Former House Speaker Gene Chandler has pleaded guilty to not reporting the tens of thousands of dollars he received in gifts over the past six years.
New Hampshire Public Radio's Dan Gorenstein reports.
The Attorney General began its investigation into Gene Chandler's financial activities last September.
Six months and 70 interviews later, the state has charged the former House Speaker with failing to report his contributions as mandated by state law.
Chandler had admitted as much, however, as soon as he submitted the late reports with the Secretary of State last fall.
In addition, the AG cleared the Bartlett Republican of any corruption charges.
Much of the state's case centered on what Chandler knew and when he knew it.
The investigation relied on three key pieces of evidence.
One, in 1998 the Secretary of State sent a letter to a Chandler associate saying the net proceeds from a fundraiser must be reported.
Two, the next year, Chandler complied with a request from then Speaker Donna Syteck to report his gift receipts.
Three, Chandler himself, filed a gift form after a lobbyist put him up in a hotel.
Given those facts, assistant attorney general Simon Brown says it's clear Gene Chandler knowingly did not file his reports.
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:18 knowingly, to paraphrase, means the person knew his actions would cause a certain result. It's our view that the evidence supports a conclusion that he was given notice of his obligations under 15-B. he knew of his obligations. He knew he received gifts, and he failed to report. The evidence supports the plea he entered this morning and he did plead guilty.
In essence, the Attorney General concludes that Chandler was aware or should have been aware of the reporting requirements.
All along, Chandler has insisted he just made an honest mistake.
In a written statement the lawmaker said at the time he believed he was following the law, it was later that he came to realize he was mistaken.
Chandler and the Attorney General agreed the fair price to pay for that mistake was a two thousand dollar fine and 100 hours of community service.
But Chandler's attorney Ovide Lamontagne says the former Speaker has already paid a much greater price.
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8:14 any one in public service, especially in NH knows that your stock and trade in public service is your reputation. And NH people are perhaps unique of a person's word is still their bond. And that's the practice in the NH statehouse. The questions that have been raised by these issues have cast a shadow on his reputation. That's a high price...He was the Speaker of the House and he stepped dwon once the Legislative Ethics Committee brought charges...If that is not a high price to pay in NH, I don't know what is.
Lamontagne says his client was very helpful during the investigation, providing numerous documents, including bank statements from his seven different accounts.
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He has continued ot work with his counsel, the AG's office, and the Ethics Committee to bring some conclusion and closure to this in the long run.
Despite his cooperation, Chandler, though, did refuse an interview with the Attorney General's office.
At the statehouse, a few lawmakers joked they'd happily pay a $2000 dollar fine after getting 64 thousand any day.
But the most common reaction was silence, at least on the record.
Republicans and Democrats alike declined to speak about their colleague's guilty plea.
But for the minority who did, most like Democratic Senator Lou D'Allesandro said it's just good to have the investigation over with.
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:44 he broke the law. He owned up to it. and we move forward. That's why we put erasers on pencils. If we condemned every person who broke the law and didn't allow them back into society, what kind of a society would we be?
The Joint Legislative Ethics Committee has waited patiently for the completion of the AG's investigation.
That Committee has charged Chandler with violating the state's ethics code for accepting more than $250 dollars from individuals with business before the Legislature.
Deputy Speaker Ken Weyler, who was one of two representatives to file a complaint with the Ethics Committee, says he's still concerned about the shadow Chandler's actions have cast on the entire Legislature.
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2:33 further action needs to be taken by the ethics committee. A misdemeanor has been treated, that's one thing. The ethics is a separate situation. The two are not the same. They are tied together...but one is a misdemeanor the other is an ethics violation.
The Ethics Committee is scheduled to meet on April 4th.
For NHPR News, I'm DG.
