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All smoke, no fire: DEA not source of fundraising e-mail
Message originated from private interest group, no laws broken
By David Pollan
dpollan@mscd.edu

An agent for the Drug Enforcement Administration was not the source of an e-mail sent last month requesting assistance to launch a campaign to defeat a ballot initiative that would legalize the use and possession of small amounts of marijuana.

The e-mail was sent from the private account of a member from Guarding Our Children Against Marijuana, or GOCAM, according to Suzanne Halonen, public information officer for the Denver branch of the DEA.

Due to confidentiality purposes, Halonen would not release the name of the member.

The message stated that Colorado’s Marijuana Information Committee was looking to hire a campaign manager and had $10,000 readily available to launch a campaign against Amendment 44, the ballot initiative that would legalize the use and possession of up to an ounce of marijuana for persons over the age of 21.

Interested parties were told to contact DEA agent Michael Moore, and were given his work and cell phone numbers, as well as his U.S. Department of Justice e-mail account.

Originally, it was thought that Moore sent the e-mail and was heading the campaign because he was listed as the contact.

It has since been determined the e-mail was not sent by Moore, nor does the DEA have any involvement with contributing to any campaigns, Halonen said.

Halonen said Moore’s name and number were given as contact information because he is a resource for GOCAM for research and education purposes.

The melee over the e-mail and potentially illegal campaign activity began last month, when a reporter from the Boulder Daily Camera came across the e-mail.

According to the U.S. Office of Special Counsel website, the Hatch Act prohibits federal employees from using their authority to influence the outcome of an election.

Specifically, the website states “an employee may not knowingly allow his or her official title to be used in connection with fundraising activities.”

Regarding these guidlines the question arose as to whether or not the DEA agent sent the e-mail, and if so, whether it was a violation of the Hatch Act.

According to Halonen, the Hatch Act deals mainly with partisan politics, and since this is a nonpartisan issue, the DEA would be within its rights. She added the agents are still citizens, and can take part in personal fundraising.

But Halonen reiterated the agency had no knowledge of the e-mail and was in no way a part of any campaign against Amendment 44.

This contradicted earlier statements given to other news sources by another member of the Denver branch of the DEA.

An article in the Camera reported that Jeff Sweetin, special agent in charge of the Denver branch of the DEA, said the $10,000 came from private donations. Sweetin also said some of the donations came from agents’ personal accounts.

However, Denver’s Channel 7 also quoted Sweetin as saying that despite reports to the contrary, the DEA was not campaigning or fundraising against Amendment 44. He also said there was no $10,000 he had ever heard of.

According to Halonen, the article that ran in the Camera was taken out of context and was a misrepresentation of the interview between the reporter and Sweetin.

“We fully think this is a good case of the DEA back-peddling because they think they may have done something illegal,” said Mason Tvert, campaign director for SAFER Colorado.

In an interview with The Metropolitan, Halonen said the email did not originate from the DEA and Michael Moore had no prior knowledge of the e-mail.

“I think if you look, you will find that not a single DEA agent has contributed any money to any organization,” Halonen said.

GOCAM, the organization that has been in contact with Moore, is a registered opponent of Amendment 44. GOCAM is headed by Beverly Kinard, who also heads another organization opposed to the amendment, Students Against Marijuana.

The committee mentioned in the e-mail is not registered with the secretary of state’s office, a requirement of any political group before it is able to accept contributions.

According to Colorado’s secretary of state website, GOCAM, as of press time, has $205 on hand, most of which was donated by Kinard herself. Students Against Marijuana has $5.

As of July 26, the Alcohol-Marijuana Equalization Initiative Committee, the committee in favor of Amendment 44, has $21,359 on hand.

Kinard declined to comment on the origin of the e-mail.