Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba announced he will qualify for re-election by the close of business tomorrow. However, there is one small problem with qualifying: campaign finance reports. The partisan Magnolia Tribune's Russ Latino spelled out the Mayor's dilemma in a penetrating analysis published this week:
Last November, Lumumba was indicted by the Biden Department of Justice on five federal counts related to an alleged bribery scheme. Prosecutors say the Jackson Mayor took $50,000 in checks in exchange for moving the deadline for a proposal to build a hotel near the Jackson Convention Center. The indictment alleges Lumumba deposited those checks in a bank account designated for his campaign and then wrote checks to himself out of the account.
True enough.
That same campaign bank account will be under a magnifying glass should Lumumba pull the trigger for re-election. Here’s why.
Mississippi law requires a candidate or officeholder to file annual campaign finance reports. Mayor Lumumba admits he last filed a report in 2021, meaning he is likely in current violation of the law.
In 2023, the Legislature amended campaign finance law to provide new, stronger penalties for non-compliance. Under Miss. Code Ann. 23-15-811, a candidate who willfully violates the reporting requirement is guilty of a misdemeanor and can face up to six months in jail and a $3,000 fine.
There is just one problem. No one enforces the law and it is not clear who would enforce it. However, there is one little feature that could cause a problem for Hizzoner.
Additionally, the law prevents a candidate from being certified for election “until he or she files all reports required by this article.” It also prevents an officeholder who fails to comply with the reporting requirement from being paid.
Under the plain language of the law, there is a strong argument that the City of Jackson should not be paying Lumumba a salary, that he is already subject to criminal prosecution by either the Hinds County District Attorney or the Attorney General, and that unless he files the campaign finance reports for 2022-2024 by the qualifying deadline, he cannot be placed on the ballot for re-election. Of course, it is unlikely that Lumumba’s alleged co-conspirator in the Jackson bribery scandal, Hinds County District Attorney Jody Owens, will indict Lumumba for a campaign finance violation. Attorney General Lynn Fitch could. (KF: She won't.).
But the more likely scenario is that if Lumumba files for re-election, but fails to file the owed campaign finance reports, one of his opponents could seek to have him barred from the ballot. This is a suit that would likely end up before a special master appointed by the Mississippi Supreme Court. So he just files the back campaign finance reports and moves forward, right? Herein lies the dilemma for Lumumba. Because those reports would almost certainly become evidence in the bribery case against him. Will the 2024 report show the $50,000 in checks the FBI says it gave to Lumumba and will it show the disbursements in personal checks the FBI says Lumumba wrote out of the campaign account? If reported, it could be treated as an admission of key facts in the case against Lumumba. If not reported, it could be used as character evidence at trial, or worse for the Mayor, potentially lead to new conspiracy charges. The potential exposure could go beyond the alleged $50,000 in bribery payments, as well. The FBI almost assuredly has detailed forensic accounting of Lumumba’s personal accounts, as well as any campaign account. Other discrepancies in campaign finance reports could invite additional investigation.
Mr. Latino's analysis is spot on except for one factor: Mayor Lumumba. When studying Chokwe Antar Lumumba, one must first study another politician: Huey P. Long. Huey's strength was not his brilliance or ruthlessness but his ability to do the outrageous, the unexpected. Want a brand new Governor's mansion but the legislature won't pay for one? No problem. Governor Long simply demolished the mansion, forcing the legislature to pay for one.
The Kingfish and Hizzoner have one thing in common: they love to call bluffs. No one thought a Mayor would allow the city to go without garbage collection but that is exactly what Mayor Lumumba did as he called the City Council's bluff. They caved after two weeks. He hasn't filed a campaign finance report since 2021 but has the City Council tried to block his pay? Simply put, the Mayor practices the "try and stop it" offense. Such tactics have worked for him even as the city crumbled during his tenure.
Expect Mayor Lumumba to qualify for his re-election by the close of business tomorrow. He said he would qualify at Monday's press conference. The question is what will he do about those pesky finance reports.
