Campaign and Staff Issues
In Part One, I described the various ways Councilman David Marks’ political career is marked by over 12 years of deception, labeling himself as “independent and bipartisan”, yet with a record of voting with Democrats and their ever-increasing socialist policies; masking it by saying “I’ve become more moderate over the years”. Unfortunately for him, this falsehood comes at great disappointment and criticism by his constituents and his own Republican party.
As I said in a previous post; “You can always judge a politicians’ position based on how they respond to criticism. Our dear Councilman seems to have a flair for being a drama-queen Karen, but also using surrogates to do his dirty work, attacking opponents purely on personal levels, and not policy.” His reactions live up to a quote by Jordan Peterson:
Maryland Campaign Finance Law Violations
Here is the press release I sent to the media:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Alleged Violation of Maryland Law by Councilman David Marks
[Parkville, MD, June 19, 2023] - An official complaint has been filed with the State Board of Elections.
In light of this recent development, attention must be brought to what appears to be a clear violation of Maryland Campaign Finance Laws by the Councilman David Marks’ campaign.
As per Maryland State Board of Elections Sec. 2.8, Maryland Election Law Article 13-215(b)(1)(i), it is prohibited to serve as a treasurer for any political committee including one's own while also being a candidate.
It has been discovered that Councilman David Marks has had a member of the Baltimore County Republican Central Committee (BCRCC), Bradley Lang, as his treasurer since 2019. Bradley Lang currently holds an executive position as Secretary on the BCRCC and has been in this role since 2020.
Further, in late September 2022, there was a hurried attempt to cover up this illegal relationship.
According to sources with first-hand knowledge, Councilman Marks allegedly has tried to defend this violation of Maryland Law by claiming "as a former member of the BCRCC" that he was unaware of any County Party Bylaws it violated.
This statement is misleading, as the violation in question pertains to Maryland State Law as outlined above and not the BCRCC's bylaws.
The complaint included evidence of what appears to be a deliberate attempt to conceal the violation of State law by Councilman Marks' campaign.
It is crucial for the public to be aware of any potential breaches of campaign finance laws to ensure transparency, integrity, and accountability in political processes.
Therefore authorities must thoroughly investigate this matter and take the necessary actions to uphold the integrity of the electoral system.
For media inquiries or further information, please contact:
Tom Henry
(contact info redacted)
How did I come across this information? It all began in September 2022 when David Marks urgently called me, instructing me to immediately update all authority lines on his current campaign literature. When I asked about the urgency—wondering if Bradley had resigned—he refused to provide an answer. In fact, he followed up multiple times throughout the day to check if the changes were completed. Having worked with him since his first run for office, he knows I work quickly, but the desperation in his voice suggested there was more to this situation than he was willing to reveal. It was the things he WASN’T saying that caught my attention.
After making several inquiries, I discovered from a reliable source that it is indeed a violation of Maryland Election Law for Bradley Lang to serve as Treasurer while simultaneously holding an executive position on the Central Committee, a role he has occupied since 2020. In essence, Lang has been unlawfully involved in the Marks campaign as Treasurer while also serving as the Secretary of the Central Committee for at least two years. Upon reviewing Maryland Election Law, the violation was clear. I decided to file a formal complaint and subsequently made the matter public, issuing the press release as outlined above.
The Deception Deflection
I guess the Press Release got some widespread public exposure, as Lang repeatedly denies the allegations, stating he was only Marks’ Treasurer for 10 months. Further, he told the BCRCC of his call to the State Board of Elections , informing him that at the most, there would only be a small fine for such a violation. This was communicated in an email to the BCRCC members and alternates (reads in part):
Wed, Aug 9, 2023 at 5:13 PM
Subject: Re: RECENT COMPLAINT FILED WITH STATE BOARD OF ELECTIONS
Members and Alternates of the BCRCC,
I won’t say much about the allegations Mr. William T. “Guardrail” Newton is making about me, other than that, like him, they are toothless. This is a ten-month-old, minor campaign finance infraction, which the State Board of Elections confirmed to the Chairwoman of the Central Committee that in the unlikely case that the state board decided to take action on it, the most serious penalty would have been a small fine. Only a man of such infinitesimally low character would attempt to assassinate someone’s character over something so minimal. In fact, the day after the Councilman and I were made aware of the potential issue a letter was sent to the Board of Elections explaining the situation and I was removed and replaced as Treasurer.
Perhaps what the committee should be discussing, is Newton’s incredibly low character and repeated, dastardly actions. When he calls the committee, myself, and Ms. Smero criminals, Mr. Newton is engaging in a gross case of projection.
