Rossi says lawsuit politically motivated

OLYMPIA – A lawsuit alleging illegal campaign spending is a political ruse meant to keep Republican candidate Dino Rossi off the campaign trail in the crucial final weeks of a hotly contested governor’s race, Rossi argued Monday.

In court papers, Rossi asked a King County Superior Court judge to halt efforts to compel his testimony about allegations he illegally coordinated fundraising with a major supporter, the Building Industry Association of Washington.

Election Day is Nov. 4, and absentee ballots in Washington’s mostly vote-by-mail election must be sent to voters by Friday. If forced to testify, Rossi could give a deposition Oct. 20.

Rossi, a former state senator, is running neck-and-neck with Democratic Gov. Chris Gregoire.

In Monday’s filing, Rossi said forcing his testimony before next month’s election “is a politically motivated effort to guarantee Mr. Rossi’s unavailability to his campaign, to improperly employ the court system for political gain, and to unfairly sway voter sentiment in favor of Governor Gregoire.”

The legal showdown was set in motion last week by two former state Supreme Court justices, Faith Ireland and Robert Utter, who have donated money to Gregoire’s re-election campaign.

The former justices sued the building industry group, commonly known as the BIAW, claiming that it worked too closely with Rossi in developing a multimillion-dollar political spending effort focused on the governor’s race.

On Monday, Ireland accused Rossi of “dodging his subpoena.”

“The purpose of campaign disclosure laws is to let people know the facts before they cast their vote,” she said.

The lawsuit seeks to halt the BIAW’s political spending in the last weeks of the campaign. It claims Rossi helped the BIAW solicit money for its 2008 political spending, breaking campaign finance laws that say unlimited third-party spending must be independent from a candidate.

Rossi denies any wrongdoing.