It will not be a surprise if the Mayor simply doesn't file one and dares his Municipal Clerk to reject his candidacy. That would be in keeping with his style and the likely scenario. He might file reports that are incomplete or vague. They can always be amended, right. The Mayor could file his campaign reports and let the chips fall where they may.
So what will the Mayor do tomorrow? Stay tuned.
25 comments:
An Open Letter to Mayor Lumumba
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1sWAoninsFJinhx4VbrlCtC5kgvsVi6q68HJp-tR5fxo/edit
If Lumumba put as much effort into loopholing laws for personal benefit as he did fixing Jackson's problems, Jackson would have made some strides under him. Anyone who calls him stupid is wrong, the issues he creates are from his narcissism, greed, and delusion.
While some progress has been made ...
Where Concerned Citizen, where? Be specific.
Let's shine the flashlight back up there at the words "she won't." And just why not? Everybody knows about the problems in Jackson, but the folks who can start righting the ship just sit on their hands. If the AG can hold the mayor to the letter of the law, then why doesn't she?
Whatever he does- it will be radical- and his supporters will love it.
The mayor and his cronies will spend the afternoon at their regular lunch table in Fondren coming up with a clever plan. I don’t know what it will be, but it will be bullsh**. Can the secretary of state litigate to keep off the ballot?
"This is a suit that would likely end up before a special master appointed by the Mississippi Supreme Court."
Well that's just plain ole RACIST, right?
All progress made was made without the City of Jackson.
He may not be stupid but he sure as hell isn't smart.
I pheel like this circus is a welcome distraction for some of the TANF peeps.
1- My bet is he files for re-election but does not file reports. Let them sue him.
2- Why doesn't State Auditor go after the city council for the mayor's pay if he is not allowed to be paid when campaign reports are delinquent?
He will file for reelection. He wont file the campaign finance records and will say he can't, on advice of legal, because it involves the current case pending against him.
The feds already have access to everything in all of the accounts, personal and campaign.
We all know the SA and AG wont say or do anything because...racist.
Chuck knows it too.
It has been the main source of income for his entire family for years and the jet fuel for his success thus far.
I give Chuck full credit for using that to his strength while weak people refused to call him out for literally breaking the law, for fear of the dreaded R Word label.
1) Somebody posted he ain't stoopid. But he was sure as hell stoopid for taking a $50,000 bribe in checks instead of cash.
2) OK, Lynn....here's your que to show whatchu got! "Of course, it is unlikely that...Owens, will indict Lumumba for a campaign finance violation. Attorney General Lynn Fitch could. (KF: She won't.)"
If Fitch has even a small pair of balls, she will. Otherwise, she tucks tail and gives the next race to Delbert and Shadrack, taking her state government exit, stage left.
He can say and do whatever he wants until enforcement of some sort arrives.
What might the next federal prosecutor, appointed by Trump, do, if anything, with the Lumumba file? It may be more of an onion than he/she wants to peel.
Your second paragraph contradicts your first.
So he will acknowledge the law requires him to file, but because he has a reason he can ignore the law and still qualify. Interesting. If he can defy law, then perhaps we can expect him to exercise his mysterious power and make the federal corruption charges go away too.
So what’s does Lumumba’s little entourage of attorneys he walks around with all the time say? Do they knowingly allow and encourage their client to not file them and continue breaking the law?
I am really getting tired of auto-corrects on a MacBook. Really $*%&# tired.
23-15-811 Paragraph (d) "No person shall be qualified to appear on the ballot if, by the time the candidate is approved to appear on the ballot for the office sought, he or she has failed to file all reports required to be filed within the last five (5) years."
Why doesn't this exclude Lumumba???
It's not self executing so until someone enforces it it does not matter.
4:18 if that's true, and it might be, why would they waste everyone's time by passing laws with no requirement to enforce them?
HEY! 11:23: Where in Fondren do they have lunch? I'm sure many of us are interested in handing him our own copy of that 'Open letter' ... I just printed and signed mine! J H LaRose. Now a single (not multiple) property owner in the 'City with Soul.'
He will make the court kick him off so when he isn't on the ballot he can play the victim. Just watch. R card coming.
Post a Comment