Political offices commission takes first step to end disclosure charade

The Alaska Public Offices Commission took a small but important step to combat the financial disclosure scam used by some public officials who claim they have no idea how much their spouses make and from where—even though they are required to disclose the details by law.

Former Republican Rep. Lance Pruitt was among the latest to use this dodge when he claimed his wife would not tell him who her clients were.

His wife, Mary Ann Pruitt, made between $200,000 and $500,000 in 2019, but she would not tell Lance the names of her customers.

Mary Ann Pruitt is a former public relations consultant whose clients have included Gov. Mike Dunleavy. She is the director, president, shareholder, secretary, treasurer, and 100 percent owner of her company, PS Strategies, the largest source of income in the Pruitt family.

“Dear Sir/Madam,” Lance wrote to his wife, in a letter he provided to back up his claim that he made a “good-faith effort” to follow the law. "I am a representative in the Alaska Legislature.” He said he was obligated to reveal information about Mary Ann’s employment, adding helpfully, “As you know, Mary Ann is a marketing consultant at your company, PS Strategies.”

Pruitt claimed to the APOC that he had made a “good-faith effort” to get the information from his wife because he sent this letter to his wife and got a denial.

But it turned out that Mary Ann had listed the names of her PS Strategies customers in a separate financial disclosure to comply with the law when she was a communicator for Dunleavy. The list was available to any member of the public who bothered to look, even Lance.

The lack of disclosure by Lance is one of numerous violations that led the APOC to fine Pruitt nearly $20,000. The commission said his testimony was self-serving, which is an apt summary of his legislative career.

Pruitt, who at one time had been prematurely crowned House Speaker by Florida woman Suzanne Downing, later lost his 2020 election to Rep. Liz Snyder. He made a series of inaccurate and late campaign finance filings in recent years, the APOC concluded.

Others will continue to evade the law as long as the APOC allows them to do so. The agency should go beyond what it did with Pruitt and eliminate the “good faith” loophole.

Former Republican Rep. Craig Johnson regularly employed the scam going back to 2008 when he said his wife, a longtime executive at KTUU in Anchorage, allegedly kept her income secret from him.

The public official is “required to provide the information under oath and penalty of perjury” and that the official may be subject to penalties described in the law for refusing to provide the information.

The official must reveal all sources of income over $1,000, each source of income, details about commissions, hourly rates, etc. as well as the number of hours worked and the nature of the services performed.

Year after year, Johnson’s disclosure forms included letters from the different manaegers/owners of KTUU. Last year, his wife, Nancy, wrote him a “Dear Craig” letter, in which she said she was prohibited from telling him how much money she makes.

Perfunctory letters of this sort have long been accepted by the APOC as proof of “good faith” in following the financial disclosure law, though nothing about this is in good faith. The APOC needs to change its interpretation of the law and end the charade.

Here is the full APOC report about Pruitt.

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