement in any PAC activity and would recommend against officers within our party involving themselves in PAC activity within our state, except for encouraging PACs to contribute to the state party.

“While the party supports any Republican's First Amendment right to do so, any entity — political action committee, advocacy group, or election campaign — that competes for the same finite donor base in Idaho presents a challenge for the state party,” Yates continued. “Any elected Republican or party member involved in those activities who discourages contributions to the state party or diverts resources away from the state party presents a problem."

However, an email obtained by The Press this week appears to indicate that several elected Republican precinct committeemen may be involved with a relatively new controversial PAC called the Kootenai County Republican Concerned Citizens, which coincidentally shares the same acronym as the body they were elected to, the Kootenai County Republican Central Committee.

The KCRCC PAC is also listed on the Idaho Secretary of State’s website as an official party committee.

The email, dated March 24, 2014, contains two attachments that are endorsement fliers for candidates in Legislative Districts 2 and 3.

The email sent by precinct committeewoman Jennifer Locke went to six precinct committee members, and two others including Brent Regan, who was the PAC’s primary financial donor.

It appears the members were being asked to review the fliers prior to them being mailed out.

The precinct committee members who were included in the email are Tina Jacobsen, former chairman of the committee; John Cross, the regional chairman for the state party; his wife, Angela Cross, the third district chair of the state party; Tom Robinson, a precinct committeeman; David Crane, a precinct committeeman; and Neil Oliver; the current chairman of the county central committee.

None of those committeemen returned phone messages on Friday except for Chairman Oliver, who denied any involvement in the PAC.

“I keep myself away from all of that,” Oliver told The Press. “I don’t recall receiving that email, but I will take your word that I was copied on it.”

Oliver said he has not been contacted by the PAC during this primary election season, and said he did not participate in the PAC during the last cycle.

“My name may be on there, but I didn’t participate,” he said.

Oliver said he does support candidates that he likes during the primaries as an individual, but not in his capacity as party chairman.

“If someone asks me who I'm going to vote for during the primary, I will tell them who my personal choice is,” he said. “I am not going to be quieted just because I am the chair of the central committee.”

When asked if he is concerned about the PAC’s acronym being the same as the central committee’s acronym and if there is conflict of interest with the committeemen who appear to be members of the PAC, Oliver said he is not concerned.

“People have the right to do that as long as they are not doing it on the central committee’s letterhead,” Oliver said, adding he sees no problem with the group using the acronym as long as it makes sure to indicate what its acronym stands for.

“They may be close, but they are not representing themselves as the central committee,” he said. “It is a fine line. It is a similar acronym.”

He said the PAC did clarify its full name on the fliers, so he isn’t very concerned about their actions.

When asked if he thought the similarity of the group’s acronym — combined with the appearance that it was formed by elected committeemen — appeared deceptive, Oliver declined to comment.

“I’m not going to go there,” he said. “They did spell their name out.”

The KCRCC PAC is not the only PAC in North Idaho that has sitting committeemen on its board. Jim Pierce, an elected committeeman and second vice chair of the state committee, sits on the Republican North Idaho PAC.

When contacted about his involvement with that PAC, Pierce said he has stepped down from that PAC during the primary election cycle.

“In my case I was on the NIPAC board before I became a state party officer,” Pierce told The Press. “I have worked on voter education and for good Republican policy during that time but I have not been involved in the endorsement of candidates since being elected to the State Central Committee and have invested significantly more time in the State GOP than in NIPAC. As for the upcoming primary, I will step away from the NIPAC board during any discussion of candidates and endorsements.”