From Deseret News archives:

Group refuses to ID its donors

Published: Friday, Oct. 29, 2004 9:40 p.m. MDT
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"I'm dumbfounded that you have no idea where that money came from," McCoy said Friday in a debate with amendment supporters. "Aren't you curious?"

UBT co-chairman Monte Stewart said, "We've complied with all the reporting disclosure requirements."

If there is any sort of a campaign finance scandal, it would have "fairly significant," impact to change voters' minds on an issue such as Amendment 3, said Kelly Patterson, director of the Center for Study of Election and Politics at Brigham Young University.

"It would really take a bombshell," Patterson said. "Voters stake out their positions on moral issues; they don't abandon those easily."

Blair did not return phone calls for comment. His e-mail stated that he was "on a work assignment in the Eastern states and don't expect to return to Utah until after Election Day.

"We anticipate continuing our activity for many years, inasmuch as it is unlikely that the current Amendment 3 issue and other issues affecting Utah families and families across America will go away any time soon," Blair's e-mail said.

The message did not include any information on his background.

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A man named Neal Blair was fired in 1997 after working for U.S. Rep. Chris Cannon, R-Utah, as a fund raiser. Cannon's spokeswoman Megan Riding couldn't confirm Friday whether the Blair who sent the e-mail was the same individual who once worked for Cannon.

The Blair who worked for Cannon was at one time president of a PAC that the Federal Election Commission fined $44,000 in the 1980s. That individual was accused of funneling money from one organization through RuffPAC, which he left in 1989, to various campaigns, of illegally taking corporate donations and of illegally mixing PAC funds with its state campaign arm and failing to keep accurate records of expenses.

That Blair was sentenced to 60 days in jail after failing to file his 1984 income taxes.


E-mail: dbulkeley@desnews.com

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