With no end in sight to Tim Eyman’s stonewalling in the main State v. Eyman case, Thurston County Superior Court Judge James Dixon on Friday doubled the daily contempt sanctions against him and his associates from $250/day to $500/day and granted the state direct access to Eyman’s banking records.

Last Friday, Thurston County Superior Court Judge James Dixon found Tim Eyman in contempt of court in the main State of Washington v. Tim Eyman campaign finance enforcement case. It was a pretty significant development in the lawsuit, which was filed almost a year ago, but it only got covered by one major media outlet that day: the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, which ran a thorough story by columnist and reporter Joel Connelly.

Now, thankfully, The Herald of Everett has joined the party, with a lengthy article by columnist and reporter Jerry Cornfield that is also being carried in other publications like The Seattle Times and U.S. News & World Report via the Associated Press.

Cornfield opted to cover both the contempt finding and Eyman’s recently-announced suit seeking to block the Legislature’s I-940 compromise in the same piece; but the version distributed by the Associated Press omits the passages about Eyman’s lawsuit and only presents the news about Eyman being held in contempt.

That’s sure to irritate Eyman, who undoubtedly hoped that the filing of the lawsuit would bury the news of the contempt finding and get him ink, airtime, and pixels on his terms.

Although Attorney General Bob Ferguson did not issue a news release following Friday’s decision by Judge Dixon, he did comment on the record for Connelly and Cornfield.

Here are his comments on the contempt finding:

The court today found Tim Eyman and his co-defendants are in contempt because of their failure to fully comply with our discovery requests. Mr. Eyman has resisted our efforts to shine a light on his activities every step of the way. Hopefully, the contempt sanctions will finally motivate Mr. Eyman and his associates to comply with the court’s order to produce the requested documents, including relevant financial information.

Dixon’s written order has not yet been released, but when it is, we will publish a link to it.

Today, Thurston County Superior Court Judge James Dixon held Tim Eyman in contempt of court for failing to turn over records needed to move forward in the State of Washington’s principal case against Eyman for serious violations of our public disclosure laws. Eyman and his co-defendants have each been ordered to pay $250 per day in penalties, dating back to February 16th, 2018, until their contempt is purged.

Northwest Progressive Institute founder and Executive Director Andrew Villeneuve, who has been organizing opposition to Eyman’s initiative factory for over sixteen years, suggested tougher penalties may be needed to put an end to Eyman’s stonewalling.

“The team at NPI thanks Judge Dixon for holding Tim Eyman in contempt of court for his endless stonewalling, but we think a fine of $2,000 per day, as proposed by Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s office, would have been more appropriate,” said Villeneuve.

“From the beginning, Eyman has done everything possible to impede and obstruct this investigation while disingenuously claiming to be cooperative. The timeline bears this out. Five years have now passed since the Public Disclosure Commission began investigating this matter, while two and a half years have passed since that investigation was handed off to Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s office. Here we are in March of 2018, with nearly a year having been passed since the State filed an action in Superior Court, and Eyman is still withholding records needed to proceed with the case. That’s unacceptable.”

The case number is 17-2-01546-34.

Earlier today, the campaign finance unit of the Attorney General’s office filed a motion in Thurston County Superior Court seeking to have Tim Eyman and his fellow defendants held in contempt for failing (once again) to comply with prior court orders compelling their complete responses to the state’s discovery requests.

Tim Eyman’s associates Roy Ruffino and Eddie Agazarm, who Eyman depends on to run his signature drives, have been ordered to pay over $10,000 in court costs and attorneys’ fees to the State of Washington by Thurston County Superior Court Judge Mary Sue Wilson for failing to cooperate with Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s investigation into Eyman’s serious violations of Washington’s public disclosure law.

The order reads:

THIS MATTER came before the Court on the State’s Motion to Set Attorneys’ Fees and Costs; the parties appeared through counsel. The Court considered the records and files in this matter as well as the arguments of the parties. Respondents failed to file a response.

Having previously ordered that the State was entitled to payment of attorneys’ fees and costs associated with initiating this case, and having determined that the State’s request for fees and costs through the time of filing of this motion is reasonable, the Court hereby ORDERS as follows:

1. The State’s Motion to Set Attorneys’ Fees and Costs is granted.
2. For work completed through the date of the filing of this motion, Respondents shall pay Petitioner, State of Washington, the amount of $9,975.00 as reasonable attorneys fees and the amount of $494.50 as costs pursuant to RCW 42.17A.765(5).
3. The Court reserves the right to order payment of additional attorneys’ fees and costs for any further proceedings brought by the State for Respondents’ failure to comply with the Court’s Order dated July 1, 2016, including but not limited to attorneys’ fees and costs related to the State’s pending Motion for Contempt of Court.

