Following Campaign Violations—

LaRocque Apology Triggers Pointed Rebuttal From Lyddy

By John Voket

Five days after learning he was denied a potential $26,000 grant and any future participation “with prejudice” in Connecticut’s Citizens’ Election Program, Republican Councilman and 106th District state representative candidate Christopher LaRocque issued a public letter of apology, which was provided to The Newtown Bee and other media sources.

In that brief note, Mr LaRocque wrote: “My mistake was not personally verifying 18 cash contributions to my campaign, totaling $90. The result was denial of Connecticut public financing last week amidst allegations of impropriety and fraud.

“This mistake was not one of malicious intent and, as a candidate and man of high ethical standards, I take full responsibility for any and all things that happen within my campaign,” he continued. “There are no excuses.”

The note also says that Mr LaRocque, apologizes “to the people of Newtown for diverting everyone’s attention away from the important challenges and issues facing us and vow to restore your confidence in me by openly, honestly discussing this and other issues with you, on your terms.”

The correspondence, however, also references “the cruelty of an opponent whose friends seize on opportunities to distort the truth.”

This assertion apparently prompted a response from his Democratic opponent, incumbent State Representative Christopher Lyddy, which was emailed to The Bee approximately two hours later. That response noted: “There is no distortion. Here are the facts: The LaRocque campaign tried to defraud Connecticut taxpayers out of $26,000; representatives of LaRocque’s campaign asked people to lie to state investigators to cover up that fraud; and, to date this is the single worst fraud committed against the Citizens’ Election Fund.”

The brief statement from Rep Lyddy concluded: “LaRocque’s campaign has violated that trust by attempting to defraud the public.”

In follow-up questioning of Rep Lyddy, he indicated that the $26,000 figure was derived from the “Citizens’ Election Program Overview [which] states that General Election Campaign Grants for this State Representative race is $26,000.”

In clarifying the “single worst fraud,” allegation, Rep Lyddy said, “This is the only time there have been 18 confirmed cases of fraud.”

According to the State Elections Enforcement Commission (SEEC), the agency’s denial of Mr LaRocque’s requested state election program grant is the fourth time the SEEC has ruled against a candidate, or made a related ruling related to grant program participation.

In 2008, in an assembly district campaign in Rocky Hill, election officials found Republican candidate Samuel Cusano in violation, after determining through an investigation that the candidate’s brother provided $1,100 of his own funds to the campaign while misrepresenting such funds to the treasurer as coming from 11 other individuals who each reportedly contributed $100.

The SEC assessed a $6,000 civil penalty in that case along with denying Mr Cusano any future participation in the citizen’s election grant program.

That same year, the SEEC initiated an investigation involving the campaign of Democratic Senator Joseph J. Crisco, and imposed a civil penalty against Senator Crisco of $4,000 for his violations of campaign finance laws.

During review of the grant application for his 2008 reelection campaign, commission staff identified flaws in the application, which it denied due to material noncompliance.

According to the SEEC’s settlement, Senator Crisco acknowledged that he failed to properly designate a treasurer or deputy treasurer; acted as his own treasurer, received contributions, and made expenditures without a properly formed committee; and submitted forms without legally sufficient oaths and/or signatures.

In that case, the commission also referred the notary public involved to the Secretary of the State for consideration of whether she should retain her credentials as a notary public.

Covering Up?

In regard to Rep Lyddy’s contention that “representatives of LaRocque’s campaign asked people to lie to state investigators to cover up that fraud,” he referred The Bee to a single witness who Rep Lyddy said could corroborate the claim.

Several messages left for that witness at the number provided over a period of two days were not returned. Rep Lyddy subsequently emailed The Bee about that alleged witness, saying “she is very concerned about having her name in the paper as she runs a small business in town and doesn’t want to jeopardize that for her and her family.”

It was initially reported that Rep Lyddy’s friend and campaign manager, Sarah Hemingway, filed two complaints with the SEEC alleging she encountered Katherine Pineau, a person she knew as a Lyddy supporter, at a local deli owned by that individual.

At that time Ms Hemingway said she expressed surprise that Ms Pineau’s three sons, Ryan, Cory, and Connor Pineau, were on record as having signed a petition in support of, and making individual donations to, the LaRocque campaign. Those signatures were solicited by an individual identified as Phil Lombardo in Ms Hemingway’s complaint.

After verification, the three individuals in question reportedly denied making donations. According to Ms Hemingway, the initial person contacted by Mr Lombardo was told he was “only looking for signatures,” so that individual “also offered the signatures of his brothers. He never gave Phil Lombardo money, and did not know he was signing for Mr LaRocque.”

Contacted for additional comments in light of Rep Lyddy’s rebuttal, Mr LaRocque reiterated that his public apology was sincere and the content of his statement was truthful. He offered no further comment, saying, “That apology and the statements in it stand for themselves.”