From: Legal Center Info <LegalCenterInfo@campaignlegalcenter.org>
Sent: Tuesday, March 31, 2015 12:37 PM
To: jimbolnersr@cox.net
Subject: FEC Complaints Against Presidential Hopefuls Show Widespread
Violations, Total Disregard for Campaign Finance Law: They Must Take the
American People for Fools
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 31, 2015
Contact: David Vance 202-736-2200 dvance@campaignlegalcenter.org
Today, on April Fools’ Eve, the
Campaign Legal Center, joined by Democracy 21, filed complaints with the
Federal Election Commission (FEC) against Jeb Bush, Martin O’Malley, Rick
Santorum and Scott Walker claiming reason to believe they are violating federal
campaign finance laws.
“These 2016 presidential
contenders must take the American people for fools—flying repeatedly to Iowa
and New Hampshire to meet with party leaders and voters, hiring campaign staff,
and raising millions of dollars from deep-pocketed mega donors, all the while
denying that they are even ‘testing the waters’ of a presidential campaign,”
said Paul S. Ryan, Campaign Legal Center Senior Counsel. “But federal
campaign finance law is no joke and the candidate contribution limits kick in
as soon as a person begins raising and spending money to determining whether
they’re going to run for office. Bush, O’Malley, Santorum and Walker appear to
be violating federal law.”
The four complaints filed today
document in detail the political activities of each of these presidential
aspirants: traveling extensively to early primary/caucus states, battleground
states and fundraising hotspots; building campaign infrastructures; fundraising
to pay for these activities and to bankroll a formal presidential campaign.
These activities constitute “testing the waters” under federal law and must be
paid for with funds raised under the federal candidate contribution limits and
restrictions (no more than $2,700 per individual donor, no corporate/union
funds). Bush, O’Malley, Santorum and Walker are all raising funds above the
$2,700 candidate limit, providing reason to believe they are violating federal
law.
The complaints further allege that
Bush, Santorum and Walker have actually crossed the threshold to become
“candidates” as defined in federal law, by referring to themselves publicly as
candidates and/or by amassing campaign funds that will be spent after they
formally declare their candidacies. Consequently, they are currently violating
candidate registration and reporting requirements, contribution limits and
restrictions, as well as federal “soft money” prohibitions.
“Publicly denying that they are
candidates does not exempt these presidential hopefuls from federal election
laws passed by Congress to keep the White House off the auction block,” said
Paul S. Ryan, Campaign Legal Center Senior Counsel. “Jeb Bush is
reportedly aiming to raise more than $50 million for his super PAC. Wisconsin
Governor Scott Walker has opened an office in Iowa and is raising millions for
a political group he created in January. Rick Santorum’s own aide is referring
to him as a ‘candidate.’ These individuals are ‘candidates’ under the law.”
The four individuals named in
complaints today are not alone in the 2016 field in violating federal campaign
finance laws. There are a number of additional White House hopefuls who appear
to be in violation of the same campaign finance laws and more complaints will
be forthcoming. So far only Ted Cruz has officially announced his
candidacy. Hillary Clinton, Ben Carson, Lindsey Graham and Jim Webb have
acknowledged that they are officially “testing the waters” and appear to be
complying with federal law requirements; in the event they chose to run for
president, we will examine their first campaign disclosure report to verify
compliance with federal law “testing the waters” requirements.
To read the complaint against Jeb
Bush, click
here.
To read the complaint against
Martin O’Malley, click
here.
To read the complaint against Rick
Santorum, click
here.
To read the complaint against
Scott Walker, click
here.
###
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