DONE IN OPEN COURT this 5th day of August, 2016.

While Wilson granted the state’s motion to set attorneys fees, she decided not to consider a motion to hold Ruffno and Agazarm in contempt of court for the time being, instead directing the parties to work together to reschedule a hearing on that motion for later this month. A Snohomish County Superior Court judge is scheduled to hear arguments concerning a related motion to hold Eyman himself in contempt of court next Friday.

The team at NPI is pleased that Eyman and his associates are finally paying a price for their stonewalling, which has prevented the people of Washington from knowing what really happened. We agree with the Attorney General’s office that it is evident Eyman has no desire to cooperate with this investigation. To the extent he has turned over records sought, it is merely so he can feign compliance with lawfully-issued civil orders seeking documents that would bring the truth to light. And that’s not good enough. We support the state’s motions asking that Eyman and company be held in contempt of court.

Today, Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s office announced it has filed motions in Snohomish and Thurston County Superior Court asking that Tim Eyman and his associates be found in contempt for failing to fully cooperate with its investigation into Eyman’s serious alleged violations of Washington’s public disclosure laws.

In an attempt to put an end to Eyman’s stonewalling, Ferguson is seeking fines of $2,000 a day and authorization to obtain documents directly from the federal government and the banks Eyman does business with.

“We applaud Attorney General Ferguson for going back to court to hold Tim Eyman accountable for his refusal to produce the records crucial to the completion of this important investigation,” said Northwest Progressive Institute founder and Executive Director Andrew Villeneuve, who has been organizing opposition to Eyman’s initiatives for over fourteen years.

“Many years ago, the people of Washington created the Public Disclosure Commission and our campaign finance reporting system in order to shine a light on money in politics. Sadly, Tim Eyman has been operating for years as though that law doesn’t apply to him.”

“Attorney General Ferguson and our state attorneys have been patiently waiting for Tim Eyman to turn over the documents they need to uncover the truth for months, but they have been waiting in vain. It has become abundantly clear that Eyman has no intention of cooperating — presumably because he’s afraid of what the evidence will show once it has been produced. As our Attorney General has said, that’s simply unacceptable.”

“We believe the relief being sought in this contempt motion is proper and appropriate, and we hope it is swiftly granted, so that justice can be served, and the essential facts needed to resolve this case brought to light.”

Notoriously dishonest initiative promoter Tim Eyman must turn over tax returns, bank statements, and other records requested by Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s office within the next two weeks, Snohomish County Court Judge Ellen Fair decided today, ordering that Eyman comply with Ferguson’s lawfully issued subpoenas.

Ferguson’s office has been seeking the records for months so it can investigate serious violations of Washington’s public disclosure laws uncovered during a multiyear Public Disclosure Commission investigation of Eyman’s finances, which was referred to Ferguson’s office last autumn.

Ferguson’s probe has been stalled due to a lack of cooperation by Eyman and his associates, which prompted the filing of petitions in Snohomish and Thurston Superior Courts. At the time those petitions were filed, NPI called on Eyman to stop stonewalling and comply with the Attorney General’s subpoenas.

That has still not happened (Eyman’s attorney Mark Lamb’s response to the petitions was to declare that he was “happy to litigate” the issue), but hopefully it will very soon now that Judge Fair has issued her order.

“We welcome this important development and thank Attorney General Ferguson for going to court to hold Tim Eyman accountable and get this investigation moving,” said Northwest Progressive Institute founder and Executive Director Andrew Villeneuve, who has been organizing opposition to Eyman initiatives for more than fourteen years.

“Tim Eyman has operated for years as though the law simply doesn’t apply to him. He has pretended to be interested in cooperating with this investigation while stalling, obfuscating, and delaying at every turn. Enough! It’s time for the stonewalling to end. We hope that Judge Fair got Eyman’s attention today when she ordered him to pay the State of Washington for the costs of bringing this action. It’s about time Tim Eyman started paying a price for repeatedly wasting the people’s time and money.”