Rick Santorum Illegally Directed $1 Million Contribution To Super PAC: FEC Complaint

[applegrove]

Rick Santorum Illegally Directed $1 Million Contribution To Super PAC: FEC Complaint

by Paul Bluementhal at the Huffington Post

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/14/rick-santorum-super-pac-fec-complaint_n_3756984.html?utm_hp_ref=politics

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WASHINGTON -- Former 2012 Republican presidential candidate and Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) broke campaign finance rules by directing a $1 million check from a donor to a super PAC backing his candidacy, according to a complaint filed on Wednesday by government watchdog groups.

The Campaign Legal Center and Democracy 21 filed a joint complaint with the FEC against Santorum for allegedly directing a $1 million contribution from energy executive Bill Doré to Red White And Blue Fund, a super PAC run by former Santorum staffers. While a candidate like Santorum can ask a donor to give money to a super PAC, it is a violation of campaign finance laws to direct or solicit a contribution above the legal limit of $5,000.

Red White And Blue Fund was instrumental to Santorum's unexpected success in the Republican presidential primaries. Santorum's campaign was short on money for most of the primary season, but the super PAC -- powered by contributions from Doré and Wyoming investor Foster Friess -- was able to spend enough money to help Santorum eke out a win in the Iowa caucuses and to push him into position as eventual Republican nominee Mitt Romney's chief competition.

The complaint stems from an article by The Sunlight Foundation's Keenan Steiner wherein Doré described a dinner he attended with Santorum. According to Steiner, Doré initially said that he told Santorum that he wanted to make a $1 million contribution to his campaign, an amount far above the legal limit. Santorum, according to the initial recount of the dinner, then told Doré about the Red White And Blue Fund.


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[Enrique]

1. he was trying to be slick n/t

[indepat]

2. Has the frothy one gotten himself stuck in a sticky mess?