April 3, 2024: John King for Governor Campaign Cited for Authority Line Violations
Charlton T. Howard III, Maryland State Prosecutor, announced today that the John King for Governor campaign committee has been fined $2,000 dollars via civil citation for sending campaign material to at least two Maryland State Education Association (MSEA) board members ahead of the 2022 Maryland Primary Election without an authority line.
According to the affidavit in support of the civil citations filed by the Office of the State Prosecutor, the emails, sent on or about March 24, 2022 from the email address honestmddems@gmail.com to MSEA board members, contained campaign material relating to the background of Wes Moore, who was a candidate in the 2022 Gubernatorial Primary at the time. The emails did not contain the authority line information required by Maryland law.
The affidavit in support of the citations further states that the honestmddems@gmail.com account was logged into using a Verizon IP address subscribed to by Joseph O’Hern. O’Hern was the campaign manager for the John King for Governor campaign.
Maryland law requires campaign messages sent by a campaign finance entity to include the name and address of the treasurer of each campaign finance entity responsible for the campaign material. It further requires if campaign material is published by an individual that the person responsible for the material’s distribution needs to be identified. There was no authority line or information stating that the emails or attachments were sent by or paid for by the John King for Governor campaign.
“Identifying the source of campaign material is essential to honesty and transparency in our electoral process, particularly as advancing technology enables ever broader outreach to the electorate,’ said Howard. “I am proud of our team’s continuing efforts to protect the integrity of Maryland’s elections.”
Mr. Howard thanked Senior Assistant State Prosecutor Letam Duson, and Special Agents Cynthia Thomas and Daniel Bralove for their work on this case.
A copy of the affidavit filed with the civil citations can be found HERE.
Contact
media.osp@maryland.gov