Ursula Anderson 210 Cooper Drive Lafayette, Louisiana 70501 April 29, 2014 Honorable Barbara Boxer, Chair

Honorable John Isakson, Vice Chair Senate Select Committee on Ethics Hart Senate Office Building, Room 220 Washington, DC 20510 Re: Senator Mary Landrieus Use of State Resources for Political Purposes Dear Chairman Boxer and Vice Chairman Isakson: I, Ursula Anderson, respectfully requests that the Senate Select Committee on Ethics investigate whether Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA) violated federal election and circumvented Senate rules in a manner that brings discredit upon the institution of the United States Senate by filming a reenactment of a United States Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing in the Louisiana State Capitol and including the footage in her campaign television advertisement, Will Not Rest.1 Facts On April 15, 2014, Friends of Mary Landrieu began airing a television advertisement entitled Will Not Rest, which features footage beginning midway through the ad of Senator Landrieu in what purports to be a Senate hearing. Except for correcting a verbal flub, Senator Landrieus script is the same as a July 23, 2013 Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing. Shes sitting at a dais made to resemble the dais of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, there are two actors positioned behind her to simulate U.S. Senate staff members, and a placard bearing the Senators name is placed in front of her as if it were an actual Senate hearing held in the Dirksen Senate Office Building. The Landrieu campaign has since confirmed that the footage was reenacted.2 On April 28, 2014, Friends of Mary Landrieu began airing another television advertisement entitled Ship Builder, which also features video footage of Senator Landrieu in the same simulated hearing room.3
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQU87DQsYZ0&feature=youtu.be Carrie Dann, Landrieu Camp: Ad Reenactment Done to Comply with Senate Rules, NBC News, April 15, 2014, available at : http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/landrieu-camp-adreenactment-done-comply-senate-rules-n81046.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Id-G4R50T4A

Instead of renting a hotel boardroom or a soundstage to film the reenactment, Senator Landrieu used her position as a former state official to obtain permission to film the footage in the Louisiana Capitol.4 According to press accounts, Landrieus campaign obtained permission to film the ad in the statehouse from the Louisiana Senate President after the office of the Louisiana House Speaker denied the campaigns request. In explaining why the office denied the Landrieu campaigns request, the House Speakers Office noted that there is an unwritten but strict rule that committee rooms not be used for such political purposes.5 Furthermore, press accounts confirm that Friends of Mary Landrieu was not charged a fee to use the statehouse facility.6 Though the Senate Presidents office contends that using the statehouse for the campaign filming did not cost the Senate any money, they ignore the fact that the Landrieu campaign likely occupied the hearing room in the statehouse for at least two to three hours in order to film the campaign footage and prevented the use of the room during that time period for bona fide state business. Had the Landrieu campaign rented a boardroom of a similar size in the Baton Rouge area to reconstruct a Senate hearing, it would have paid hundreds, if not thousands of dollars to do so. Legal Analysis To be sure, the Standing Rules, Orders, Laws, and Resolution Affecting the Business of the United States Senate prohibit a U.S. Senator from using any tape duplication of radio or television coverage of the proceedings of the Senate for political campaign purposes.7 Senator Landrieus campaign openly admits that, due to this prohibition, the Senator chose to reenact the 2013 hearing. Senate Rules also very clearly bar the use of Senate space for political campaign activity. For example, the Senate Ethics Manual states that Senate space may NOT be used for any political campaign activity, fund- raising (including charitable contributions in lieu of honoraria), commercial, promotional, or profit-making purpose whatsoever.8 Moreover, according to the Manual, provisions of the United States Code, congressional regulations governing allowances, and appropriations provisions specify that amounts provided a Senator from appropriated funds for such items as telephone, mail, office space, stationery, etc., are for the use of such items only for official or strictly official purposes.9 Senator Landrieu circumvented these explicit prohibitions by using state-funded resources to film her campaign ad. However, in doing so, Friends of Mary Landrieu may have accepted an unlawful contribution from the state of Louisiana. Under Federal election law, a contribution is defined at 2 U.S.C. 431(8)(A) and 11 CFR 100.52 to include anything of value made by a person for the
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Rebecca Berg, Mary Landrieu Shot Senate Committee Reenactment in Louisiana Statehouse, Washington Examiner, April 23, 2014, available at: http://washingtonexaminer.com/mary-landrieushot-senate-committee-re-enactment-in-louisiana-statehouse/article/2547603. 5 Id. 6 Id. 7 http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/SMAN-112/pdf/SMAN-112.pdf (page 125) 8 Senate Ethics Manual, p. 496. 9 Senate Ethics Manual, p. 141.

purpose of influencing any election for federal office. Person, as defined by 2 U.S.C. 431(11) and 11 CFR 100.10, does not exclude a state government. The definition of contribution excepts the use of real property that is used on a regular basis by members of a community for noncommercial purposes. 2 U.S.C. 431(8)(B)(ii). However, there is no indication that the Louisiana State Capitol is regularly used by members of the general public for purposes other than transacting official state business. Instead, the taxpayers of Louisiana appear to have footed the bill for the Landrieu campaigns use of state space. Unless the Landrieu campaign has reimbursed the state of Louisiana for the fair market value of the use of the space, the campaign has accepted an improper contribution from the state of Louisiana. The Senate Ethics Committee has broad authority to ensure that Senators uphold the Constitution, laws, and legal regulations of the United States and all governments therein and never be a party to their evasion.10 Therefore, the Committee needs to investigate whether Senator Landrieu has upheld her duties as a federal officeholder under this code of conduct and abided by the Federal Election Campaign Act, as amended. Even if the Landrieu campaign properly reimburses the state for its use of the space, in going to such elaborate lengths to circumvent Senate rules designed to prevent the use of taxpayer funded space and resources for partisan political purposes, the Committee should consider whether Senator Landrieus actions constitute improper conduct reflecting on the Senate. Improper Conduct Reflecting Upon the Senate and General Principles of Public Service, Senate Ethics Manual, Appendix E, p. 432. The Senate Ethics Committee has long recognized this over-arching standard of conduct and Senate Resolution 338 provides the Committee with the authority to investigate and sanction members for engaging in improper conduct. In construing this term, a 1968 report by the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration stated that It is possible for anyone to follow the letter of the law and avoid being indicted for a criminal act, but in the case of employees of the Senate, they are expected, and rightly so, to follow not only the letter but also the spirit of the law.11 In light of the Committees duty to ensure that Senators abide by both the letter and the spirit of the laws and rules that they are entrusted to uphold, the Committee must now review the facts concerning Senator Landrieus campaign ad to determine whether Senator Landrieus conduct violates the Federal Election Campaign Act, as amended, or the broad standards of conduct that Senators are expected to uphold. If the Committee finds that Senator Landrieus campaign has violate federal campaign finance law by accepting an improper campaign contribution from the taxpayers of Louisiana or that Senator Landrieus elaborate circumvention of Senate Rules regarding the use of the official proceedings and facilities for political purposes has brought discredit upon the Senate, Senator Landrieu should be sanctioned to the fullest extent possible. Sincerely, Ursula Anderson
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See Senate Ethics Manual at p. 466, citing The Code of Ethics for Government Service, passed by Concurrent Resolution on July 11, 1958. 11 See Senate Ethics Manual at p. 433, citing S. Rep. No. 1175, 88th Cong., 2d Sess. 5(1964).