Key witness says father of Alison Lundergan Grimes secretly paid him for campaign work

Longtime Democratic political consultant Jonathan Hurst testified in federal court Thursday that Lexington businessman Jerry Lundergan, the father of Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes, paid him for political work in 2011 that was not reimbursed by Grimes’ campaign for Kentucky secretary of state that year.

Hurst, who later became the campaign manager for Grimes’ 2014 U.S. Senate race, said he handled mailers — the political fliers that pepper people’s mailboxes in campaign season — for her 2011 race.

Hurst testified Lundergan wrote him checks from one of Lundergan’s companies, GCL Properties, for $107,849 and $47,350 during the 2011 campaign.

Hurst said he later found out Lundergan was never repaid by the campaign for that spending.

“I learned the mailers were not reimbursed by the campaign,” Hurst said Thursday.

Hurst said he found out the campaign did not reimburse Lundergan for the campaign mailers shortly after Grimes won in 2011, but he did not report that alleged illegal spending to authorities.

“I wasn’t gonna report my own client,” Hurst said.

Hurst is a key witness in the federal case against Lundergan and Democratic political operative Dale Emmons, who are charged with taking part in a scheme to make illegal corporate contributions to Grimes’ 2014 campaign against U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Hurst was originally a target of the investigation, according to a search warrant obtained by the Herald-Leader, but later agreed to testify against Lundergan and Emmons in return for immunity from potential charges.

The two checks were part of a total of $304,257.51 Lundergan paid Hurst between January 2010 and November 9, 2011, according to the search warrant.

The checks from 2011 are not part of the federal case against Lundergan and Emmons because they were for a state race and fall outside of the federal government’s jurisdiction.

Attorney General Andy Beshear is not currently investigating the alleged 2011 state campaign finance violations.

Prosecutors wanted to present evidence about the 2011 spending by Lundergan to show he knew what he was doing when he allegedly paid consultants and vendors for Grimes’ 2014 Senate race without seeking reimbursement from the campaign.

Lundergan and Emmons have strongly denied any wrongdoing.

Defense attorneys have said Lundergan mistakenly failed to seek repayment from his daughter’s campaign for some spending, but that he did not intentionally break the law and sought reimbursement later when he learned of the missed bills.

However, T.J. Hanna, the lead FBI agent on the case, testified that in his view Lundergan intentionally did not seek reimbursement from Grimes’ campaign for some spending until after the investigation started.

Prosecutors have presented evidence about thousands of dollars spent through Lundergan’s companies that they didn’t bill to Grimes’ campaign until two years or more after the events, in some cases.

Attorneys for Lundergan and Emmons fought to prevent the government from introducing evidence related to Grimes’ campaigns for secretary of state, but U.S. District Judge Gregory F. Van Tatenhove ruled they were relevant to the case.

Hurst testified that after his experience on Grimes’ 2011 campaign, he was concerned about potential improper spending by Lundergan to help her in the 2014 campaign, in which Lundergan was “deeply involved.”

Hurst also said he wanted to make sure the campaign followed spending and disclosure rules because the Republicans would be watching closely.

Hurst said he talked with Lundergan about the need for him to bill Grimes’ campaign for the full value of goods and services his companies provided for the campaign, and Lundergan assured him everything was being done correctly.

He also raised the issue with other campaign officials, saying in one email introduced in court, “We need to be very strict with Jerry.”

Lundergan was present at an organizing event in February 2014 where the campaign compliance director discussed contribution limits and the fact that corporate contributions were barred, Hurst said.

It’s not possible Lundergan didn’t know the rules, he said.

Defense attorneys did not get to question Hurst on Thursday, but will likely attack his credibility when they do.

This story was originally published August 29, 2019 at 4:57 PM.