Saturday, January 23, 1999
Election officials exonerate GOP activist of '96 charges
BY PATRICK CROWLEY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
FORT MITCHELL — Kentucky election officials have dismissed money laundering and other campaign violation charges made against Paula Miller, a Northern Kentucky Republican Party activist.
The Kentucky Registry of Election Finance cleared Mrs. Miller on Thursday of allegations that she broke state campaign election laws during Republican Jack Westwood's 1996 state Senate race, said Rosemary Centers, the registry's attorney.
Covington attorney John Fortner, vice chairman of the Kenton County Democratic Executive Committee, had alleged in a complaint filed in April that Mrs. Miller illegally laundered money through the state Republican Party into Mr. Westwood's campaign and failed to report a series of campaign expenses.
Mrs. Miller was the campaign treasurer for Mr. Westwood, who defeated incumbent Joe Meyer, a Covington Democrat, in the hotly contested race.
“The charges brought against me by Mr. Fortner were serious, but they were false and politically motivated,” Mrs. Miller said Friday.
“It is an unfortunate reality that innocent people are forced at great expense to defend themselves against wild accusations,” she said. “Apparently, filing ethical or campaign finance charges against your political opponents has become a favorite pas time of the Democrats.”
Mrs. Miller also worked on the 1998 congressional campaign of Boone County Republican Gex “Jay” Williams, who lost the 4th District race to Democrat Ken Lucas.
In that race, Democrats close to the Lucas campaign filed similar complaints against Mr. Williams. The complaints hurt the Republican candidate, leaders of both parties have said since the election.
Mrs. Miller credited her attorney, Eric Deters of Crestview Hills, with presenting an excellent argument.
“Eric Deters did an outstanding job in testimony before the registry, and it became quite clear to (registry members) that Mr. Fortner simply did not have a legitimate argument,” she said.
Mr. Fortner denied any political motives and said he filed the complaint as a friend of Mr. Meyer's and not as a Democratic Party official.
The charges could have resulted in a fine of up to $5,000, as well as civil or criminal penalties.
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