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And the sleaze continues .... Super Pac finance trickery
from Politico
https://www.politico.com/news/2024/02/13/bridge-funding-rfk-jr-super-pac-00141260
RFK Jr.'s PAC returned millions to a donor. Campaign experts say that’s highly unusual.
The super PAC supporting Robert F. Kennedy Jr. padded its war chest with millions of dollars in contributions from one of the best-known private security executives in the country, Gavin de Becker.
And then it did something remarkable: it returned nearly all of the funds, making his contributions effectively a loan.
The move shocked campaign finance watchdogs who said they’ve never seen such an arrangement before. De Becker’s contributions helped the PAC report a high fundraising total that can, in turn, be seen as a sign of legitimacy for the committee. All told, de Becker made $10 million in donations to the super PAC; $9.65 million of which was returned.
“If someone gives that kind of money to a Super PAC, they’re expecting it to be used by the super PAC for political purposes. I’ve not ever heard of a situation of putting out millions of dollars to a super PAC to get them over a bridge and then to get the money refunded,” said Craig Holman, of the ethics watchdog group Public Citizen.
High fundraising totals — like the ones American Values PAC has been touting over the last year lend a veneer of validity to a super PAC — beget even more contributions from other donors. Using a series of back-and-forth transactions to take on de facto loans without having to report them as debt also obscures American Values’ actual finances.
The campaign finance landscape is constantly evolving, with campaigns and their allies pushing new boundaries every election cycle, and the Kennedy super PAC will end up being seen as a pioneer or an outlier. If others adopt its practices, outside groups could have another tool for shirking transparency.
The super PAC supporting Robert F. Kennedy Jr. padded its war chest with millions of dollars in contributions from one of the best-known private security executives in the country, Gavin de Becker.
And then it did something remarkable: it returned nearly all of the funds, making his contributions effectively a loan.
The move shocked campaign finance watchdogs who said they’ve never seen such an arrangement before. De Becker’s contributions helped the PAC report a high fundraising total that can, in turn, be seen as a sign of legitimacy for the committee. All told, de Becker made $10 million in donations to the super PAC; $9.65 million of which was returned.
“If someone gives that kind of money to a Super PAC, they’re expecting it to be used by the super PAC for political purposes. I’ve not ever heard of a situation of putting out millions of dollars to a super PAC to get them over a bridge and then to get the money refunded,” said Craig Holman, of the ethics watchdog group Public Citizen.
High fundraising totals — like the ones American Values PAC has been touting over the last year lend a veneer of validity to a super PAC — beget even more contributions from other donors. Using a series of back-and-forth transactions to take on de facto loans without having to report them as debt also obscures American Values’ actual finances.
The campaign finance landscape is constantly evolving, with campaigns and their allies pushing new boundaries every election cycle, and the Kennedy super PAC will end up being seen as a pioneer or an outlier. If others adopt its practices, outside groups could have another tool for shirking transparency.
I wonder how much interest the sleazy De Becker will charge the poor morons sending $10 to this campaign to cover his loan.