MAINE: NOM Files Campaign Finance Complaints Against HRC And Task Force

Via the Portland Press Herald:

The National Organization for Marriage, the nation’s leading opponent of gay marriage, has filed two retaliatory complaints claiming that its adversaries violated Maine election laws more than four years ago. The complaints against the Human Rights Campaign and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force stem from campaign activity in the 2009 referendum over Maine’s legislatively enacted gay-marriage law, which voters overturned. They are a direct response to a decision May 28 by Maine’s ethics commission to fine the organization a record $52,250 for failing to register as a ballot question committee and keeping its donors and activities secret during the 2009 campaign.  Fred Sainz, a spokesman for the Human Rights Campaign, said the anti-gay marriage group’s “nuisance complaint” further illustrates that it operated illegally while his organization followed disclosure laws. John Eastman, board chairman for the National Organization for Marriage, promised to file complaints against his opponents immediately after the five-member Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices accepted findings from a staff investigation that the organization violated Maine law.

(Tipped by JMG reader Tom)