GOP Cash Machine's Behavior Is 'Nothing Short of Scandalous'

[Nevilledog]

Link to tweet

Tweet text:
Roger Sollenberger found true love, suckers
@SollenbergerRC
SCOOP: Republican fundraising machine WinRed PAC has an operating budget of zero—hiding possibly tens of millions of dollars in payments and keeping the identities of who it pays a secret. Me @thedailybeast

GOP Cash Machine’s Behavior Is ‘Nothing Short of Scandalous’
“I can’t think of any mechanism or loophole that would permit this. Really,” said former FEC Commissioner Ann Ravel.
thedailybeast.com
5:19 AM · Aug 9, 2021

https://www.thedailybeast.com/gop-cash-machines-behavior-is-nothing-short-of-scandalous?ref=home

WinRed PAC, the for-profit Republican fundraising juggernaut, raised more than $2.24 billion for GOP campaigns and committees in the 2020 election. But somehow, that gargantuan undertaking appears to have cost the PAC almost nothing.

As the old saw goes, it takes money to make money. According to the 13 campaign finance experts interviewed for this article, WinRed has not disclosed possibly tens of millions of dollars in PAC expenses. In doing so, WinRed, which Republican leaders forced on campaigns in the 2020 election, has kept secret the identities of the people and firms who work for it and provide its services. According to these experts, based on WinRed’s disclosures, the PAC appears to have potentially crossed the blurry lines of federal campaign finance laws.

Former FEC commissioner Ann Ravel reviewed WinRed’s filings, and called them “absurd” and “nothing short of scandalous.”

“I can’t think of any mechanism or loophole that would permit this. Really.” Ravel, who stepped down from the agency in 2017, told The Daily Beast. “It has the appearance of being, if not outright fraudulent, at least not complying with the intent of disclosure laws. On its face that’s what any reasonable federal auditor would think.”

“This isn’t like anything we’ve seen on this scale,” Jordan Libowitz, communications director for government watchdog Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), told The Daily Beast upon CREW’s extensive legal review of the disclosures. “With the publicly available information we have, it appears potentially illegal.”

*snip*

[maxsolomon]

1. The FEC is toothless.

Maybe they get a slap-on-the-wrist fine down the road after everyone's forgotten.

Toothless like the FCC, the IRS, any number of govt orgs gutted by GQP sabotage.

[crickets]

2. So, where's the money? Where does it come from? Where does it go?

https://www.opensecrets.org/political-action-committees-pacs/winred/C00694323/summary/2020

The treasurer for WinRed PAC is Benjamin Ottenhoff. A web search of Benjamin Ottenhoff shows he's involved with (often treasurer of) scads of other PACS and has been for quite some time. For instance:

https://georgiarecorder.com/2020/11/13/georgias-u-s-senate-runoff-elections-lure-big-pacs-ready-to-spend-cash/

What is clear is Dozier is associated with the Crosby Ottenhoff Group, an organization founded by longtime Republican hands Caleb Crosby and Benjamin Ottenhoff, who count the George W. Bush administration, Republican National Committee and National Republican Congressional Committee among their previous employers.

They’ve both run numerous super PACs that have aided Republicans. Ottenhoff worked as treasurer for a super PAC called DefendArizona that in the 2018 election cycle took in more than $10 million from the Senate Leadership Fund, another super PAC that supports Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Here's a doozy:

https://www.tampabay.com/investigations/2019/03/13/a-zombie-campaign-spent-thousands-on-dinners-and-a-trip-to-disney-watchdog-group-says/

The Campaign Legal Center, a nonpartisan watchdog group in Washington, filed a federal complaint Monday against a political action committee created by Jacksonville Republican Ander Crenshaw, saying the group spent Crenshaw’s leftover donations on Apple products, expensive dinners and a $5,000 trip to Disney World.

“It appears to be another example of a former member of Congress thinking they can use leftover campaign funds as personal slush funds,” said Brendan Fischer, the center’s director of federal reform. [snip]

The committee, “Ander PAC,” was organized to benefit numerous candidates according to a 2017 filing. However, it collected just a single $450 donation before it was shut down two years later. During that time, the committee spent tens of thousands of dollars on phones, meals and travel around the country.

Neither Crenshaw, nor Ander PAC’s treasurer, Benjamin Ottenhoff, returned requests for comment. Ottenhoff is the former chief financial officer of the Republican National Committee and a political consultant who works with dozens of D.C.’s biggest PACs, as well as Rick Scott’s 2018 Senate campaign.

https://www.hannapub.com/ouachitacitizen/opinion/columns/edward-oboyle-money-rules/article_e2881ebe-dcd5-11ea-a87b-8bfb6a4f5f77.html

WinRed’s treasurer Benjamin Ottenhoff has been implicated in a FEC probe of Ander PAC for illegally converting campaign funds to personal use after Congressman Crenshaw left office on January 3, 2017. Converting funds in this manner is a violation of 52 U.S.C. §30114(b)(1). The practice of maintaining a PAC after a member of Congress no longer serves in office is so common in Washington that it’s become known as a “zombie campaign”. The FEC accepted Ander PAC’s filing for termination on January 30, 2019.

And? Nothing came of this? There seems to be a clear pattern here. What gives, FEC?