Judge's impartiality questioned in DNC donor case

The Democratic National Convention Host Committee on Tuesday again declined to disclose who funded the convention here, while questions were raised about the impartiality of the judge who sided with the committee's position in court last week.

"Like we've said many times before and the court upheld, we will be filing an extremely comprehensive and transparent report with the FEC, per the law," Anna Adams-Sarthou, host committee spokeswoman, said Tuesday. "That continues to be our plan."

The Federal Election Commission reports, which include details on donors and expenses, are due 60 days after the convention.

The committee's position was upheld by Common Pleas Court Judge Abbe F. Fletman, who ruled that the committee did not have to release its fund-raising reports immediately, despite an order from the state Office of Open Records that stated otherwise.

On Tuesday, the freelance journalist who asked the court to force the disclosure of the documents raised questions about Fletman's prior history with the Democratic Party and, in particular, former Gov. Ed Rendell, who is the host committee's chairman.

According to Fletman's biography, listed with her previous employer, Flaster/Greenberg, she had served as a "key member" of Rendell's gubernatorial campaign and transition team.

Fletman has been a longtime donor to local, state, and federal Democratic candidates. She has represented the Democratic City Committee in the past. And she worked as a lawyer for the 2012 Obama campaign dealing with the provisional ballot issue.

Fletman was appointed a judge by former Gov. Tom Corbett, a Republican, in June 2014. She was elected last year for a full 10-year term.

Freelance journalist Dustin Slaughter said Fletman should have disclosed her past ties with Rendell, if not recused herself.

"Opaqueness like this, particularly in a case involving transparency, does serious damage to the public's faith in government," he said.

Chapin Cimino, Slaughter's attorney, said it was understandable that most judges in a Democratic city such as Philadelphia would have ties to the party. But had she known about Fletman's history with Democratic Party leaders, particularly Rendell, she likely would have asked for a recusal, she said.

Fletman declined to comment. Rendell did not return calls seeking comment.

Slaughter's case hinged on the fact that the city extended a $15 million line of credit to the host committee. As part of that deal, the committee had to file quarterly fund-raising reports with the Philadelphia Authority for Industrial Development (PAID), a public agency. The Office of Open Records ruled in June that those records were public.

The committee argued that the fund-raising reports were "confidential proprietary information" that could affect negotiations with vendors. In addition, the committee's attorney argued that federal election law supersedes Pennsylvania's Right-to-Know Law. Fletman agreed.

Adams-Sarthou said the committee had "no doubt that every judge on the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas would rule the same way."

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