State senator under investigation over campaign reports
A state senator is being investigated for possible ethics violations involving campaign contribution reports and could face criminal prosecution.
Sen. Kyle Loveless, R-Oklahoma City, did not report thousands of dollars in donations given to his 2012 and 2016 campaigns, records show.
“There’s a potential these are felony violations,” Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prater said Thursday.
Loveless, 43, on Thursday hired an Oklahoma City attorney, Glenn Coffee, and said he would cooperate with the investigation.
“I am cooperating with the Ethics Commission to find out what, if anything, went wrong. After the completion of the investigation, if the Ethics Commission finds anything to be my error, I will immediately resolve it,” Loveless said.
Loveless has become one of the more visible legislators at the Capitol since taking office in 2012 because he has been outspoken in his criticism of current civil forfeiture laws.
He has called the laws unAmerican and has sought to change them. He has complained police should not be allowed to keep cash seized during a traffic stop when no drugs were found and no criminal charges filed.
The Oklahoma Ethics
Commission voted in November to begin an investigation of his 2012 and 2016 campaigns, records show. The Ethics Commission is scheduled to discuss the investigation in private Friday during its regular monthly meeting. The Ethics Commission’s executive director, Ashley Kemp, declined to comment Thursday.
The district attorney said he contacted the Ethics Commission on Thursday for information on Loveless because of a media report about the investigation.
“We will review the matter and determine how to move forward. But is there a potential for a criminal prosecution? Yes,” Prater said.
Prater has prosecuted elected officials before over issues with their campaign reports.
Last May, Prater charged former state Rep. Gus Blackwell with multiple felony and misdemeanor counts involving legislative travel and campaign reports.
Blackwell, R-Laverne, pleaded guilty in January to a single felony perjury count, admitting his final campaign report was false. Under a deal, he paid $10,000 in restitution to the state House and is on probation for five years.
In November, Prater charged state schools Superintendent Joy Hofmeister with four felony counts involving her 2014 campaign. The Tulsa Republican is accused of accepting illegal donations and conspiring to break campaign fundraising laws. She denies wrongdoing.
Loveless was unopposed in 2012 and won re-election in 2016 in the primary last June.
Despite those outcomes, he still is required by the Ethics Commission to file regular reports on any campaign contributions and expenditures.
Loveless filed paperwork to kick off his 2016 campaign in May, months late, records show.
He filed his first 2016 campaign contributions report weeks late, his second one on time and his third one two months late, records show. He has not filed his last reports at all. They were due Oct. 31 and Jan. 31.
More seriously, he also did not report all of his PAC donations, records show. For his 2016 campaign, he reported accepting $11,000 from political action committees through Aug. 8. Those organizations reported giving $29,300 to Loveless during the same time period.
Loveless signed the 2016 campaign reports electronically, acknowledging “the information submitted is complete, true and accurate as of the date submitted” and failure to provide such information is an ethics violation.
Similarly, in the final reports for his 2012 campaign, he stated he accepted $11,800 in PAC donations in 2015. However, those organizations reported giving Loveless $20,550 in 2015.