USA TODAY International Edition
Complaint eyes Trump super PAC
A national watchdog organization that uncovered a campaign finance scandal involving Ukraine- linked backers of President Donald Trump contends the super PAC that received the contribution broke federal law.
Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, associates of Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, are charged with hiding the origin of a $ 325,000 donation to America First Action, a pro- Trump political action committee. They pleaded not guilty to the charges Wednesday.
America First Action has not been charged. But the group that first flagged the donation says the super PAC should be investigated for concealing the source of the money when it filed a report with the Federal Elections Commission.
“I think the evidence shows that America First Action violated the law,” said Brendan Fischer of the Campaign Legal Center, which alerted the FEC to the suspicious transaction in the summer of 2018.
The proof, he said, is a banking record of the $ 325,000 payment, which shows the money didn’t come from the company that the PAC named on its disclosure to the FEC.
The banking record came to light in an unrelated lawsuit in Florida in which a man is trying to force Parnas to repay an investment for a movie that was never made.
In June, before Parnas and Fruman were indicted, the Campaign Legal Center filed a supplemental complaint based in part on the banking record.
It’s unclear whether America First also is a target of the investigation.
The super PAC contacted prosecutors in New York last week “and offered to voluntarily cooperate,” said Kelly Sadler, a spokeswoman for the super PAC. “America First Action strictly follows the law and, as this is an open matter, we have no further comment.”
The Manhattan U. S. attorney’s office declined comment.
The Campaign Legal Center, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that advocates for fair elections, filed the complaint. It flagged the $ 325,000 contribution to America First Action, which bills itself as “the primary super PAC dedicated to electing federal candidates who support the agenda of the Trump- Pence administration.”
Fischer said the $ 325,000 contribution fit the profile of a straw donation, or one in which someone makes a contribution on someone else’s behalf. That’s illegal.
America First Action reported that the money came from a company called Global Energy Producers. That company was just 5 weeks old, had conducted no business and didn’t have enough income or investments to make the contribution, according to the Campaign Legal Center.
Its investigators became more suspicious when they discovered Fruman and Parnas had boasted to Ukrainian media of their influence with Trump, Fischer said.
The FEC complaint alleges the money actually came from a private loan obtained by Fruman, passed through an attorney and contributed to America First Action by another company tied to Parnas called Aaron Investments I LLC.
Those allegations are mirrored in the criminal indictment against Parnas, Fruman and two other men, which refers to America First Action as “Committee- 1.”
Parnas and Fruman played an important role in helping Giuliani pressure Ukrainian leaders to investigate the family of former Vice President Joe Biden, a Democratic primary candidate in the 2020 presidential race.