Hogan, Brown campaign complaints unlikely to go to state prosecutor

A review of campaign finance complaints filed against Gov. Larry Hogan and former Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown will not likely result in a referral to the Office of the State Prosecutor.

The Maryland State Board of Elections tomorrow is expected to hear and possibly discuss the results of the two reviews when it meets Thursday afternoon.

The Division of Candidacy and Campaign Finance began its review of Hogan’s expenses after the Maryland Democratic Party alleged in a Sept. 9, 2014 complaint that Hogan, who was then the Republican nominee for governor, had failed to accurately report the use of his personal recreational vehicle as an in-kind contribution.

That complaint was filed five days after the Hogan campaign alleged that Brown’s campaign was illegally coordinating with an independent expenditure committee One State, One Future PAC.

Central to the allegations made by the Hogan campaign was the close relationship between key members of fundraisers for Brown and the PAC as well as the use of a firm that conducted opposition research for the PAC that had been used previously by Brown’s campaign manager in other races.