DES MOINES, Iowa — The Iowa Ethics Campaign and Disclosure Board is investigating Melissa Vine's campaign following a complaint filed by the Iowa Unity Coalition earlier this week.
Vine is a Democratic candidate for Iowa's 3rd Congressional District, and her campaign was accused of making donations and fraudulent votes on behalf of others for the Iowa Unity Coalition's endorsement vote.
Generally, the Campaign and Disclosure Board does not have jurisdiction to investigate candidates running at a federal level. However, in this case, since it was a federal candidate allegedly making donations to an Iowa organization, that gives the board jurisdiction to investigate.
"We obviously have one side of the story from the complainant who has given us some evidence and information, and now the rest of it is to talk with everyone else," said Zach Goodrich, executive director and legal counsel for the Iowa Ethics Campaign and Disclosure Board.
Goodrich, who is leading the investigation, said he has information showing the Vine campaign submitted over 100 attempted contributions towards an endorsement from the Iowa Unity Coalition. Over 40 of those actually went through.
Investigators also have proof that each of the contributions had different names, but the same payment information and same address.
"If you're the one giving money to a campaign, you have to say who it is in the interest of public transparency and just being honest at the end of the day," Goodrich said. "So, it appeared based on the evidence provided, that it maybe wasn't these people actually giving the money, but again we haven't gotten to the bottom of that."
The Coalition is calling on Vine to suspend her campaign, and it says it is pleased with the outcome of Thursday's board meeting.
"Anything they need from us, we're an open book," said Mitch Henry, chair of Iowa Unity Coalition. "We'll supply whatever they need, because you know, we just want to get this all cleared up before the Democratic Primary on June 4."
Here's what could come out of the investigation:
- Admonishment (Goodrich describes this similar to a "slap on the wrist")
- Reprimand, or some type of probation.
- Civil penalty, a fine for breaking the law.
- Complete dismissal of complaint.
Goodrich is ensuring that he will look at all aspects and speak with all parties involved before making a final decision.
"In the court of public opinion many things are always alleged but we aren't rushing to any conclusions here, we will uncover all that in due time," Goodrich said.
The investigation will be completed before the primaries on June 4.
Local 5 reached out to Vine's campaign for comment but have not heard back yet.