Campaigns and independent expenditure groups can each work to elect the same candidate, but they cannot coordinate efforts in any way.
The State Elections Enforcement Commission voted to accept the fine and consent order Wednesday. Neither partner admitted guilt in agreeing to the settlement.
“The claims lack merit. It would take years and millions of dollars, especially for taxpayers,” Obsitnik said. “It just doesn’t make sense to fight. It is just time to move on.”
“I didn’t observe a single instance of coordination while I was volunteering with the committee,” Perillo said Wednesday in a phone interview. However, he did the math and it was “cheaper to pay the fine than defend myself.” He estimated a legal defense would cost him about $50,000.
A manager at the State Elections Enforcement Commission was suspended for 15 days without pay in November, two months after she allegedly told a co-worker during a stressful conversation at the agency’s Hartford office: “If my 80-year-old mother gets COVID, I will shoot someone.” Linda Waterman, the SEEC’s $97,691-a-year director of campaign disclosure and audit, explained the Sept. 10 .
SEEC: Clock ran out on investigation of Stratford election complaint lmtonline.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from lmtonline.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.