I Wonder If The FEC Is Going To...

"I hope the FEC stops the bribes to pass laws and
hand out contracts to traffic tiny humans."

The FEC is issuing advisory opinions on the use of campaign funds.

I wonder if anyone is going to ask them about using campaign funds for staff to go shopping, lunch, casino, massages on congressional time?

I wonder if anyone, perhaps someone from DOJ OIG, is going to ask the FEC about using a congressional campaign committee to launder money...on congressional time, using congressional resources?

I wonder if anyone is going to ask them about congressional staffers using congressional campaign committee funds to fund state candidate campaigns?

I wonder if anyone is going to ask about setting up fake candidates to launder money through the fake campaigns?

I wonder if anyone is going to ask about bribery payments masked as campaign contributions?

I wonder if anyone is going to ask about corporations that have paid civil monetary penalties for fraud, funding political campaigns and having Political Action Committees?

I wonder if anyone is going to ask about foreign corporations setting up PACs funding political campaigns?

Well, I guess I will just have to ask and I just did.

Children are an extension of the parent, and in this situation, the candidate.

The FEC Is Alive!

AO 2018-06: Use of campaign funds for childcare expenses

Campaign funds may be used to pay for a candidate’s childcare expenses that are incurred as a direct result of campaign activity.

Background

Liuba Grechen Shirley is a candidate for the 2nd Congressional District of New York. Prior to becoming a candidate, she worked from home as a consultant while providing full-time care for her children. When Ms. Shirley started her campaign (Liuba for Congress), she hired a part-time childcare provider. As the primary election approaches, Ms. Shirley anticipates that she will need additional full-time, evening and weekend childcare for her children so that she can devote time to running her campaign. Luiba for Congress asks if it may use campaign funds to pay for Ms. Shirley’s campaign-related childcare expenses.

Analysis

Under the Federal Election Campaign Act (the Act) and Commission regulations, campaign funds may be used to defray expenses in connection with a candidate’s campaign for federal office. However, campaign funds may not be converted to personal use by any person. Personal use occurs when campaign funds are used to fulfill any commitment, obligation, or expense that would exist irrespective of a candidate’s campaign or an individual’s duties as a federal officeholder. For items not listed in the regulations as examples of personal use, the Commission determines on a case-by-case basis whether an expense would constitute personal use.

The Act and Commission regulations do not expressly address payments for childcare expenses. The Commission thus examined whether the proposed childcare expenses would exist irrespective of Ms. Shirley’s campaign for federal office. The Commission considered its previous decision in advisory opinion 1995-42 where it allowed campaign funds to be used for the occasional childcare expenses that arose while the candidate campaigned. In that case, the Commission concluded that the childcare expenses were a direct result of campaign activity and would not otherwise exist.

Likewise here, the Commission concluded that childcare expenses that are a direct result of Ms. Shirley’s campaign activity would not exist irrespective of her campaign. Therefore, the Commission concluded that Liuba for Congress may use its campaign funds to pay for Ms. Shirley’s campaign-related childcare expenses, to the extent such expenses are incurred as a direct result of campaign activity.

Date issued: May 10, 2018; Length: 3 pages

Citations

Regulations

11 CFR 113.1(g)
Definition of personal use

Resources:

• Advisory opinion 2018-06 
• Commission consideration of AO 2018-06

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U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand Sucks

Today, a #Superfan sent me an email from U.S. Senator Kirsten Elizabeth Gillibrand which contained a public vow to stop taking money from corporate Political Action Committees (PAC).

Well, considering the fact that she has raised, for the 2018 campaign cycle, to date, a grand total of $15,031,045.00 from corporate PACs, I guess one can safely conclude that the gentlelady does not have to raise anymore money.

Screenshot of FEC 2018 campaign finance cycle

So, why the hell is she sending out solicitation emails to grassroots supporters begging for $5 and $10 contributions?

Oh, and before I forget, all PACs are incorporated through the IRS, which makes Kirsten Elizabeth Gillibrand a liar, or rather, what I like to call a fraudfeasor.

