Three members of the Federal Election Commission (FEC) criticized Republican colleagues for quashing the investigation of an industrialist accused of coercing workers into supporting right-wing causes.
The commissioners, two Democrats and an independent, had moved to launch an inquiry of Murray Energy and its CEO, Robert Murray. Their proposal was shot down by their three GOP counterparts in a 3-3 vote.
“We voted to find reason to believe in this matter because we owe it to all employees to ensure that the workplace is free from political coercion,” said Steven Walther, Ann Ravel, and Ellen Weintraub in a joint statement released on Friday. The vote against launching the probe took place in April.
The complaint had been filed by the non-profit group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. It was lodged after an article published in 2012 by The New Republic described how Robert Murray personally exerted pressure on employees to support Republican candidates.
“If we do not win [this election], the coal industry will be eliminated, and so will your job,” Murray said in one September 2010 solicitation cited in Friday’s statement. The executive kept tabs on all salaried employees’ contributions, according to TNR article’s sources, and doled out bonuses to compensate for giving.
Walther, Ravel and Weintraub noted that “much of the accuracy” of the TNR expose was “undisputed” by Murray and Murray Energy.
The Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 prohibits individuals from using “coercion, such as the threat of a detrimental job action….to urge any individual to make a contribution or engage in fundraising activities on behalf of a [federal] candidate or political committee.”
Murray Energy’s practices received nationwide attention in August 2012, after he was accused of forcing workers to attend a rally for Mitt Romney, the Republican nominee. In a similar split decision, the FEC declined last year to investigate Murray–both the company and the CEO–for violations related to the incident.
Top legal officials at the FEC, however, had found in February that was “sufficient” cause to investigate Murray, Politico noted. They concluded that solicitations “didn’t contain required anti-coercion language” and urged further investigation, according to Cleveland.com
Murray Energy, which is based in Ohio, claims to be “the largest underground coal mining company in America,” with roughly 7,500 employees. Robert Murray is on the Republican National Convention’s hosting committee, Politico also noted. The gala is scheduled to take place in Cleveland, Ohio this July.
