Mayoral candidate Jeff Brown said it would be “important for people to know” who donated to groups supporting candidates for mayor before the election, in an interview airing Sunday on NBC10 @issue.
Money has become a high-profile issue in the race recently – from the millions being spent on the race to a lawsuit by Philadelphia’s Board of Ethics against a super PAC and non-profit supporting Brown.
In that lawsuit, the board references a contribution by an unnamed professional sports team. Brown has said he doesn’t know who donated or whether that team was the 76ers, which has proposed building a new arena in the city.
Asked whether he’d ask any group supporting him to reveal their donors before the election, Brown said:
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“Yeah, I think they should say they’re supporting me and they should say what they do. But at the end of the day that’s a decision for a group that I don’t control."
NBC10 reached out to a representative with the "For a Better Philadelphia PAC" and nonprofit about Brown’s comments about revealing donors. A spokesperson told NBC10 they are not in a position to comment at this time.
The city’s ethics board alleges that Brown coordinated with the PAC and nonprofit to circumvent the city’s limits for political contributions, helping it to raise millions of dollars. Brown said that he did raise money for the groups “many months” before he became a candidate but that, “we believe we complied with every law that pertains to this.”
Philadelphia Mayoral Election 2023
Brown has called the lawsuit political.
“Everything they were thinking about they leaked to the press, the leaders leaked to the press,” Brown said in the interview. “That is inappropriate and against their own rules.”
When Brown was asked if he had evidence, he said he did, but said that he wasn’t going to litigate the case in the interview.
The executive director of the ethics board responded in a statement to NBC10, defending the board’s work.
“Mr. Brown's accusations are false,” executive director Shane Creamer said in an emailed statement. “The Board has followed its regulations by the book.”
Creamer continued to say that “I think it's possible that Mr. Brown does not understand the Board's rules and regulations,” and that the board is “authorized to go to court to seek injunctive relief to stop what it sees as ongoing violations of the law.”
Creamer said a judge issued a temporary injunction ordering the defendants to stop spending to influence the race, and that another hearing is scheduled for Monday.
This interview with Brown will air on NBC10 @issue on Sunday at 11:30 a.m.
