Two attorneys alleged in a May 18 complaint to county and state officials that elected officials' involvement in the county's lawsuit over business closure orders constituted a campaign finance violation.

The elected officials, on the other hand, call the complaint nothing more than a “political ploy.”

The attorneys, Jennifer Gilliland Vanasdale and Steven Townsend, sent a letter to county District Attorney Richard Goldinger and state Attorney General Josh Shapiro requesting an investigation into what they consider violations of “the law and ethics rules.”

The letter was sent on behalf of four clients — Paul Critchlow, Diane Ventura, Fontaine Graham and Gary Vanasdale — whom Jennifer Gilliland Vanasdale described as Republicans concerned about the county's actions.

Vanasdale sent the letter to Goldinger and Shapiro because they have joint jurisdiction under state law to investigate alleged campaign finance violations. Goldinger did not respond to multiple requests for comment, and a spokesman from Shapiro's office said the office does not comment on specific cases or allegations.

“OAG (Office of Attorney General) receives referrals from outside agencies to investigate allegations regarding campaign finance issues in accordance with the Commonwealth Attorneys Act,” the spokesman wrote in an email Friday. “The Election Code also gives our office independent jurisdiction to investigate campaign finance matters.”

Accusations of improper commingling

In the attorneys' view, the involvement of four elected officials — state Reps. Marci Mustello, R-11th, Daryl Metcalfe, R-12th, and Tim Bonner, R-8th, as well as U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly, R-16th — and no other candidates in next month's primary election is an improper commingling of government resources and candidates' goals.

“There is only one law firm representing both the county and the elected officials — who are also candidates for election. We know of no other candidates that were asked to be a part of the state acted-upon lawsuit,” the letter states. “Of course, no such candidates should have been contacted, or included, based on various laws and rules.”

Metcalfe called the complaint “bogus” and a “political move.”

“They're clearly out there working on behalf of (Gov. Tom) Wolf's agenda because for me to put my name on this lawsuit was to stand up for the rights of my constituents (who) are being violated through dictate after dictate from Tom Wolf,” he said.

In the lawsuit, the officials are introduced alongside their roles in government — as a member of either the U.S. or state House of Representatives — but are described as bringing the action as citizens and not in their “representative capacit(ies).”

That specific wording doesn't matter, Townsend argues. He says that while the officials are noted as being citizens in the lawsuit, the rights they claim are being violated by the state mandates are related to their reelection activities, something with which he says the county should not be involved.

“Just because you have a named plaintiff and you indicate it's a state representative or a congressman, you can't sanitize that complaint by stating they're filing on behalf of themselves as individuals,” he said.

Private citizens or elected officials

Bonner, Metcalfe, Mustello, county Commissioners Chairwoman Leslie Osche and Tom King, the attorney who filed the lawsuit, said the officials have a right to bring the action as private citizens.

Other counties listed as plaintiffs in the suit include Fayette, Greene and Washington.

“The county has every right to initiate legal action, and the people who have joined us, it's not at all unusual for citizens who reside in the counties who are being represented to join those counties in challenging something, and the people who joined us have no control over (the lawsuit) and they haven't directed us to do anything,” King said. “We asked them to join us.”

Mustello echoed King's comment.

“I did nothing in my legislative capacity to join this lawsuit. It has nothing to do with the title that I carry,” she said. “It is me, Marci Mustello, as a citizen.”

But Vanasdale and Townsend disagreed, saying the four officials were the only candidates for office asked to be plaintiffs in the suit. That, Townsend said, was another impetus for the letter.

“I don't know that it's proper to have specific named plaintiffs as elected officials and having the government represent those individuals as plaintiffs,” he said.

Bonner also noted he joined the lawsuit as a citizen, and not as a representative, arguing that his position does not mean he should waive what he sees as his constitutional rights. He pointed out that being an elected state representative doesn't mean he gave up his rights as a private citizen.

