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Wednesday, April 13, 2011 | 12:09 p.m.
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Former gubernatorialcandidate Rory Reid’s campaign manager oversaw an operation last summer and fall that first erected an overall PAC that could take unlimited contributions and then created mini-PACS that would only exist temporarily to funnel that money back to the Reid campaign, emails I have obtained show.
The emails, which Team Rory submitted to the secretary of state as part of an ongoing probe, show David Cohen and several other Rory Reid operatives, including finance boss David Brooks, were involved in some of this. The SOS is now sifting though reams of information to determine what occurred and whether this was a simple circumvention of contribution limits (at least) to launder $750,000 through the 90 smaller PACs or if it broke state laws.
The emails are evidence – and illuminating, too – of what we already knew: This was a premeditated conspiracy by Team Rory to get around the $10,000 campaign contribution limits and bolster his campaign coffers at a time he thought he could win and needed to keep pace with Brian Sandoval. The evidence of the complete integration with the campaign in the emails is compelling.
The emails, which I have posted at right, show:
---Cohen made sure to get clearance for the overall PAC to accept unlimited contributions before spraying the money to smaller PACs. That PAC, the Economic Leadership PAC, was not clearly a leadership PAC, as I already have pointed out, and whose purpose was disguised in its description on documents filed with the secretary of state: “To support candidates and organizations that promote economic development and diversification” While it did give to some candidates, nearly all of its funds were used in the funneling scheme.
----Cohen was pushing the campaign’s finance expert, Joanna Paul, to form the mini-PACs, as an email on Aug. 15 shows. They set up bank accounts to write checks back to the Reid campaign – and needed only temporary checks for the PACs, which documents showed were all dissolved at the end of the year – after they had served their temporary purpose, which was to facilitate evading the limits.
---Cohen asked for $10,000 checks to be written from the Economic Leadership PAC, which he acknowledges essentially is an extension of the Reid campaign, to the smaller PACs, which also were an extension of Team Reid. Then, as the scheme worked, those temporary checks were used to funnel the cash back to Rory Reid’s campaign account.
Here’s the original story
I have reached out to Brooks and Paul to no avail.
It was a conspiracy, all right, one that went deeply into the bowels of the Rory Reid campaign. But was it legal? That will be up to Secretary of State Ross Miller and, perhaps, Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto.
Jon, give me a freakin' break. Anyone who actually took 2 seconds to browse the filings back in November would've caught this months ago--why did it take you so long?
And it doesn't exactly seem like they were really trying to hide anything as this was in full disclosure to the SOS in their report. I give kudos to these kids for pulling this off because it sure looks legal to me. Ethical, maybe not. But we can't be mad at them for finding a way to do it better than the next guy.
Maybe we'll create the Kelso Laws as a result of this to close this loophole and prevent it from happening again...
If this is in fact legal then it will be almost impossible to get it shut down. Not only that, but the campaigns in 2012 will make this one look like chump change in comparison.
The laws need to be changed so that only eligible voters in the state are allowed to contribute to a candidate's campaign. Make the PACs work independently and enforce it.
Please stop voting for democrats and/or republicans (and, by default, their corporate handlers). They are simply evil. Thanks!
Where oh where are all those Rory supporters now? They were everywhere while he was running? I'll bet this practice was learned from someone else. Like father, like son. Where's the investigation into Harry's finances?
I think this shows that campaign laws are totally worthless.
They will pass more laws and the lawyers will just create ways around them.
All that it does is prevent avg. Joe and Jane from running because they don't have funds to pay for a legal team to run cirles around the law.
Obviously, nothing will happen here.
I am not even sure why the SOS is spending time and labor to investigate.
They should repeal all campaign laws.
If they broke the law....Indict them!!!
Clearly, Rory is the smarter Reid.
He won't even get a slap on the wrist. Wake up sheeple and demand something happen to harrys kid. If it were you you would be fined and possibly doing time in club fed.
Maybe you should "wake up", @GeorgeWashington. Clearly you're missing the point here--it's legal. So shame on us for not thinking of a way to make this illegal before they outsmarted us.
This will quietly go away. I applaud the Secetary of State Ross Miller for investigating this probable election law violation. Realistically no Democrat Attorney General on the state or federal level will ever procute a Democrat for an election law violation! This great theater but nothing else.
2 words............TERM LIMITS
Obama should quickly appoint Rory Reid to his administration: Treasury or Budget. Like father like son.
Six words to live by: No more Reids in public offices.
(Sigh)
Term limits would not have prevented Rory from running for his FIRST TERM FOR GOVERNOR.
This is an issue term limits would definitely NOT SOLVE.
Was it unethical? Yes, and if Rory was subject to ethics violations he would be convicted with little question. But the law is written with many, many loopholes, and it seems they exploited them. Was it illegal? Probably not, even though it should be.