7 PACs’ gifts to judge draw ethics inquiry

CONWAY - The Arkansas Ethics Commission is investigating Circuit Judge Michael Maggio in regard to his acceptance of campaign contributions exceeding the legal limit from political action committees financed by a nursing-home tycoon.

The commission said it will examine whether Maggio took contributions greater than the state-mandated limit of $2,000 from any single donor in his since-halted campaign for the Arkansas Court of Appeals. Records show that three of the committees gave Maggio more than $2,000 each for that race.

The panel also will examine the legitimacy of the PACs, which began accepting money from tycoon Michael Morton or his businesses on July 8.

That same day, Maggio heard a plea from one of Morton’s 32 nursing homes to reduce a Faulkner County jury’s multimillion-dollar judgment against it. Three days later, Maggio reduced the $5.2 million award to $1 million. The decision came in a negligence lawsuit filed in the 2008 death of Martha Bull, a patient at Greenbrier Rehabilitation and Nursing Center.

Ethics Commission Director Graham Sloan advised Thomas Buchanan,the attorney representing two of Bull’s daughters, of the decision to investigate in a letter dated Thursday.

On Friday, Buchanan released the letter in which Sloan asked Buchanan to “submit any and all evidence which you may have concerning the allegations.”

“We are encouraged that this commission is taking these allegations very seriously,” Buchanan said. “We are in the process of submitting to Director Sloan the evidence that we have concerning the allegations.”

Maggio did not return an email or a phone message seeking comment Friday.

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette has learned of an eighth political action committee, the Red Arkansas PAC, to which a Morton facility donated $3,000 on July 8. That PAC has given $500 to one other candidate but none to Maggio, according to the latest reports filed with the secretary of state’s office.

Sloan told Buchanan that the commission would investigate whether Maggio violated the law by accepting a campaign contribution “from a prohibited political action committee.”

Seven of the PACs, all created by Little Rock lawyer Chris Stewart, didn’t register with the secretary of state’s office until July 31, and another one didn’t register until Aug. 6. Each got more than$500 in contributions.

Arkansas Code Annotated 7-6-215 begins, “To qualify as an approved political action committee, the political action committee shall register with the Secretary of State within fifteen … days after accepting contributions during a calendar year that exceed … [$500] in the aggregate.”

Morton has previously said he thought he was giving money to PACs established to support Maggio’s campaign.

Stewart has denied that was the sole purpose of the PACs. Stewart’s office said Friday that he was on vacation, and he did not return a message left for him.

Morton or his businesses gave the eight PACs a total of $24,000 on July 8, records show. The seven PACs that donated to Maggio’s campaign gave it a total of $12,950 as of Jan. 31.

According to PAC and campaign-finance records filed with the state, the PACs that gave Maggio more than $2,000 were:

The Thomas Group In PAC, which gave Maggio $2,000 on Dec. 15 and $250 on Jan. 28.

The Go Good Government PAC, which gave Maggio $2,000 on Dec. 15 and $250 on Jan. 28.

The D. Bruce Hawkins 2 PAC, which registered later than the others, and gave Maggio $2,000 on Dec. 5 and $1,000 on Jan. 28.

Asked Friday about the issue of the PACs’ legality, Morton said, “How could I comment on that? I would have no idea about that.”

In a previous interview, Morton said he had supported Maggio because “I’m for a more conservative bench.”

“And the rulings that he [Maggio] made during my trial [of the lawsuit over Bull’s death] were conservative rulings, and I thought they also were by the law. When they were talking about him [running] for the Court of Appeals, I was just thinking about him moving up,” Morton said.

Morton said Friday that he doesn’t care who investigates the situation. “I haven’t done anything wrong,” he said.

Maggio already was under investigation by the Arkansas Judicial Discipline and Disability Commission. In addition to contribution issues, the agency is investigating online comments Maggio made about a wide range of topics including women, race, sex, divorce and bestiality.

The Arkansas Supreme Court has taken all of Maggio’s cases away from him, pending further notice.