End Citizens United (ECU) filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) against Nevada U.S. Senate candidate Sam Brown. The complaint alleges Brown illegitimately used a political action committee that was marketed to help elect Republicans to Congress to instead retire his old campaign debt. This scheme is an attempt by Brown to rely more heavily on big money donors.
“Sam Brown’s scheme represents a new frontier of misleading donors and taking advantage of higher contribution limits for his own self benefit,” said Tiffany Muller, President of ECU. “This malicious misuse of his PAC is unprecedented and if left unchecked, would set a dangerous precedent increasing the power of ultra wealthy donors. We strongly urge the FEC to investigate this corruption and hold Brown accountable.”
The violations:
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In July 2022, Brown created Duty First, a new PAC that was described as a “committee that will work to help Republicans take back Congress.”
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In August 2022, Brown changed Sam Brown for Nevada to Sam Brown PAC, converting it to a PAC and making it affiliated with Duty First. After, Sam Brown PAC transferred over $300,000 in primary debt to Duty First.
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Though there is no mention of repaying debt in Duty First’s contribution form, $55,000 of the $91,500 were used to repay Brown’s debt from the 2022 Senate campaign. According to CNN’s analysis, “fewer than 2% of [Duty First’s] funds went towards candidates.”
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Under existing FEC rules, Duty First could assume Brown’s campaign debt, but would be subject to his 2022 debt campaign retirement restrictions; by allowing the PAC to assume the campaign debt and solicit campaign donors in excess of limits, a significant loophole undermining the FEC is created.
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In addition, Duty First appears to be raising funds without disclosing the donors’ funds will go towards debt retirement—another violation against the FEC regulations. Instead, the campaign transferred the debt into a PAC with an expressly stated purpose of electing other Republican candidates. There is no mention of paying off Sam Brown’s 2022 Senate debt.
Click HERE to read the complaint
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