In summation, Kirsten Gillibrand sucks.

#perkinscoiesucks

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More Ideas For An FEC Overhaul

Dear Federal Election Commission:

Seeing that you are in a bit of an unbalance with a vacant seat on the Commission, I thought I would lift some of your workload by thinking for you.

Campaign finance suggestions:

IDEA #1:  If a corporation, including UCC1s, has signed any civil Memorandum of Understanding, incurred any civil penalties while registered through the U.S. Defense Logistic Agency, Systems Award Management, or a reciepient of federal grants, contracts, subsidies, tax incentives, or has been prosecuted, in any civil or criminal, federal, state, or local court of law for fraud or false claims, the corporation is barred from forming any political action committees or contributing to a political campaigns.

How is it a corporation can get federal funds then dump it in a political campaign with no recourse?

How is it a corporation can engage in fraudulent activities, making profit, then turn around and financially contribute to a political campaign, with no recourse?

This is fraud.

IDEA #2: Prohibit any political action committees formed through religious affiliation, whether in name or IRS designation.  If a politcal candidate is not supposed to campaign in a church, then it should not be able to give money to a political campaign because the religious political action committee solicited funds under the guise of religious puposes, when it actually funds political campaigns.  This  includes child welfare organizations.

IDEA #3:  You need to form an exclusionary database like they do in CMS.

IDEA #4: Set up some form of penalty system with a referral system to DOJ.

Ciao bellos.

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Michigan Governor Snyder Preps For Prosecution

Never fear!

Rick Snyder has a PAC and a 501c3 to sucker money for his image repair campaign for what he believes to be formidable, unjust criminal charges, so I am sure it is only a matter of filing the paperwork to start funneling his dark money into a legal defense fund.

The great Frank Kelley has spoken.

One reason why Snyder's legal fees are so expensive, even before there are indictments, is because he knows he lied and then tried to monetize the situation while covering it up by throwing his cabinet folks under the bus with those darn Type III transfers and selling the emergency manager down the river.

I truly hope Flood and Arena go deep on him and look at state contracts, not just with construction, but also in human services.

Human service programs, particularly child welfare, are privatized, meaning that these programs are exempt and excluded from public scrutiny.

Oh, and by the way, where in the hell is Maura Corrigan?

Former AG Kelley: Snyder's outside legal fees too pricey

LANSING — The nation’s longest-serving state attorney general said Monday it was against the
policy of his office to pay for outside criminal attorneys for state officials and the $800,000 in criminal defense legal fees Gov. Rick Snyder is requesting in connection with the Flint drinking water crisis appear excessive.

"If I was you, I would say it is exorbitant," former Michigan Attorney General Frank Kelley said in a telephone interview from Florida. "Why not? It is exorbitant."

Kelley, a Democrat, said that during his 37 years as attorney general, from late 1961 through 1998, if a state official was facing a criminal investigation for official actions, his office would provide legal assistance but would not approve funds for outside attorneys.

If a state official was charged with a crime, no state-funded legal representation would be provided unless the official was acquitted, Kelley said.

"A crime is against the people of the state, so you could not pay to defend the crime with the people's money," Kelley told the Free Press.

Snyder spokesman Ari Adler has said the Republican governor has not committed any crimes but needs the legal expertise of Warner Norcross & Judd because of ongoing investigations by the U.S. Attorney's office and the state Attorney General's office and because the firm's lawyers and paralegals have the ability to review and process massive amounts of records in the way the investigators want to receive them. Adler also defended a proposed $400,000 contract for civil defense work with Barris, Sott, Denn & Driker, saying the large volume of civil lawsuits filed in connection with the Flint water crisis is too much for the Attorney General's office to handle.

The two contracts, together worth up to $1.2 million, are up for approval today at the State Administrative Board, though Adler said Monday the approval appears to be a formality because the governor's office is exempt from a requirement that contracts worth $250,000 or more be submitted to the public body.