“The fact that I have been elected as a state rep doesn't require me to waive my rights as any other citizen to file a lawsuit, even against the governor of Pennsylvania, if I believe that the governor has acted in an unconstitutional manner, and that is what I have done by joining in this lawsuit,” Bonner said.

He argued Pennsylvanians are hurting because of the governor's emergency order, adding he sees no clear end in sight.

“We think that there should be a judicial review of his power and authority under the various acts he claims the right to issue these orders,” Bonner said.

Taking a different course of action

But Townsend, while agreeing officials have a right to challenge Wolf's orders, said there is another way to do so.

“If you're going to become a litigant and make a complaint against the governor, you file a private cause of action,” he said.

King and Metcalfe both contend other candidates were asked to be plaintiffs in the lawsuit.

Commissioner Kevin Boozel, on the other hand, said he hadn't had a chance to review the lawsuit until shortly before a public meeting about its filing and that only then was he told he could ask others to join the lawsuit.

Dan Smith, a Democrat running for Metcalfe's seat, said he wasn't asked until the public meeting, which he argued wasn't appropriate.

“I was not asked at the time. I did not receive an email. I received no call, nor did my campaign receive an email or a call about this case in its development,” he said. “One has to be part of the development stage to be part of a lawsuit. Not just thrown on at the last minute.”

Bonner argues the lawsuit — even if Vanasdale's allegations are fully accurate — benefits all of the candidates, even if only currently elected officials are named as plaintiffs.

“She's claiming in this letter that the four elected officials (who) joined in this lawsuit would receive a political advantage through this process,” Bonner said. “My response to that is that this lawsuit is to benefit all citizens of the commonwealth, including others who may seek elected office, but more importantly all private citizens who are looking to get back to work and support their families.”

Government funds

At the crux of the two attorneys' letter is their claim the lawsuit is a misappropriation of government resources. Vanasdale argues the use of county funds toward paying for the lawsuit is to “the benefit of those candidates.”

County Commissioner Kim Geyer said the allegations have no merit and the process commissioners have followed has been “transparent” and law-abiding.

“In her personal quest to destroy other people's reputations, Ms. Vanasdale uses and manipulates people for her own self-serving purposes, and the people of Butler County are much smarter than she gives them credit for and they, just as I do, consider the source,” Geyer said.

Kelly's chief of staff, Matthew Stroia, flatly denied allegations that government funds have been used on the lawsuit.

“In this matter, Mr. Kelly acted as a private citizen. No taxpayer money or government staff time was spent on this lawsuit, so the allegation is frivolous and a distraction from the question that needs to be answered: Do governors have the power to suspend the constitutional rights of Americans during a pandemic?” Stroia wrote in an email Thursday. “Mr. Kelly believes the answer is no.”

The county set up a streamlined way to account for potential donations for the lawsuit. Geyer said the methods of payment for the lawsuit are “yet to be determined,” but hopes other counties named in the suit would chip in.

Geyer, Metcalfe and Mustello said they believe the lawsuit has more merit than the attorneys' letter. Osche agreed the suit is valid, and declined to comment on whether the attorneys' letter also has merit.

Path forward

Vanasdale said she and Townsend are hoping either Shapiro or Goldinger would be able to investigate the allegations. If not, she said, their clients are prepared to take matters further.

“We will absolutely see this through,” she said. “We are waiting, at this point, to see what the DA and/or the Attorney General's Office does.”

The county filed an amicus curiae — or “friend of the court” — brief Tuesday asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review a separate case challenging the governor's business closure orders.

Excepting an intervention by either the district attorney or attorney general, both the county's lawsuit and the attorneys' allegations might play out in court.

“We will pursue other avenues as well as they are needed, which may also include injunctive relief (by which a court would order the end of the county's suit) and/or seeking civil repayment to the taxpayers for this action,” Vanasdale said.

Related Article: Field of Flags