Panel exonerates Jerry Brown in complaint filed by Whitman campaign

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Jerry Brown has been cleared of wrongdoing by the state agency that enforces state campaign laws. The letter from the Fair Political Practices Commission exonerating Brown came in response to a complaint filed by Republican Meg Whitman’s campaign.

Whitman’s complaint made two separate claims. The first was that a union-backed independent expenditure committee, Level the Playing Field 2010, had misfiled its paperwork upon its formation. The second claim was that Brown himself had violated campaign finance laws when he asked a labor group to “attack” on his behalf.

On the larger point, the commission ruled Brown did not violate state law. “There was insufficient evidence in the complaint and continues to be insufficient evidence ... to support this allegation,” wrote Adrianne Korchmaros, a consultant in the FPPC’s enforcement division. The law “provides safe harbor to a candidate who, in a non-specific way, asks for support.”

On the other point, Korchmaros noted that Level the Playing Field has refiled its paperwork since Whitman’s complaint was first filed, rendering the concerns moot.

-- Anthony York