Kelley said there was one instance during his time in office when the state agreed to pay for criminal defense fees for a state official after the fact. Norman Berkowitz, a deputy in the Secretary of State’s  office, was indicted for mail fraud in 1979 in connection with a case involving an award for the design of a license plate but was later acquitted.

Flint's drinking water became contaminated with lead in April 2014 while the city was under the control of a state-appointed emergency manager. The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality has acknowledged it failed to require the addition of needed corrosion-control chemicals when the city switched its drinking water supply to the Flint River from Lake Huron water supplied by Detroit. As a result, lead leached from pipes, joints and fixtures, sending unsafe levels of the toxic metal into an unknown number of Flint households. Officials are also investigating possible links between the Flint River water and outbreaks of Legionnaires' disease that are linked to nine deaths.

Looking nationally, Snyder’s request for the state to cover up to $1.2 million in legal fees for criminal and civil investigations into the Flint drinking water crisis is unusual but not unprecedented.

For example, Texas Gov. Rick Perry charged taxpayers $80,000 for criminal defense attorneys while he was being investigated in an abuse-of-power case related to his actions as governor, then switched to paying his lawyers from his campaign and political action committee funds after he was indicted in 2014.

Those legal fees eventually grew to about $2.5 million before all charges were dismissed against Perry related to allegations he used his budgetary veto power to try to coerce a state official to resign after a drunken-driving conviction, the San Antonio Express-News reported.

Geary Reamey, a law professor at St. Mary's University in San Antonio, Texas, said even the $80,000 Perry charged to taxpayers was controversial.

"At the time, it was noted by people on both sides of the issue (that) if this was not unprecedented, it was certainly a very rare occurrence," Reamey said Monday. "Gov. Perrry was criticized."

Many interpret state law in Texas to say no public funds can be spent in defense of a criminal case against a public official that ends in a conviction, he said.

Looking at Snyder's bills, Reamey said that $800,000 is "a lot of money to spend to spend on defense at the investigation stage," and "what a lawyer can do at that period is somewhat limited."

In New Jersey, the law firm Gov. Chris Christie hired to handle investigations related to "Bridgegate" — allegations that his top aides blocked lanes to the busy George Washington Bridge as an act of revenge against a mayor who did not endorse him — cost taxpayers $7.3 million by September 2014, the New York Post reported.

Under Michigan state civil service rules, employees named in civil suits for actions arising out of their employment are entitled to legal representation at state expense.

The state "is not required to provide legal services at state expense in connection with prosecution of a criminal suit against an employee," the rules say.

Adler noted that while state-funded legal representation related to criminal investigations is not required, it is permitted.

Margaret Lynch, a retired Detroit special education teacher who lives in Royal Oak, said it's appalling that Snyder wants taxpayers to foot the bill for his legal fees.

"Michigan schools are suffering terribly, and he's going to make taxpayers, who need this money for their schools, for our children, pay for his defense," Lynch said. "It's just wrong."

House Minority Leader Tim Greimel said Monday that Democrats will try to strip at least $800,000 from Snyder's $5.6-million office budget unless the governor withdraws the requested legal contracts.

Greimel, D-Auburn Hills, said in a telephone news conference that Snyder should raise money through a legal defense fund to cover the outside fees and not make taxpayers foot the bill. He called on Snyder to withdraw the contract approval requests and said the $800,00 in fees related to criminal investigations is "the most egregious part of this."

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Michigan Relentless Positive Action PAC Whitewashes Privatization

Wait just a minute to allow me to make sure I am understanding the magnitude of this message from Relentless Positive Action, Political Action Committee.

This PAC, "Relentless Positive Action" has been in the formation laboratory of the Republican Governors Association since 2014, was formed and filed with the Michigan Secretary of State on September 16, 2015, months before the emergency declaration of the Flint Water Crisis.

Of course, there is nothing wrong with crafting a political message for a Political Action Committee but the issues which I deem are in grave need of deep analyses from the legal communities, deal more with the intent of a message, more so than its content.

Why would a PAC launch a highly professional image campaign for Governor Rick Snyder before the Flint Water Crisis was really publically exposed?

