Under pressure, KY House Democratic leaders dump consultant targeted by FBI
Democratic leaders in the House of Representatives said Friday they have cut ties with a campaign consultant who was targeted by the FBI and granted federal immunity as the key witness in a campaign finance case against former Democratic Party Chairman Jerry Lundergan.
The move comes more than a week after Gov. Andy Beshear said he will not raise any campaign cash for candidates who use Hurst as their consultant.
“The Kentucky House Democratic Caucus leadership has severed ties with political consultant Johnathan Hurst,” said a statement issued by House Minority Leader Joni Jenkins, Minority Caucus Chair Derrick Graham and Minority Whip Angie Hatton.
Both Graham and Jenkins used Hurst as a consultant in the 2018 election.
The statement was issued following a meeting of the caucus Friday afternoon in the Capitol Annex. After the meeting, Democratic leaders left the building without going through the lobby of their offices, where reporters were gathered.
The statement does not say if other Democratic lawmakers will stop using Hurst, who was the most-used consultant by House Democrats during the 2018 campaign.
Several Democrats who used Hurst in 2018 did not immediately respond to emails requesting comment.
While on the stand in the federal trial against Lundergan, Hurst indicated that Lundergan had made improper payments to him during the 2011 and 2015 campaigns of Alison Lundergan Grimes for secretary of state. He testified that he received $20,000 in cash and a $25,000 check with the memo line “boy scouts” as payment from Lundergan during the 2015 campaign.
Hurst was given federal immunity to testify in the case. As attorney general, Beshear appointed a special prosecutor last year to investigate if Lundergan violated any state laws. The attorney general’s office said Thursday that “the special prosecutor in this matter did not include Hurst.”
Following Beshear’s warning, Jenkins issued a statement saying she would not tell her members which consultants to use. Three Democratic lawmakers facing potentially tight races — Rep. Jim Glenn, Rep. Terri Branham Clark and Rep. Maria Sorolis — said last week that they needed more time to consider whether they would drop Hurst.
Jenkins has used Hurst as a consultant since 2010, paying his consulting company $105,118 over that time, but he has appeared in campaign finance reports she filed with the Kentucky Registry of Election Finance as far back as 2000. Jenkins said last week she would not be using Hurst as a political consultant “in that capacity,” but she has often used him to send out the invitations for her annual Breakfast of Champions.
Hurst has been largely used by members of the caucus from Louisville, such as longtime Reps. Mary Lou Marzian, Tom Burch and Charles Miller, but in the 2018 election he branched out to also work for Glenn, who is from Owensboro; Branham Clark, who is from Catlettsburg; and Graham, who is from Frankfort.
Aside from saying he drew an ethical line, Beshear has refused to talk about why he would like Democrats to stop using Hurst and whether he was concerned factions were forming in the House Democratic Caucus.
“I’m not going to have any discussions on that,” Beshear said.
This story was originally published February 21, 2020 at 3:59 PM.
