Theft Charges Filed in State Senate Democratic Embezzlement Scandal

In the new issue of the The Stranger that just hit the streets this morning, I detail the alleged embezzlement of state senate Democratic campaign funds, and how it might have cost Dems control of the Senate and some key pieces of legislation. Because it concerned an ongoing criminal investigation, I didn't have access to the charging documents, and was forced to piece the story together citing unnamed sources.

Well, as it turns out, following months of investigation, charges were filed in King County Superior Court yesterday afternoon (pdf), just after we had gone to press. (Such are the joys of working for a weekly!) The charging documents find "probable cause to believe that Michael King embezzled funds from the now defunct Senate Democratic Campaign Committee for which he was the Executive Director, by submitting false requests for reimbursement for work or other expenditures not conducted ... and spending that money for personal use." King is charged with four counts of theft in the first degree, and four counts of theft in second degree.

Reading through the charging documents it looks like I may have gotten one factual assertion wrong. I had implied that King had the authority to write checks from the moment he was hired in March, 2011, but the charging documents state that King didn't receive check signing authority until early 2012. Whether or not that discrepancy is significant is debatable, but either way, mea culpa.

And speaking of mea culpa's, in response to the charging documents, the SDCC's co-chairs—Senators Ed Murray, David Frockt, and Sharon Nelson—issued a joint statement in which they finally acknowledge a little responsibility for the lax financial oversight on their watch:

Though the campaign committee had operated without incident, in substantially the same form, for nearly a decade before Mr. King came on board, the financial management system failed. The responsibility for stealing lies with Mr. King who had been a highly regarded Democratic Party consultant. The Senators who moved in and out of the campaign committee historically focused on raising funds, mentoring candidates and being the political face of the campaign, while the Executive Director and Treasurer were responsible for finances and reporting. This is an explanation for what happened and how it happened and the context. However, we acknowledge responsibility for a system of controls that were not sufficient when there was a trusted employee determined to exploit any gaps that, in hindsight, existed.

There. Was that so hard? (Murray had previously denied all responsibility for the scandal.) Frockt, Nelson, and Murray will be holding a conference call with media later this afternoon. In the meanwhile, the full text of their statement is available after the jump.