Reaching Across Time

We are in one of those intervals on the state campaign finance calendar when big dollar donations have to be immediately reported.  Yesterday saw the biggest individual donation received so far this period:  the independent Democrat group WIN Minnesota reports receiving $50,000 from Stillwater attorney Jeff Anderson.

If his name doesn’t ring a bell, it should.  Anderson—and his law firm Jeff Anderson and Associates—is big in the business of representing plaintiffs in the clergy sex abuse    scandals.  His firm’s motto:  “Reaching Across Time for Justice.”

The $50,000 to WIN Minnesota is just part of his recent generosity to the state Democrat party.   According to records on file at the state’s Campaign Finance Board (CFB), Anderson’s newly discovered fondness for the state Democrat party has resulted in $175,000 in donations in the past three years:

	Donation Amount
Recipient	2014	2013	2012	2011	2010
Minnesota DFL Party	45,000	-	-	-	-
House DFL Caucus	25,000	5,000	25,000	-	-
Senate DFL Caucus	-	-	25,000	-	-
WIN Minnesota	50,000	-	-	-	-
Total (2012-2014)	$ 175,000

One 2013 legislative development has significantly assisted Anderson’s efforts to reach across more time on behalf of his clients.

On May 28, 2013, Democrat Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton, signed a bill that repealed the time limit on filing lawsuits in such matters.  The law had been passed by the Democrat majority-led Minnesota House and Senate.

In the hearing before the state House Civil Law Committee, Anderson client Jim Keenan testified in favor of the bill.  Keenan had also testified in favor of the state Senate version of the bill before that body’s Judiciary committee.

The House author of the bill (HF681) was state Representative Steve Simon (D-Hopkins).  According to records on file at the CFB, Anderson donated $2,000 to Simon’s Secretary of State campaign in 2013.  In 2013, a Julie Anderson, sharing the same address as Jeff Anderson, also gave $2,000 to Simon’s campaign for Secretary of State.  (In 2014, Julie Anderson donated $1,000 to the re-election campaign of Gov. Mark Dayton.)  Anderson’s law partner, Mike Finnegan, gave Simon an additional $2,000 in 2013.

It always pays to Follow the Money.