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DFL Party Files Campaign Finance Complaint Against Matt Birk & Scott Jensen

04/04/2022

Today, the Minnesota DFL Party filed a complaint against Scott Jensen and Matt Birk for breaking Minnesota campaign finance law. A copy of the complaint and exhibits referenced within is linked here.

Matt Birk’s Facebook page has run over $4,000 worth of ads that say they are “paid for by Matt Birk for Lt. Governor”, a non-existent campaign committee in Minnesota. Furthermore, when one clicks the DONATE button on mattbirk.com, they are directed to “mail physical checks to Matt Birk for Lt. Governor” on a page with the disclaimer “paid for and provided by Dr. Scott Jensen for Governor.”

These acts break campaign finance law in numerous ways:

  1. If there is a “Matt Birk for Lt. Governor” committee, they broke campaign finance law by failing to register with the Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board within 14 days of raising or spending $750.
  2. If there is a “Matt Birk for Lt. Governor” committee, it must pay for its own website. The fact that mattbirk.com says it is paid for by Scott Jensen’s campaign committee constitutes a prohibited in-kind contribution.
  3. If there is no “Matt Birk for Lt. Governor” committee, Birk’s Facebook ads saying “Paid for by Matt Birk for Lt. Governor” broke campaign finance law by containing a false disclaimer.
  4. If there is no “Matt Birk for Lt. Governor” committee, then Birk soliciting contributions for “Matt Birk for Lt. Governor” only to then deposit them into Scott Jensen’s campaign committee violates campaign finance law.

DFL Party Chairman Ken Martin released the following statement: 

“Scott Jensen lying to Minnesotans is hardly a surprise given the fact that he’s been lying about the COVID-19 pandemic for the last two years. However, while Jensen’s dishonesty is no surprise to anyone paying attention, it is deeply troubling that Scott Jensen and Matt Birk repeatedly and deliberately broke Minnesota’s campaign finance laws and spent thousands of dollars on misleading and deceptive ads.”

“Minnesotans deserve better than a governor who’d lie and break the rules to advance his political career like Scott Jensen.”