Napolitano sues Hahn over six-figure campaign contribution violation

Los Angeles County supervisorial candidate Steve Napolitano has sued his opponent, U.S. Rep. Janice Hahn, demanding that she return hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions deemed improper by county officials. The suit also seeks a court order prohibiting Hahn from spending the money.

Last month, the county registrar’s office determined that Hahn had accepted $439,619 in contributions from political action committees, far exceeding the $150,000 cap on PAC contributions set by county law.

Hahn’s campaign at first resisted making a refund, arguing that the contribution limit had been lifted because Napolitano, senior deputy to 4^th District Supervisor Don Knabe, expressed his intention to spend an unlimited amount of his own money on the race.

But in a Sept. 19 letter, the registrar’s office affirmed its original determination, adding that Hahn’s campaign could “cure” a violation by returning contributions from PACs in excess of the limit within 30 days. That amounts to almost $290,000.

Napolitano’s suit disputes that figure. It alleges that the improper contributions stand at almost $375,000, based on a review by his attorney of campaign filings.

The registrar’s office did not respond Wednesday to the allegations contained in the lawsuit, which was filed Tuesday.

Having to make a six-figure refund could be a major blow to Hahn’s campaign account. The Hahn campaign had $259,000 in cash on hand as of June 30, the most recent campaign filing shows.

In a statement emailed to The Times, Hahn campaign consultant John Shallman called the lawsuit a “political stunt” and an attempt to distract the voters from the fact that Napolitano is a “slumlord millionaire” funding his campaign with “taxpayer money he gets from owning low-income apartments.”

The statement said Hahn’s campaign would return the excess contributions “under the process laid out by the county,” even though the county law “is clearly unconstitutional and rigs the system in favor of millionaires who want to buy a seat on the board.”

Napolitano’s suit also takes issue with the county’s time frame for returning contributions, alleging that the deadline given to Hahn to make a refund goes way beyond the time allowable under the law.

“What’s the point of having these rules if they’re not going to be enforced? We’re talking about the largest campaign contribution violation in the history of the county,” Napolitano said in an interview.

Jessica Levinson, an L.A. city ethics commissioner and Loyola Law School professor, pointed out that there’s an “easy and legal loophole” for donors looking to help county candidates with large contributions.

While there is a limit on how much PACs can give directly to a campaign, she said, PACs can make unlimited independent expenditures promoting a candidate as long as they do not coordinate with the candidate.

“In a world in which money flows so freely, and there are so many ways that donors can exercise their 1st Amendment rights to give and spend, it’s rare that you see a knowing violation of contribution limits,” Levinson said. “That in my mind tends to indicate that this could be a mistaken belief” on the part of Hahn’s campaign.

Napolitano’s attorney, Stuart Leviton, said Napolitano would seek a temporary restraining order Thursday to stop Hahn from spending PAC contributions above the limit.

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