Commission candidate alleges frame-up

NEWPORT — A candidate for Pend Oreille County commissioner contends supporters of his political rival are trying to frame him for illegal campaign donations.

“They went in deliberately to hurt my campaign,” said Devin Beach, who running for the Republican nomination in the Washington state primary.

Spokane attorney Milton Rowland, who’s representing Beach, said Christian Meador and Norm Smith intentionally concealed their names and contributions in order to manufacture a false claim against his client.

Rowland said Meador and Smith made a series of $25 contributions over the last several weeks to Beach’s campaign.

“Then, to compound their atrocious misconduct and out of apparent misapprehension of the law, Meador and Smith falsely reported to this commission that Mr. Beach violated the law by accepting anonymous campaign contributions,” Rowland said in July 22 letter to the Washington State Public Disclosure Commission.

Beach believes the donations were meant to sully his candidacy in the eyes of voters.

Rowland said he has bank surveillance footage of Meador, a Newport councilman, attempting to conceal his identity while making a campaign donation to Beach at a Spokane Teachers Credit Union.

“It was him as clear as day,” Beach said, referring to Meador.

Meador admits he chose to remain anonymous when made the donations to see how campaign worked and didn’t deny being videotaped in bank to make donation.

However, he is adamant he did not report the violations to the disclosure commission.

“I did not report any campaign violations regarding Mr. Beache’s campaign,” he said. “I made donations to the campaign to see what was going on with the campaign.

“I wanted to see what was going on.”

Smith did not respond to a request for comment over social media.

Rowland said Meador’s conduct amounts to both malfeasance and misfeasance in office, opening him up to a recall petition. Beach, meanwhile, is hoping Meador will step down from office while the disclosure commission investigates the matter.

Public disclosure commission records indicate Meador and Smith have both contributed to the campaign of John Gentle, who’s also seeking the GOP nomination for county commissioner.

Rowland, meanwhile, is calling upon the case to be prosecuted.

Keith Kinnaird can be reached by email at kkinnaird@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow him on Twitter @KeithDailyBee.