BOSTON — The Massachusetts Attorney General announced Tuesday that he has reached a settlement with U.S. Sen. Ryan Fatman. his wife, Stephanie Fatman, Worcester Probate Registrar; and election commission members who participated in a three-year investigation into campaign finance fraud.
“Enforcing campaign finance laws and holding violators accountable is an important role for my office,” said Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell. “We will continue to hold accountable those who abuse their positions of power, break the law, and undermine public trust.”
The settlement includes the actions of Fatman’s father, Donald Fatman, as financial director of the Ryan Fatman Commission. Republican State Committee. Sutton Republican Town Committee. His brother Anthony Fatman thanked him for his actions as chairman of the Sutton Republican Town Committee. The settlement resolves allegations that each individual or entity violated state campaign finance laws during Stephanie Fatman’s 2020 campaign for re-election as probate registrar.
According to the attorney general’s office, the investigation revealed that in 2020, Fatman’s campaign donated funds to the Republican State Committee and the Sutton Republican Town Committee, which used the funds to support more than 550,000 postal workers. It was revealed that he had used the funds (and had also made other in-kind donations). ) Stephanie Fatman’s campaign. These donations totaled more than $160,000, of which $137,000 flowed through the Republican State Committee, far exceeding the legal limit of $100 for contributions from one candidate to another. was.
Stephanie Fatman and the Stephanie Fatman Committee agreed to drain The entire amount of unwarranted donations collected through the Republican State Committee to Committee Stephanie Fatman, or $137,000. The committee would give up all of its current assets and make four annual payments of $27,000 to make up the difference.
Senator Fatman need to pay $55,000, and Donald Fatman, former treasurer of the Ryan Fatman Commission, must pay $10,000.Sutton Republican Town Committee as well. concluded an agreement and paid the remaining balance in the commission’s bank account, totaling $5,211.48, to the state. As part of the agreement, Anthony Fatman will resign immediately. He will be prohibited from serving as chairman in the future.
As outlined in the agreement, Stephanie and Ryan Fatman will retain professional services to ensure their campaign complies with all campaign finance laws throughout the 2026 primary and general election. A compliance officer will be hired.
“OCPF continues its role in educating and informing candidates of their duties and responsibilities under campaign finance law,” said OCPF Director William Campbell. “Where clear violations exist, authorities will take steps to ensure the public’s interest in accurate and timely disclosure of campaign finance activities.”
The payments by the Board of Candidates for Registrar Fatman and Sen. Fatman are the largest ever paid by a candidate committee to the state to resolve allegations of campaign finance violations.
The Massachusetts Republican State Committee last month agreed to pay a $15,000 fine in three installments as part of a settlement of the attorney general’s investigation into allegations of campaign finance fraud. The Fatmans agreed to pay $55,000 to the state through the federal commissioner’s office. Elections and Political Finance Bureau.
“I’m glad we can move on and put this behind us,” Stephanie Fatman said in an interview Friday at Fatman’s statehouse office with her youngest son, Grady, 2. ” he said. “Our daughter was 4 years old when this all started.” Now she’s 7 years old, and we didn’t have this little one. ”
“There was no admission of responsibility and there was no admission of wrongdoing,” Ryan Fatman said Friday.
“I don’t want to be distracted from other issues,” he continued, referring to immigration and the governor’s response to immigration. and a firearms bill that recently passed the House and awaits action in the Senate.
“The special election (to fill the Worcester-Hampshire State Senate vacancy) is a big test for the Republican Party in Massachusetts,” said Ryan Fatman, adding that the balance in the state’s true two-party state is changing. He argued that Massachusetts would benefit if it got more. It increases accountability and transparency. “It’s time to get all your oars in the same boat and in the water.”
In Senator Ryan Fatman’s own words
Ryan Fatman said he believes the campaign finance investigation is political payback for opposing changes to how the director of the Office of Elections and Political Finance, also known as the Inspector General, is appointed. Changes were proposed in 2019 that Fatman believes would override Republican input in the selection and appointment process.
“Currently, there are four people with veto power: the chairmen of each political party, the secretary of state, and the dean of a law school in the Boston area,” Fatman said, adding that the Senate’s proposed changes would effectively throw Republicans into the equation. It was excluded from
“I helped defeat that provision,” Fatman said. Fatman claims that loss made him a target and led to then-manager Michael Sullivan’s retirement. “I think this was political retaliation. The regulator was not reappointed. The Republican state committee chairman did not want to reappoint him.”
According to Fatman, Sullivan called the senator into his office on January 7, 2021, and told him that Fatman had agreed to a law that limits direct campaign contributions from one candidate to another to a maximum of $100. He said he believed there was a violation. He described the meeting as “informal” and lamented that it was not recorded.
The senator said Friday that campaign contributions to state party committees are unlimited, and each committee has the right to spend the money in-kind on other candidates. In 2020, Fatman ran unopposed and felt he could help other Republicans get elected.
“The important thing is to elect people,” Fatman said.
“Once a donation is made, a candidate loses control over that money. That money can be spent on other candidates,” Fatman said, adding that politicians on both sides of the aisle have turned to this practice. He added that he was participating.
The Fatmans, along with members of a political committee of the same name, filed a lawsuit against Sullivan in March 2021, seeking to prevent him from submitting evidence to the state attorney general.
“We didn’t file the lawsuit to hide what was going on, we filed the lawsuit to shine a light on (Sullivan’s) actions and bring it to light behind closed doors,” Stephanie Fatman said. said.
The case was dismissed by Suffolk Superior Court Judge Christine Roach, who allowed the investigation to continue.
