‘Put a bow on the thing’: Curley wants coverage of dismissed complaint against Brandi Kruse

Let’s Go Washington filed a new initiative last week that would put Washington’s courts under the state Public Records Act, the same law that already covers state agencies, elected officials, and the Legislature.

Brian Heywood, founder of Let’s Go Washington, said the Legislature originally exempted itself from the law until a Thurston County judge ruled that lawmakers had to follow it. Heywood said the courts have used their own rulings to stay outside the law, even though they aren’t meant to rank above the other two branches of government.

The filing came the same week the group put a separate fight behind it. Washington’s Public Disclosure Commission (PDC) dismissed a campaign finance complaint accusing Let’s Go Washington of failing to report political advertising connected to commentator Brandi Kruse. The PDC found no evidence that the group paid Kruse or received in-kind contributions from her.

Sammamish City Councilmember Pam Stuart filed the complaint in May on behalf of Washingtonians for Ethical Government. It flagged at least 159 posts, podcast segments, and other promotions on Kruse’s platforms supporting Let’s Go Washington’s initiatives on girls’ sports and parental rights, and valued them at $345,900 to $1.25 million. Regulators cited media exemptions that protect commentary and editorializing.

John Curley, host of “The John Curley Show” on KIRO Newsradio, said the complaint was never really about winning.

“It was a way of dragging Brandi through, and Let’s Go Washington would get headlines, and people would just hear the headline, not pay any attention,” Curley said. “Just throw a little bit of mud at them.”

He said the cost to Kruse was real, even though she was cleared.

“It cost Brandi Kruse money, and it cost her time,” Curley said. “She’s got to fight these things. She’s got to go get deposed. She’s got to get a lawyer.”

Kruse wrote on Instagram that she would wait to see how many news organizations followed up on the dismissal. Curley said she shouldn’t hold her breath.

“Hardly ever do news organizations say, ‘Oh, by the way, remember that thing we made a big deal about six weeks ago? Well, it turned out to be a nothing burger,'” Curley said. “You should put a bow on the thing and end it and say there’s nothing there.”

KIRO producer Joe Wallace said the problem goes well beyond politics.

“There are a lot of cases, especially when people are accused of more like violent crimes or things like that,” Wallace said. “They often are canceled or fired or whatever long before they get their name cleared.”

Curley pointed to a 2007 Washington Supreme Court ruling, San Juan County v. No New Gas Tax, which found that talk radio commentary falls under the media exemption.

“So I think we’re all safe for now,” Curley said.

‘What’s legitimate mean?’

Curley then revealed he’s been asked to sit for a deposition in a separate fight. Kruse, Ari Hoffman, and Jonathan Choe sued after being denied press passes to cover the Legislature in Olympia. Curley said he applied for a pass too, as an experiment.

“The thing that they looked at was, are you a quote-unquote legitimate news organization?” Curley said. “What’s legitimate mean?”

He read the email out loud.

“‘I represent the Washington State House of Representatives. We need to take your deposition,'” Curley read, before reacting to the three hours the request set aside. “I don’t have three hours for that.”

Watch the full discussion in the video above.

Listen to “The John Curley Show” weekdays from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. on KIRO Newsradio 97.3 FM.

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