STATE OF FLORIDA FLORIDA ELECTIONS COMMISSI~ MAY 20 PM 3: 18. In Re: Randy Johnson Case No..: FEC I F.. O. No.

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1 ' I STATE OF FLORIDA FLORIDA ELECTIONS COMMISSI~ MAY 20 PM 3: 18 STATE Of f:lorida ELECTIONS COMMISSION In Re: Randy Johnson Case No..: FEC I F.. O. No.: DOSFEC W ORDER OF NO PROBABLE CAUSE THIS CAUSE came on to be heard by the Florida Elections Commission at its regularly scheduled meeting held on May 9 and 10, 2002, in Miami, Florida After considering the Statement of Findings and the recommendations of counsel, the Commission finds that there is no probable cause to believe that the Respondent violated: Section (1), Florida Statutes, prohibiting a candidate from accepting contributions or making expenditures prior to appointing a campaign treasurer and designating a campaign depository Therefore, it is ORDERED that this case is DISMISSED.. DONE AND ENTERED by the Florida Elections Commission and filed with the Clerk of the Commission on May 20, 2002, in Tallahassee, Florida Susan A. MacManus, Chairman Florida Elections Commission 107 W Gaines Street Collins Building, Suite 224 Tallahassee, FL NOTICE OF RIGHT TO APPEAL Pursuant to Section , Florida Statutes, the Respondent may appeal the Commission's final order to the appropriate district court of appeals by filing a notice of appeal both with the Clerk of the Florida Elections Commission and the Clerk of the district court of appeals The notice must be filed within 30 days of the date this final order was filed with the Clerk of the Commission and must be accompanied by the appropriate filing fee P_C007 (J/98)

2 Copies furnished to: ( Phyllis Hampton, Assistant General Counsel Randy Johnson, Respondent Carol A Johnson, Complainant Dept of State, Division of Elections, Filing Officer Attachment: Statement of Findings P _C007 (l/98)

3 ) FLORIDA ELECTIONS COMMISSION STATEMENT OF FINDINGS Case Number: FEC Respondent: Randy Johnson Complainant: Cami A. Johnson On November 7, 2001, the Florida Elections Commission received a sworn complaint alleging that the Respondent violated Chapter 106, Florida Statutes The Commission staff investigated the allegations and based on the facts and conclusions of law contained in the Complaint, the Report of Investigation, and this statement, the staff recommends that there is no probable cause to charge the Respondent with violating: Section (1 ), Florida Statutes, prohibiting a candidate from accepting contributions or making expenditures prior to appointing a campaign treasurer and designating a campaign depository Summary of Facts and Conclusions of Law (. 1 The Respondent is a candidate for the House of Representatives, District 4 L He was elected to his fourth term on November 7, 2000 with 67 6% of the vote 2 The Complainant is a resident of Winter Garden and has been a registered voter in Orange County for almost 30 years L Section (1), Florida Statutes The Commission staff investigated whether the Respondent accepted contributions prior to appointing a campaign treasurer and establishing a campaign account in violation of Section , Florida Statutes. 4.. Complainant states that the Respondent filed his Appointment of Campaign Treasurer and Designation of Campaign Depository form, DS-DE 9, on April 5, 2001, one day after his first campaign treasurer's report was filed The campaign treasurer's report showed $20, in contributions and $13, in expenditures.. Complainant also said the campaign treasurer did not sign the DS-DE 9 form.. A completed form was submitted April 12, 200L 5. Complainant noted in her sworn complaint that Respondent submitted a letter of explanation to the Division of Elections on April 5, 2001 stating he had previously submitted the form on December 28, 2000 and was resubmitting the form on April 5, 200L 6.. On November 30, 2001, the Respondent submitted three notarized statements, two sworn statements, and two letters from individuals affiliated with the campaign.. The Respondent states that long before any campaign activity took place, the Statement of Candidate form and the DS-DE 9 form were hand delivered to the Division of Elections by the campaign chairman on December 15, SofOOI 1

