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Tag: campaign finance violations
Massive Fines And Illegal Donation Haunt Marjorie Taylor Greene

Massive Fines And Illegal Donation Haunt Marjorie Taylor Greene

Reprinted with permission from DailyKos

Georgia congresswoman and anti-mask, anti-vaccine zealot Marjorie Taylor Greene was hit with four more fines Monday after refusing to don a mask in the House chamber. Greene has racked up $48,000 in fines after failing to wear a mask about 20 times since the rule went into effect.

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'Scandalous' Violations Of Campaign Finance Law By Top GOP Funding Site

'Scandalous' Violations Of Campaign Finance Law By Top GOP Funding Site

Reprinted with permission from Alternet

In 2019, the Republican Party launched its fundraising platform, WinRed, a GOP counterpart to the Democratic fundrasing behemoth ActBlue. And in the 2020 election, according to Daily Beast reporter Roger Sollenberger, WinRed "raised more than $2.24 billion for GOP campaigns and committees." Sollenberger reports that according to campaign finance experts the Beast interviewed, WinRed "has not disclosed possibly tens of millions of dollars in PAC expenses" and "has kept secret the identities of the people and firms who work for it and provide its services."

"According to these experts, based on WinRed's disclosures, the PAC appears to have potentially crossed the blurry lines of federal campaign finance laws," Sollenberger reports.

One of the interviewees for Sollenberger's article was former Federal Election Commission Commissioner Ann Ravel, who described WinRed's filings as "nothing short of scandalous" and "absurd."

Ravel told the Beast, "I can't think of any mechanism or loophole that would permit this. Really. It has the appearance of being, if not outright fraudulent, at least not complying with the intent of disclosure laws. On its face, that's what any reasonable federal auditor would think."

Jordan Libowitz, communications director for Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, was equally critical of WinRed's filings and told the Beast, "This isn't like anything we've seen on this scale. With the publicly available information we have, it appears potentially illegal."

According to Sollenberger, WinRed hasn't reported many of the types of expenses that ActBlue has reported, such as "transaction fees, travel and meals, Uber rides, rent, administrative costs, communications, legal and accounting work, payroll taxes and bank fees."

"WinRed's PAC claims to pay for none of those things," Sollenberger reports. "Disclosure is the heart of campaign finance law. And if WinRed doesn't disclose its expenses, that means donors, campaigns, regulators and the public cannot see who the organization pays. But according to filings with the Federal Election Commission, the PAC paid a grand total of $1522.55 for the 2020 election. All of that meager amount went to its sister company, a for-profit corporation called WinRed Technical Services LLC, for 'merchandise.'"

Sollenberger adds, "Over the same period, ActBlue — a nonprofit — raised double that amount, $4.4 billion. It reported spending a little over $42 million on operating costs, about one percent of its total. To put that in perspective, WinRed PAC's $1502.55 budget was around 3.57 thousandths of one percent the size of ActBlue's. If WinRed expended one percent of its $2.24 billion — ActBlue's approximate rate — its operating budget would be $22.4 million."

Sen. Ted Cruz

Campaign Finance Watchdogs Charge Cruz Broke Law To Promote His Book

Reprinted with permission from Alternet

In the United States, the Federal Election Commission has very strict rules governing how campaign funds can and cannot be spent — and the Campaign Legal Center is alleging that Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas violated campaign finance rules by using donor funds to promote one of his books.

The CLC, a watchdog group founded in 2002, alleges that in late 2020, Cruz's campaign spent up to $18,000 on Facebook ads that encouraged viewers to purchase his book, One Vote Away: How a Single Supreme Court Seat Can Change History, which became available on Amazon on September 29.

In an official press release, the CLC's director of federal reform, Brendan Fischer, alleged, "Because Cruz receives royalties from book sales, his campaign crossed a legal line by spending donor funds on Facebook ads promoting sales of that book."

However, CNBC's Kevin Breuninger reports that Chris Gober — an attorney for the Republican senator's campaign committee — is insisting that Cruz did nothing wrong. Breuninger quotes Gober as saying that Cruz "has closely followed Federal Election Commission laws and guidelines when promoting his book" and "has not received any royalties whatsoever for these book sales."

Fischer took issue with Gober's defense of his client, telling CNBC, "There seems to be no legitimate way for Cruz to know how many books were purchased as a result of these Facebook ads, and therefore, it's impossible to say that Cruz is not receiving royalties on the books sold as a result of the ads."

Breuninger notes that according to the CLC's press release, Cruz's book deal with Regnery Publishing included a $400,000 advance and a 15 percent royalty on net sales of hardcover copies. A previous Cruz book, A Time for Truth: Reigniting the Promise of America, was released in 2015.

In addition to filing a complaint with the FEC, the CLC sent a letter to the Senate Ethics Committee asking for an investigation.

Indicted GOP Rep. Hunter Misused Campaign Funds For Extramarital Affairs

Indicted GOP Rep. Hunter Misused Campaign Funds For Extramarital Affairs

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

Republican Rep. Duncan D. Hunter of California has been alleging that his legal programs are politically motivated and that he is being persecuted by “the deep state.” And the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), according to USA Today reporter Brad  Heath, is asking a judge to prohibit the 42-year-old California congressman from offering evidence of alleged political biases in his case.

Hunter became the target of a DOJ investigation for alleged campaign finance violations in 2017, and the following year, he and his wife, Margaret Hunter, were both indicted on campaign finance charges as well as charges of conspiracy and wire fraud. His wife pled guilty to illegal use of campaign donations earlier this month, but the congressman has continued to fight the charges he is facing.

According to Heath, the DOJ is asking a judge to bar Hunter from “offering evidence or argument concerning alleged political biases or motives of the prosecution team” and making public statements that could “poison the pool of potential jurors.”

In a Twitter thread, Heath notes that the congressman considers the DOJ “the deep state” despite the fact that it is presently being run by appointees of President Donald Trump. During an August 2018 interview, he described his legal problems as “modern politics and modern media mixed in with law enforcement that has a political agenda. That’s the new Department of Justice.”

On Twitter, Heath notes, “DOJ basically says @rep_hunter should raise his allegation of political bias properly, in a motion to dismiss, or shut up.” Heath’s thread goes on to note some of the things Hunter is accused of — for example, Heath writes, “the Justice Department filed a notice saying Rep. Duncan Hunter illegally used campaign funds to pay for ‘intimate’ encounters with several women, and prosecutors want a judge’s permission to tell jurors about those romances.”

Prosecutors have accused Hunter of illegally spending campaign donations on a wide variety of personal expenses. The congressman allegedly had a series of extramarital affairs (including affairs with three different lobbyists and a GOP aide), and he is accused of using campaign funds in connection with some of those affairs. He is accused of spending over $200 in campaign money to take one of those aides to the pricy H Street Country Club in Washington, D.C.

Previously, Margaret Hunter was the treasurer for her husband’s campaigns. And according to the indictment against them, he and his wife used campaign funds for personal expenses that ranged from ski trips, hotel stays, tickets to football games and European vacations to golfing and meals in expensive restaurants like Spago in Los Angeles. In addition, the DOJ alleges, they paid for airline tickets for friends and relatives.

 

A DOJ indictment against the couple alleges, “To conceal and disguise these illegal personal charges, the Hunters failed to inform the treasurer that they were for a football game or that a family member was one of the attendees. When asked if the charges were campaign related, Duncan Hunter falsely confirmed, ‘Yessir.’”

IMAGE: Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) and his wife Margaret.