Attorney General Rob McKenna, a Republican, today filed a lawsuit in King County Superior Court against the Washington State Republican Party for illegally spending $212,967 to advocate for Dino Rossi, the GOP candidate for governor.

Following up on the Public Disclosure Commission's findings, McKenna's lawsuit says the state party used unlimited "soft money" contributions for three mailings that criticized Gov. Christine Gregoire and urged people to "Vote for Dino Rossi." Soft money can only be used for administrative and party-building activities. Only "hard money" contributions, which are limited by state law, can be used to expressly promote candidates.

The Republican Governors Association (RGA) is the biggest contributor ($420,000) to the state party's soft money account. Bob Perry, a Texas home-builder who was the largest financier of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth that attacked John Kerry in the 2004 presidential campaign, is the biggest contributor ($400,000) to the RGA, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics.

John Ladenburg, McKenna's opponent in this year's race for attorney general, has argued that McKenna has a conflict-of-interest and should hand over the case against the state party to an independent counsel.

McKenna has rebuffed Ladenburg, saying his office has good lawyers that will prosecute the case objectively. McKenna notes that his Democratic predecessor, Gregoire, won lawsuits and hefty settlements against the Democratic Party ($250,000) and the state teachers' union ($430,000), which had supported her campaign for AG.

UPDATE: McKenna made the decision to file the suit but will not be further involved in the case, said his spokeswoman Janelle Guthrie. Instead, McKenna's chief deputy, Brian Moran, will be responsible for the case. "In an abundance of caution" McKenna has "screened" himself from the case because of his long relationship with Luke Esser, head of the state Republican Party, Guthrie said. Esser has worked for McKenna and the two have known each other since college, she said.

Moran will not seek an injunction to stop the GOP from repeating its violations, she added. The party has said in a letter to the attorney general it would refrain from improperly using soft money again. "Absent an imminent threat that the behavior will continue we don't have enough evidence to file for an injunction," Guthrie said. "But should we have evidence we stand ready to file for an injunction."