4 7.. In Respondent's sworn statement to the Commission, he said that when he was notified by the Division of Elections on April 5, 2001 that the DS-DE 9 form and the Statement of Candidate form were missing, he immediately went to the Division and informed them that these forms were filed in December Respondent said he immediately re-filed the forms Respondent said his campaign chairman, Ron Phillips, reminded him the actual documents were originally filed during the week of the special session convening December 11-15, Respondent told Commission staff that the campaign does not have a copy of the DS DE 9 form that was signed by him and the campaign treasurer and hand delivered to the Division of Elections on December 15, Respondent also said he did not remember receiving a letter from the division acknowledging the filing of the DS DE 9 form or an updated candidate handbook He indicated that there was confusion as to which mailing address to use and this may have prevented these materials from reaching the campaign. 9.. In a notarized statement dated December 30, 2001, Ron Phillips describes the events leading up the December 15, 2000 filing of the initial campaign paperwork Mr Phillips says he obtained the DS-DE 9 form from the office of the campaign treasurer, Lany Bening, at the beginning of the second week of December Mr Phillips said he brought the form to Tallahassee at the time of the December 11-15, 2000 special session. The Respondent signed the form on December 14, 2000, and Mr. Phillips hand delivered the fully executed form to the division on December 15, Mr Phillips said he informed the Respondent on December 28, 2000 that his papers were filed with the Division of Elections.. ( 10 On February 6, 2002, Commission staff conducted a telephone interview with Mr Phillips Mr Phillips stated he does not have a copy of the fully executed DS-DE 9 form he hand-delivered to the division for the Respondent on December 15, 2000 Mr.. Phillips said he believes the Division of Elections should be required by law to provide a copy of the timestamped hand-delivered filings at the time they are filed 1 L In a notarized statement dated November 30, 2001, Greg Gay states that Ron Phillips stayed as a guest in his home during the week of the special session, December 11-15, 2000 Mr Gay says that it is his understanding that Mr Phillips was filing papers for the campaign during the week he stayed at Mr.. Gay's residence 12. In a letter dated November 30, 2001, Ces Lawton, a former business associate of Mr Phillips, states it is his understanding that Mr Phillips filed Respondent's paperwork the week of December 11-15, 2000, the same week Mr Lawton and Mr Phillips were apartment searching for the upcoming legislative session 13. In a sworn statement dated November 27, 2001, Lany L Bening states he accepted the appointment of Campaign Treasurer for Respondent's 2002 campaign during the second week of December Mr Bening said Kenneth Gould, who works with Mr Bening, prepared the DS-DE 9 form 14 In a telephone interview with Mr. Bening on January 24, 2002, Mr Bening stated he has been an accountant for approximately 30 yeats and has served as a campaign treasurer for tluee or four political campaigns The Division of Election's records show Mr Bening has served as Respondent's treasurer on tluee occasions Sot1l0! 2

5 15. Mr Gould stated in a sworn statement that he prepared the DS-DE 9 form as instructed by Mr. Bening. Mr Gould states the form was then given to Ron Phillips 16.. On December 4, 2001, Commission staff received an affidavit from Erin NeSmith, an administrative assistant with the Division of Elections.. Ms.. NeSmith was the division employee who contacted Mr Bening, Mr Gould, and the Respondent the day after the first campaign treasurer's report was filed.. Attached to Ms NeSmith's affidavit is the Apiil 5, 2001 telephone log Ms.. NeSmith kept documenting her conversation with the campaign related to the issue of there being no DS-DE 9 form and Statement of Candidate form on file when the campaign filed its first campaign treasurer's report. 17. In Ms NeSmith's affidavit and accompanying telephone log, she states that she talked with Mr.. Bening, Mr Gould, and the Respondent on April 5, Mr.. Heuing said the campaign's failure to file the appropriate campaign paperwork was an oversight on their part; Mr. Gould said the paperwork was not filed; and the Respondent said he had mailed in the paperwork in either December 2000 or January 2001 Respondent's statement to Ms.. NeSmith contradicts the notarized statement submitted later which states the initial filing of the campaign paperwork was made by Mr Phillips by hand delivery Mr.. Heuing told Commission staff he does not recall the April 5, 2001 telephone conversation with Ms.. NeSmith, but says he believes that if Ms.. NeSmith says the call took place, it probably did Mr. Herring is a Certified Public Accountant and has his own professional association, Lany L Bening, CP A, P A 1 ypically the month of April is very busy for accountants due to the filing of personal income taxes Mr Gould also told Commission staff that he does not recall the April 5, 2001 telephone conversation with Ms NeSmith. Mr Gould works with Mr.. Herring in the CP.A firm so that April is also a busy time for him. Mr Gould reiterated that he prepared the DS-DE 9 form in the middle of December 2000 and Mr Phillips picked up the form at that time Respondent told Commission staff that he does remember the telephone call with division staff on April 5, 2001 Respondent stated he couldn't explain the first response made by Mr Herring and Mr Gould to division staff on April 5, 2001, but said they were reasonable statements from campaign workers struggling to remember the details of a particular filing that took place months before 2 L During the telephone interview Commission staff conducted with Respondent on February 19, 2002, Commission staff advised the Respondent of what was found during the investigation, and was offered an opportunity to respond Respondent stated he had nothing further to add to his previously submitted response. 22 Respondent has signed statements of candidate for his three candidacies, stating he has received, read, and understands Chapter 106, Florida Statutes Sofl)Ol 3

6 II. Conclusion. 23 Due to the conflicting information obtained by Commission staff regarding the filing of the initial campaign papers, I recommend that the Commission find no probable cause that Section (1), Florida Statutes, was violated by the Respondent in this case.. Respectfully submitted on March 7, 2002, Copy furnished to: Barbara M.. Linthicum, Executive Director Malcolm Chellman, Investigator Specialist SofOOl 4

After considering the Statement of Findings and the recommendations of counsel, the

After considering the Statement of Findings and the recommendations of counsel, the STATE OF FLORIDA f': i!,~y ~,? PH 2: 55 FLORIDA ELECTIONS COMMISSION"'.... - - In Re: HarTell Harrison Case No.: FEC 00-397 F.O. No.: DOSFEC 01-178 W : 1-..- -.I:""! l : i ;:i ;~- i ~.~ ORDER OF NO PROBABLE