Trump famously ripped into Jeb Bush’s super PAC during the campaign and for good reason. Jeb raised over $100 million for his PAC, as he hinted he would enter the race, and when he had secured the war chest to scare off rivals, he announced his bid.
He couldn’t have raised all that money as a candidate because our laws are riddled with loopholes.
So he announced his run, and at the same time officially distanced himself from his super PAC (by appointing a long-time aide to run it).
No one bought it, but they all do it – they all get as close to the line as possible or just blur the line and do what they want. Our campaign finance laws are a joke which is why Pelosi can’t, not won’t, impeach Trump.
There is no way the American public will allow Trump to be removed from office for violating our BS campaign finance laws when Jeb Bush’s team is paying millions in fines for far worse – taking money from the Chinese.
This is a bipartisan failure – one of the guys under fire for allegedly funneling overseas money to Trump’s inauguration was a longtime Dem donor.
Foreign money is pouring into our campaigns and has been for some time, remember the Clinton/Gore Chinese cash scandal? We better figure out a way to stop it because no good can come of it. But more importantly, if a campaign finance violation is all they have on Trump, even if it is a foreign money violation not just using his own money to pay Stormey, there is no way Trump will be impeached. It would be too hypocritical, even for the swamp. Jeb’s team pays a fine but Trump gets impeached? That dog don’t hunt.
From CNN:
The Federal Election Commission fined a Chinese-owned corporation and a Jeb Bush super PAC a record amount after concluding both broke a federal law barring foreign interference in US elections.
The FEC fined the Jeb Bush super PAC Right to Rise $390,000 for soliciting a contribution from a foreign national and the American Pacific International Capital $550,000 for making the contribution, according to the settlement agreement posted online by the nonprofit Campaign Legal Center. The FEC found APIC contributed $1.3 million to Right to Rise.
“Today’s action is a rare and remarkable step by the FEC, and a reminder that safeguarding our elections against foreign interference is in America’s vital national security interests,” the president of CLC, Trevor Potter, is quoted saying in a news release. Potter is the former commissioner and chairman of the FEC.
“Right to Rise conciliated this matter to avoid costly litigation and appreciates the commission’s recognition of its extensive compliance efforts,” Charlie Spies, the counsel to Right to Rise, told CNN.
The levies are the largest FEC fine since the Supreme Court’s decision in the Citizens United v. FEC case in 2010, according to CLC. The high court’s decision paved the way for the creation of super PACs like Right to Rise and allowed corporations and labor unions to spend an unlimited amount advocating for or against political candidates.
It’s the third highest fine in the history of the FEC, according to the CLC.
