By Tom Latek
Kentucky Today
Democratic Attorney General Andy Beshear could investigate Republican Gov. Matt Bevin and avoid a conflict of interest, but only if he doesn’t run for governor or support anyone else who does, according to the Executive Branch Ethics Commission.
Otherwise, Beshear would have to refer any probe of his political adversary to an outside investigative agency over which he has no authority.
Those were the conclusions of the commission in an opinion released on Monday.
The opinion puts the politically ambitious Beshear in an awkward position: He can either give up his gubernatorial aspirations for now or acknowledge he plans to run, which would cast a cloud of skepticism over a year’s worth of criticisms of Bevin.
Andy Beshear can’t personally launch an investigation against Gov. Matt Bevin unless he affirms he won’t run against him. (Photos/Kentucky Today)
Beshear hasn’t said what he will do. His office issued a written statement Monday afternoon saying he hasn’t yet received a copy of the opinion.
“Based on public reports, the opinion appears to be contradictory and vague,” Beshear’s staff said in the statement. “Therefore, our office will carefully review it before providing any comment.”
A government watchdog group, Common Cause of Kentucky, asked the Ethics Commission to investigate Bevin’s purchase of a home in Anchorage earlier this year. Common Cause did so after Beshear promised he would donate money to the organization that had been given to his campaign by one of his former staffers who is serving nearly six years in prison for accepting kickbacks from two companies doing business with the state.
Tim Longmeyer was working for Beshear’s father, a former governor, when he received the kickbacks, which were used for illegal illegal campaign contributions to Democratic candidates and causes.
Among Longmeyer’s contributions, according to the Kentucky Registry of Election Finance, was $1,000 to Andy Beshear’s campaign for attorney general, in both the 2015 primary and general elections. That’s the money Beshear promised to give to Common Cause of Kentucky.
Bevin spokesperson Amanda Stamper has said the Common Cause complaint is frivolous and politically motivated, and she said that the complainants should be aware of the penalties for perjury and making false ethics violation claims.
Deputy Attorney General J. Michael Brown had asked the Ethics Commission for an advisory opinion on whether Beshear’s office could investigate Bevin.
The opinion mirrored two previous ones, issued in 2003 and 2006, that held it would be a conflict of interest for a sitting attorney general, who hasn’t ruled out a run for governor, to investigate potential rivals.
The Ethics Commission also said the attorney general also can’t avoid a conflict of interest by recusing himself from the investigation by implementing “fire walls” to ensure he wasn’t personally engaged in the investigation.
The opinion held that the attorney general could contract with a third party to conduct an investigation “as long as the report of the third-party investigator is given to an individual with no conflicts of interest in the matter.”
“If you are willing to declare affirmatively that you will not run for the office of governor in the 2019 election cycle nor will you assist others in their run against the sitting governor during the 2019 election cycle, then you will not have a conflict of interest or be perceived as using your office of attorney general to further yours or others political interest,” the Ethics Commission said in the written opinion.
The Ethics Commission also said Beshear would risk violating state ethics laws if he conducts a probe without saying he will not run for governor in 2019.
“Therefore, we recommend you refer the investigation to another law enforcement entity over which you have no jurisdiction,” the Ethics Commission said.
Reach Tom Latek at tom.latek@kentuckytoday.com.