Let’s put the worst first. I didn’t have an idea about any potential conflict in my service as a campaign treasurer, but when I found it out, I immediately had myself removed from that position.
While I’m not aware of what’s going on in the Administration and Ethics subcommittee, it appears from this email that Mr. Newton does. For this reason, I will be submitting a complaint calling for an investigation into the apparent leaking of confidential information from that subcommittee. We must end our issue with leaking of confidential information (which consequently is again a communist tactic) as soon as possible.
Sincerely,
Bradley Lang
It's almost amusing how Lang goes after William Newton while barely even touching on the real issue! Let's not kid ourselves—Lang absolutely knew what was happening in the Ethics Subcommittee, which I found out later. But I digress. Notice how swiftly Lang brushed off the allegations, despite knowing full well that I've been handling Marks’ campaign materials since 2018. I can back up every detail of his involvement in Mark's campaign as Treasurer, and the evidence is all here. Plus, I made a PRESS RELEASE about my complaint to the Board of Elections, so it was already public knowledge. Any talk of "leaking confidential information" is nothing but (yet another) smokescreen.
Anyhow, I checked into Lang’s claim. Jared DeMarinis (State Administrator of Elections at that time) said they do NOT discuss any ongoing investigations with the accused or anyone else. Even if Lang presented it as a hypothetical in this email, he lied to the Chair and the Board of Elections by misstating the time period in which he was David Marks’ Treasurer. So the cover up began.
BCRCC Role in the Coverup
It is standard that during each BCRCC meeting, each subcommittee is called upon for a status report. I attended the meeting of June 13, 2024, and what a show. During that meeting, BCRCC elected member Paul Blitz had a Point of Order….
Blitz: I’ve been excused for the last 2 meetings due to work schedule conflicts and I would like to hear all the committees and I notice looking at this list there’s nothing here from the Ethics Committee.
Fallon: Well, that's usually on purpose. Okay, if there's something going on with the Ethics Committee that goes through a different procedure, we don't generally bring up anything that's in going on at the other’s committees at these public meetings. Okay, but thank you for that, and I'm glad we actually clarified that.
So, Chairman Fallon LIED to the Committee…there are NO special rules for Ethics in their own bylaws or ANY of their Rules or so-called Standing Orders. But sadly, Blitz didn’t bother to challenge it.
After her little falsehood, then she proceeded to let the other subcommittees GO INTO DETAILS OF THEIR SUBJECT MATTER!
Fallon finally relented at a future time, and committed to include Ethics as part of the agenda. At the July meeting, there was a brief discussion during her report, Deb Hill expressing frustration on setting up a meeting to discuss the complaint she received, as it seemed no one would commit to a date, sounds like a delay tactic while they gird their loins.
This raises another issue. What did Fallon know? Did she have knowledge of the complaint (also against their bylaws), lead and participate in a cover up to protect her buddy, Bradley Lang? Since Fallon called the State Board of Elections (as Lang claims), maybe SHE is the “leaker of confidential information”! Based on Lang’s email, she was well aware.
I found out later that there was a complaint against Lang filed with the Ethics Subcommittee of the Baltimore County Republican Central Committee. Best of my knowledge, nothing has been done with it….but in an odd turn of events, the Chair of that Subcommittee (Deb Hill) was summarily forced to resign during the subcommittee meeting to investigate the allegations.
The real story is that the subcommittee tried to get rid of Hill DURING THE MEETING, and BEFORE the investigation of Lang could begin! Several members those who were NOT on the subcommittee, including Chairman Fallon, Garett Zahner, Al Mendelsohn and others, filed a complaint against Hill for a variety of false allegations. So basically, they voted 5-2 to remove Hill so that the complaint on Lang could not go forward.
Let me be perfectly clear: The BCRCC Chair Fallon, along with her minions, deliberately OBSTRUCTED Deb Hill's rightful duty and responsibility as Chair of the Ethics Subcommittee. Fallon’s actions have blocked the subcommittee's mandate to "review & recommend" to the full County Party, preventing the subcommittee from investigating and determining the appropriate course of action regarding violations of Maryland campaign finance laws and Republican Party Bylaws by a sitting member. This is a blatant illegal action and a cover up!
Update: Sources tell me that the matter is being “put on hold” until the Board of Elections comes to a decision. Then they will determine what action to take.
As of this writing, the investigation is still open, being elevated to a special prosecutor by Allen Norfleet, Director of Candidacy and Campaign Finance, Maryland State Board of Elections.
It’s been over a year, what is the Maryland Board of Elections waiting for?
