After reviewing campaign finance records, audit materials, responses from the parties involved, and supporting documentation, the Office of Campaign Finance’s General Counsel determined that there was sufficient evidence to declare that there was coordination among the campaign, the unions, and the independent expenditure committee.

Under D.C. campaign finance law, independent expenditure committees are required to operate independently from the candidates they support. The Office of Campaign Finance found that overlapping personnel, shared resources, common office space, and an inadequate firewall policy created a presumption of coordination that the parties failed to rebut.

The report points to five union employees who were “leased” to the Lewis George campaign while remaining on union payrolls. Investigators also cited the shared office address used by Safe & Affordable DC and UNITE HERE Local 25, a shared public relations staffer, and financial ties between the organizations.

According to the findings, Safe & Affordable DC received $100,000 contributions from both unions on March 2 before spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on advertisements supporting Lewis George. The report states that the committee ultimately spent more than $1 million in support of the campaign.

Investigators also concluded that a firewall policy presented by the organizations was insufficient to prevent the flow of information between campaign staff and groups making independent expenditures. The report described the firewall as unsigned, undated, and lacking meaningful enforcement mechanisms, concluding that it was incapable of preventing coordination.

The Office of the General Counsel recommended that the Office of Campaign Finance impose $16,000 in penalties against Lewis George, campaign treasurer Julia Anne Howell, and the Janeese for DC Fair Elections Committee. It also recommended a separate $4,000 fines against Safe & Affordable DC.

Lewis George maintained her innocence, calling the findings absurd and politically motivated in a Saturday statement.

“OCF’s order is riddled with factual errors and violates procedural requirements that govern its investigations and other enforcement actions,” her campaign said in a statement.

“OCF falsely claims to have attempted to interview several witnesses who they allege were non-responsive,” the statement added. “In fact, these people were never contacted by OCF nor did OCF notify the Campaign or its counsel that the office wanted to speak with them, despite OCF stating that these interviews were ‘central’ to its investigation.”

The Lewis George campaign added it was planning to appeal the findings to the DC Board of Elections.

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“This is a last-ditch effort to derail a campaign with a double-digit lead, broad and diverse base of support,” the campaign said.

In April, Ed Lazere, a political activist and Lewis George supporter, filed a complaint with the OFC against McDuffie, questioning whether he improperly switched races after participating in the city’s Fair Elections Program during his 2022 attorney general campaign.