This morning, Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s office announced in a news release that U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Marc Barreca has approved a grand settlement that mostly brings the proceedings in Tim Eyman’s Chapter 7 bankruptcy case to a close. The submission of the grand settlement to Barreca was first reported by NPI’s Cascadia Advocate on July 8th.

The settlement provides that Karen Williams, formerly Karen Eyman, will purchase Tim Eyman’s share of their Mukilteo home with funds provided by her brother. The proceeds from that transaction will benefit Eyman’s estate, allowing some of Eyman’s debts to be satisfied. The exact distribution of funds to creditors will be determined at a future date.

“With the signing of yesterday’s order presented by the Chapter 7 trustee, Judge Barreca has approved the settlement of a key adversary proceeding and authorized the sale of the one significant asset that Tim Eyman still owned: the family home in Mukilteo,” said NPI founder and executive director Andrew Villeneuve, who has worked to counter Eyman’s destructive initiatives and negative influence on Washington State politics for over twenty years and has kept a close eye on the bankruptcy case.

“This settlement achieves several important objectives. First, it allows Karen Williams, Eyman’s ex, to remain in the family home their kids grew up in, which is great. Second, it will prevent Eyman from using the home in the future as collateral for loans to fund future initiative schemes, which is something that those with long memories will remember he’s done in the past. Third, it generates money to pay Eyman’s creditors, the most important of which are the people of the State of Washington, who Tim Eyman owes a lot of money to due to his flagrant, obscene violations of Washington State’s public disclosure laws. Fourth, it avoids a lot of the costly overhead that could have been incurred if the house had been taken from Karen and Tim and put on the market. Our team commends the parties in the bankruptcy for reaching this agreement. It seems like a very fair and equitable settlement.”

The pending resolution of the bankruptcy will not liberate Tim Eyman from the penalties he incurred as a result of his stonewalling in the extreme legal strategy, or the judgment assessed against him by Thurston County Superior Court Judge James Dixon in the Attorney General’s main campaign finance enforcement case.

“Every time you get an email from Tim Eyman complaining about he’s being persecuted, remember: Tim Eyman brought all of this on himself,” said Villeneuve. “He has no excuse. He had been in Washington State politics for a long time when he committed the violations he is being held accountable for. He had already gotten into trouble with the PDC and struck a deal agreeing to pay a fine and not to serve as a treasurer anymore. He truly thought he was above the law and could get away with his lawbreaking.”

“Now he’s discovered otherwise, and he isn’t happy about it. He can send a zillion missives grousing about our Attorney General, but that won’t change the reality that he, Tim Eyman, willingly decided to break the law, lie to his own followers, and cheat his own donors. These have long since ceased to be allegations… they are now proven facts thanks to the Attorney General’s investigation and enforcement litigation. We are very grateful for the AGO’s determination in seeing this case through. Eyman apparently figured that if he ‘persevered’ long enough, he’d eventually be able to skate. He was wrong. Justice has been served, and he can expect to remain accountable for his wrongdoing.”

Last month was the fourth consecutive July (2019, 2020, 2021, and now 2022) in which Eyman had no signatures to submit to the Secretary of State’s office for an initiative to the people, owing to not having found megabucks to underwrite a signature drive. It’s the longest drought in the history of Eyman’s initiative factory so far, and it could continue in the years to come. With no initiative of his own to sell in 2022, Eyman has been doing work for others, including his friend Paul Jacob, who is working to suppress the vote in Michigan. Documents obtained through the AG’s investigation, including letters to prospective donors, reveal that ten years ago, in 2012, Eyman was trying to use Jacob’s “Citizens in Charge Foundation” (a 501(c)(3) charity) as a pass-through entity for personal gifts, even though that is blatantly illegal under federal tax law.

For background on the settlement, see this Cascadia Advocate post and the AGO’s news release.