Dan Bice

Second time the charm

Conservative operative Mark Block's recent encounter with state regulators turned out much better than his first one

In a recent ruling, the Government Accountability Board decided that Block and his group, Americans for Prosperity, did not violate the law with a mailer it sent out in the contest between then-Supreme Court Justice Louis Butler and challenger Michael Gableman.

The agency launched a probe earlier this year to determine whether Americans for Prosperity - a fiscally conservative, pro-business outfit - had sent the flier just to its members or to a wider audience. Such mailings are highly regulated under state law.

Several years ago, Block settled a dispute with the state over another Supreme Court contest by agreeing to pay $15,000 and to stay out of politics for three years.

Nothing like that this time.

Block said last week that he was relieved by the board's decision.

But that may not be the end of it. His group's board directed him to ask his "legal counsel to proceed with possible complaints" with state regulators against two well-regarded attorneys, Mike Wittenwyler and Stephen Hurley. Wittenwyler turned over the flier to the state, and Hurley investigated the case, issuing subpoenas of Block's group.

Wittenwyler declined comment last week; Hurley was unavailable Friday afternoon.