Philly mayoral candidate Jeff Brown calls ethics allegations a ‘political hit job’ during debate

Philadelphia mayoral candidate Jeff Brown on Tuesday said he is the victim of a “political hit job” and attacked the city Board of Ethics after it accused him Monday of illegally coordinating with an outside spending group that has raised millions to boost him.

“This is about the political establishment not wanting the change that we so desperately need,” Brown, a businessman and first-time candidate, said during a televised debate Tuesday night. “This has not been tried. When it gets tried, I will win. This is a political hit job. This is not a reality.”

Brown’s defense came one day after the Philadelphia Board of Ethics sued an outside group backing Brown’s candidacy, alleging it illegally coordinated with Brown and his campaign. Brown’s campaign denied wrongdoing, but he has acknowledged that he raised money for the group — a super PAC called For A Better Philadelphia — before he announced his candidacy for mayor.

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He noted Tuesday that several other candidates are being supported by super PACs, which can raise and spend unlimited amounts of money as long as they do not coordinate with campaigns or candidates. Brown, who has poured more than $1 million of his own money into his campaign, said it’s how candidates are able to compete with “someone like Allan Domb,” a real estate magnate who has put $7 million of his own money into his mayoral campaign.

“Do I think it’s a good system? No,” Brown said. “But that’s the system we have.”

It’s true other mayoral candidates have super PACs in their corners. But Brown left out that the PAC backing him is the only “dark money” group in the race, meaning it is keeping almost of all of its donors secret because donations were funneled through a nonprofit that has the same name as the PAC.

After the debate, Brown leaned in further, suggesting that the ethics board was in on an effort to hurt his campaign.

“It was created by politicians. They’re scared of the change,” Brown said of the board, which is composed of five mayoral appointees and is tasked with interpreting and enforcing the city’s rules on issues such as campaign finance, lobbying, and political activity by city employees.

The ethics board regularly investigates and fines establishment-backed Philadelphia politicians, and many of those politicians have been critical of the board over the years. The board, for instance, has previously fined several of Brown’s opponents in the mayor’s race.

The current iteration of the ethics board was established in an amendment to the Home Rule Charter that was proposed by City Council in 2005 and approved by voters in 2006.

Shane Creamer, the board’s executive director, responded to Brown’s comments Tuesday night, saying that the board’s accusation that Brown engaged in “extensive fundraising” for the group was based on evidence like bank records and emails sent by Brown, members of his staff, and the super PAC that were obtained through subpoenas.

”The allegations in the Board’s emergency petition for injunctive relief is based on facts and evidence,” Creamer said. “We know what Jeff Brown did last summer. What facts and evidence is Jeff Brown’s accusation against the Board based upon?”

The board is seeking a record $162,000 fine to be paid jointly by the super PAC and the nonprofit. A city judge on Monday issued an order temporarily prohibiting the group from spending any more money to influence the May 16 primary election, and a full hearing on the matter is scheduled for April 24.

Brown, a longtime ShopRite proprietor who is running as a government outsider, has for several months been seen as a top contender in the crowded field of 10 Democrats seeking the nomination. That was in part because For A Better Philadelphia funded an early round of television ads that were among the first to air in the campaign.

Brown’s rivals blasted him over the allegations during and after the debate. Former Councilmember Cherelle Parker said after the debate that Brown’s campaign “has been literally built on deception.”

“Brown has, from the beginning, thought that there were two sets of rules: one for people like him and then another set of rules for folks who come from places like me,” she said. “Had the ethics board not filed suit, Philadelphians could have woken up on May 17 saying, ‘I’ve been had, I’ve been took, I’ve been hoodwinked, I’ve been bamboozled.’”

Helen Gym, another former Council member, said the ethics board “does not get involved at this level just over political minutia” and called the potential violations “egregious.”

She said she is also “outraged” that he may have solicited donations from “right-wing, anti-democratic, anti-education individuals.” Gym referenced Jeffrey Yass, the Main Line billionaire and principal at Susquehanna International Group who has poured millions of dollars into political candidates and causes over the years.

It is not yet clear whether Yass donated to Brown or the super PAC supporting him. But the evidence in the lawsuit included a list of donors and potential contributors that Brown’s staff maintained. The list was heavily redacted, but in one case, the employer of a potential donor was partially visible: It read “SIG,” and noted that the PAC was targeting the donor for a $1 million contribution.

Rival campaigns have speculated that is a reference to Susquehanna International Group, and that the donor could have been Yass or one of his partners. Susquehanna and a representative for Yass did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday.

Yass, Pennsylvania’s richest man, has primarily backed Republicans. A strong proponent of charter schools, he has also donated millions to political action committees that have boosted some Democrats in favor of expanding school choice.

In the 2015 mayor’s race, Yass and his business partners Joel Greenberg and Arthur Dantchik spent $7 million to boost state Sen. Anthony Hardy Williams, who came in second to Mayor Jim Kenney in the Democratic primary.