Tim Eyman must pay $5.5 million for campaign violations

OLYMPIA — A Washington state appeals court Dec. 6 upheld virtually all of the ruling against initiative promoter Tim Eyman in the campaign finance case brought by Attorney General Bob Ferguson.

After a 2021 trial, a Thurston County Superior Court ordered Eyman to pay a civil penalty of $2.6 million. The court also ordered Eyman to pay $2.9 million to cover the state’s costs and fees associated with investigating and prosecuting the case. Eyman subsequently appealed, resulting in today’s decision.

The judge ruled that Eyman intentionally committed “numerous and blatant violations” of Washington’s voter-approved campaign finance laws. On multiple occasions, the state caught him illegally and intentionally concealing hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions that ended up in his personal bank account.

“Yet another court determined that Tim Eyman engaged in an intentional conspiracy to conceal political contributions and kickback payments to himself,” Ferguson said. “We appreciate that the Court unanimously upheld the overwhelming majority of the trial court’s ruling, including affirming Eyman’s numerous egregious and intentional violations and keeping in place key court orders to make it harder for Eyman to engage in future illegal conduct. Importantly, the Court of Appeals ruled that the state is the ‘predominantly prevailing party’ in this appeal. Consequently, the court ordered Eyman to reimburse the costs we incurred responding to his appeal. This is in addition to the $2.9 million in attorneys’ fees he must already pay, which the Court of Appeals upheld.”

Source: Washington Attorney General’s office