By Howard Fischer
Capitol Media Services/Arizona Daily Sun
An Arizona group that has funneled more than $1.1 million to defeat two Arizona initiatives was sued Thursday by California authorities to disclose the source of its donors.
In a lawsuit filed in Sacramento County Superior Court, the Fair Political Practices Commission says Americans for Responsible Leadership, set up as a non-profit corporation, gave $11 million to fund two separate ballot campaigns in that state.
What’s missing, according to the legal papers, is any disclosure of where the group, which list a Phoenix post office box as its address, is getting its money.
The California commission wants a judge to force the organization to provide that information.
If the lawsuit is successful, it could provide a peak at who is also behind the $750,000 donation to the campaign against Proposition 204, making it the largest single source of cash against the bid to create a permanent one-cent surcharge on the state sales tax. The same organization also has kicked in $415,000 to defeat Proposition 121 that would create an open primary system for all Arizona elections.
