Sizemore Back in Court

BILL SIZEMORE’S ATTORNEY, Gregory Byrne, showed up to speak
on his behalf at the Multnomah County Courthouse last Friday, January
30. Sizemore, on the other hand, stayed away—a plaque with his
name on it, reading “Defendant,” languishing in front of an empty chair
in Judge Janice Wilson’s court.

The last time Sizemore stood in front of Judge Wilson, on December
1, 2008, he was hauled off in handcuffs after failing to file tax
documents for a Nevada charity called the American Tax Research
Foundation (ATRF), created to finance election initiatives. Sizemore
was released the following day, after filing the documents with the
court showing he was paid $400,000 by the ATRF in the 2006-2007 tax
year.

Now, attorneys from Attorney General John Kroger’s office and two
statewide teachers’ unions, the Oregon Education Association (OEA) and
Oregon’s American Federation of Teachers (AFT), are pushing for more
stringent sanctions against Sizemore than were first imposed by the
court in 2003. Back then he was barred from engaging in certain
campaign activities, after he was found to be using tax-exempt funds
from Oregon Taxpayers United—a charitable nonprofit—to fund
his ballot initiative work. Such use of charitable funds for political
purposes is forbidden under federal law.

Elizabeth Grant, from Kroger’s office, argued that Sizemore should
be barred from ever again having a management role in a charitable
nonprofit. Meanwhile Gregory Hartman, on behalf of the OEA and AFT
unions, argued that Sizemore should have to provide proof for the
numbers on his recent set of tax documents.

Sizemore’s attorney, Byrne, countered that the court had no legal
power to impose such sanctions against Sizemore. The hearing is set to
continue in early March.

“The wheels of justice may continue to turn slowly,” says Kevin
Looper, executive director of Our Oregon, a nonprofit initiative
watchdog group. “But what’s amazing is how often Bill Sizemore finds
himself underneath them.”

Meanwhile, Blue Oregon blogger Carla Axtman reported last Friday
that Sizemore’s two biggest funders, Loren Parks and Dick Wendt, are
rumored to have decided to stop cutting checks for his initiative
work.