When Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson sent checks to Evergreen State citizens, ostensibly as part of an effort to reimburse people for overpayment for chicken and canned tuna in an alleged price fixing scheme, he fell under immediate criticism for attempting to make political hay with taxpayers’ money.
The result is not only an embarrassing political goof, it could also cost Ferguson’s campaign a lot of money, according to The Center Square. An ethics complaint has been filed with the State Ethics Board because the checks were accompanied by a letter, signed by Ferguson, which the complaint alleges is an illegal use of state money to support Ferguson’s gubernatorial campaign, the story explained.
Adding insult to possible injury, conservative talk radio station KVI in Seattle has been talking about this controversy, and some listeners calling morning drive time host John Carlson have suggested cashing the checks and sending the money to the opposing gubernatorial campaigns of former Republican Congressman Dave Reichert or Semi Bird, an Army veteran who also worked for the Department of Energy.
“Bob Ferguson obviously was hoping that sending out these checks would have an impact on the governor’s race,” Carlson said in a message to Liberty Park Press. “Apparently he was more correct than he meant to be.”
Ferguson has been lambasted for putting his name on the checks and for explaining in an attached letter that he successfully sued more than 20 corporations that sold chicken and canned tuna after secretly agreeing to raise prices for these products. In the letter he stated, “one of my top priorities is protecting consumers from fraud and deception. When corporations do not play by the rules, my team and I take action…I am returning the money to Washingtonians, like you, who were harmed by their illegal conduct.”
Brandi Kruse, a veteran Seattle-area political reporter now hosting a podcast called (un)Divided, has dubbed Ferguson’s checks as “chicken checks.” These “chicken checks” supposedly were sent to low-income households, but that apparently has not always been the case.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-uUSYyUgxtI
There is no small irony in the fact that so many recipients of these checks are apparently turning them into contributions to Ferguson’s political rivals. Reichert, for example, has reportedly polled higher than Ferguson. Reichert is the former King County sheriff known for having led the hunt for the notorious “Green River Killer” and he has statewide respect and name familiarity.
According to Alan Gottlieb, founder and executive vice president of the Second Amendment Foundation, at least one check recipient signed over his check to SAF.
Ferguson is known for his gun control activism and partisan political maneuvers which included multiple lawsuits against former President Donald Trump.
The checks, for $50 or $120, were sent to thousands of people, including many who had been dead for several years. Some checks were reportedly mailed to people at addresses where they never resided.
According to the Center Square report, the ethics complaint alleges sending the checks was a “blatant violation” of state statute. The news outlet quoted the complaint, which asserts, “Bob Ferguson decided to send checks to hundreds of thousands or millions of lower-income people, giving them a portion of the settlement with chicken and tuna companies…He put his names on the check as the payer, AND he attached a letter to the checks that is blatant and illegal campaigning with public funds.”
