NH Attorney General’s office confirmed that an investigation has been opened and Chris Sununu’s campaign has been asked to respond

Concord, NH – The NH Attorney General’s office has opened an investigation on Granite State Progress’ election complaint that the candidate committee Friends of Chris Sununu accepted nearly $20,000 in unlawful contributions from partnerships. The Sununu campaign has been forwarded a copy of the complaint and asked to respond.

Statement from Granite State Progress Executive Director Zandra Rice Hawkins: “We are pleased that the Attorney General’s office is looking into these serious violations by Chris Sununu’s campaign. We call on Governor Sununu to return the illegal contributions immediately.”

In an interview with WMUR Primary Source this week, Sununu’s campaign manager Paul Collins called the donations “perfectly legal” and maintained that ‘limited partnerships and limited liability partnerships are not the same as partnerships’ despite NH RSA’s that state otherwise. Granite State Progress sent a follow-up letter to the NH Attorney General’s office noting that the statements raise serious concerns that the Sununu campaign 1) intends to spend the funds despite New Hampshire statutes clearly deeming them inappropriate; 2) will continue to accept prohibited partnership contributions; and 3) other partnerships and unions restricted under RSA 664:4, and the candidate campaigns they may support, are at a disadvantage if they continue to follow the law as written while the Friends of Chris Sununu accepts and uses prohibited funds.

A copy of the previous press release and complaint can be found here.

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Granite State Progress is a progressive advocacy organization that addresses issues of immediate state and local concern. Granite State Progress works as a communications hub for the progressive community to provide a strong, credible voice in advancing progressive solutions to critical community problems.