Why would a PAC spin such a volatile issue, which just so happens to be under the formal scrutiny of federal and state investigations of law enforcement, replete with more, upcoming, congressional hearings, on the issues of the Flint Water Crisis?

Why would a PAC "spin" a blatant attack on Democratic presidential candidates while, at the same time, whitewashing the high rates of child poverty and the Flint Water Crisis, right before the Michigan Primary?

I am going to put forth my hypothesis and leave it out there to be disproved.

This PAC has nothing to do with politics; it is part of a campaign for the legal defense of Governor Rick Snyder for following through with the National Republican Governors' political agenda: Privatization.

Snyder has been poorly advised and now has a public relations PAC to solicit funds to make up for it.

Beverly -- Have you seen this? Michigan’s unemployment rate dropped to 4.9%, it’s the lowest point since 2001.  While Governor Rick Snyder continues his work to create more and better jobs in Michigan, think of how far we have come. In December of 2010, right before Governor Snyder took office, Michigan’s unemployment was one of the worst in the nation, but today it’s at a 15 year low. Now, that is something to be proud of. Telling the Michigan story is one of the reasons Governor Snyder took to twitter to push back on attacks by the Democrat presidential candidates who were trying to distort Michigan’s story and politicize the Flint water crisis. Using his @OneToughNerd twitter account, the Governor corrected the record with facts and reaffirmed his commitment to the people of Flint and to all Michiganders. Here is one of his tweets: I am committed to the people of Flint. #FlintFWD --> https://t.co/OwVMOm1d8Xpic.twitter.com/Ki4HW6XEwl — Governor Rick Snyder (@onetoughnerd) March 7, 2016 The news media took notice of the Governor’s twitter response: DETROIT NEWS: Snyder tweets defense to Dems on Twitter CNN: Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder defends himself on Twitter as Democrats attack DETROIT FREE PRESS: As Clinton, Sanders call for his resignation, Snyder tweets MLIVE: Gov. Rick Snyder goes on defense after Flint water crisis discussion in Democratic debate (MLive) NY MAGAZINE: Michigan Governor Rick Snyder subtweets Clinton and Sanders during Democratic debate  WASHINGTON POST: Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder live-tweets his defense on Flint’s water crisis during democratic debate  BUSINESS INSIDER: Michigan Governor live-tweets Democrats Flint debate as candidates demand his resignation over water crisis NY DAILY NEWS: Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders call for Michigan Governor to resign over Flint water woes during Democratic debate; ‘I will fix this’ Snyder said.  The Governor live-tweeted throughout the debate on a number of issues. He started with this fact sheet: ICYMI: Get the facts on the #FlintWater crisis & learn how we're working to move#FlintFWD pic.twitter.com/balcB7OVZJ — Governor Rick Snyder (@onetoughnerd)March 7, 2016 As he has stated before, Flint should not be political or a partisan issue. All Americans should work together to help the residents of Flint and fix the water crisis and ensure something like this never happens again. The Governor has worked with Republicans and Democrats to unanimously pass legislation for the people of Flint. He tweeted some of the work being done, such as the passage of a $30 million water bill relief fund and proposing $230 million in aid for Flint of which nearly $70 million has already been secured. The creation of over 80 jobs and millions dedicated for health and nutrition were items included among the night's tweets. Details on the $30 million in water bill relief for #Flint residents atHelpForFlint.com. No one should pay for water they can't use.— Governor Rick Snyder (@onetoughnerd) March 7, 2016 He also defended Michigan’s record as the #ComebackState since the Lost Decade. He took to twitter to defend against attacks on Michigan and highlight Detroit, America’s #ComebackCity. We saw in this week's primary results that Michigan voters care deeply about the economy. Their priorities aren’t focused on politicizing the health crisis, but instead finding long term solutions that really help people today and tomorrow. Do you have something you want to share? Email us at info@rpapac.org. Sincerely, Bettina Inclán Communications and Outreach Director Relentless Positive Action PAC http://relentlesspositiveaction.org/

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