Mail privilege. Donald Trump’s political opponents are still mailing Iowa voters fliers praising the former president—with a dose of irony—as a “transgender trailblazer” who should be thanked “for standing with LGBTQ+ Americans to fight against the close-minded Republicans who won’t accept change.”
While there are no direct ties to the campaign for Ron DeSantis or allies, the fliers carry the same sardonically critical tone from a dually homophobic/homoerotic anti-Trump video the DeSantis campaign produced and shared in early July. Politico, which ran the fliers story this week, provided photos of the documents, but claimed the source “is not clear.”
That conclusion is at odds with what turns out to be months-old reporting. Iowa politics blog Bleeding Heartland first reported on a series of identical fliers in June. Those mailers bore a disclaimer saying they were paid for by a 501(c)(4) nonprofit called “Advancing Our Values,” which had registered with the state weeks earlier. Those filings list its “director” as Disney on Ice and 311 fan Kyle Adema, a Nebraska insurance specialist, and the blog posted registration articles listing a Koch Industries-tied Gober Group attorney as “incorporator.”
The news reached top political players at the time. Ric Grennell, Trump’s openly gay acting Director of National Intelligence, tweeted on July 10 that, after inquiring about the “anti-gay attack,” Charles Koch had assured him “this is not something I support.”
A Lot of People Who Hate Ted Cruz. That’s the name of a spanking new super PAC that filed with the Federal Election Commission earlier this week. Not much is known about the group, but a representative told The Daily Beast that they plan to announce their next moves soon, noting that “‘Paid for by A Lot of People Who Hate Ted Cruz’ will be a great tagline at the end of an ad.”
The FEC, however, appears to have erroneously detected insincerity in the name, as indicated in a warning letter it sent the group’s treasurer the next day. That treasurer, however, has years of experience, including running the books for Hillary Clinton in 2016.
…Possibly including the FEC. This week, the FEC sent a letter to Cruz’ stagnant 2016 presidential fundraising committee, asking what the campaign planned to do with its $32,000 in residual cash. The Cruz team, as Pay Dirt has previously reported, responded immediately in supercilious fashion, informing the FEC that its own regulations don’t require the former campaign to “explain the committee’s intended use of the residual campaign funds,” and the letter did not “cite any authority for such a proposition.”
“Needless to say,” the response continued, “the Cruz for President committee will spend and dispose of its residual funds in a lawful manner in due course.”
With Cruz, however—a persistent thorn in the FEC’s side who recently manufactured a case that overturned a campaign finance law at the Supreme Court—things are rarely as simple as they may seem. It’s worth noting, then, that his old campaign’s reply didn’t stop there, but observed that the FEC’s notice had cited the six-month deadline for using campaign cash to “wind down the office of a former Federal officeholder.” The letter argued that this provision “does not apply here since there is no former Federal officeholder at issue. The other provisions governing the permissible uses of campaign funds do not impose any deadline for expending or disposing of residual funds.”
The letter, however, had also warned against personal use, defining it as “any use of funds in a campaign account of a present or former candidate to fulfill a commitment, obligation or expense of any person that would exist irrespective of the candidate’s campaign or duties as a federal office holder.”
Obviously, it remains to be seen if Cruz has another campaign finance law test case in mind. But $32,000 isn’t a major risk, and the FEC scales its penalties to the amount of money involved in a violation.
Country roads. While Cruz is running for a third term, his Democratic colleague Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) is rumored to be leaving public office for a university gig in the foothills of his home state—and Manchin isn’t taking his foot off the fundraising gas. If anything, Manchin needs to ease up, according to an FEC notice on Monday, which flagged tens of thousands of dollars in excessive contributions.
The corrections. The FEC has found a number of issues in the flurry of amended old reports that Trump’s “Save America” leadership PAC filed in July. On Wednesday, the agency sent five notices (here, here, here, here, and here) flagging a number of potential violations, including tabulation discrepancies, possible corporate donations, and well over half a million dollars in impermissible or excessive contributions.
One of the items was an apparently illegal $210,000 in-kind corporate contribution for a flight from “Ruffin Flight Department” on July 10, 2022. Trump had flown round-trip for a completely batshit July 9 rally in Alaska, delivering on a promise that he would return to the state to bash GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski. Trump’s own jet was on the mend at the time, but Eric Trump had tweeted a video of the plane’s improvements three days before the rally, with a “She’s back!!” caption suggesting the vessel was once again airworthy, or at least approaching it.
The “Ruffin Flight Department” company is tied to the family of casino magnate Phil Ruffin, who flew Trump around during his 2016 campaign—though the campaign had paid for those trips. Ruffin has also flown Trump internationally, including the infamous 2013 Moscow trip, where Trump was allegedly filmed watching sex workers urinate on a hotel bed once used by the Obamas.
Golden ratio. Federal prosecutors have presented gold bars as evidence before the grand jury that’s currently weighing whether to bring charges against Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ), NBC New York reported Wednesday.
In his May 2021 financial disclosure, Menendez revealed that he and his new wife had received a number of wedding gifts from well-wishers. Ten months later, Menendez filed an amendment to that report, tacking on gold bullion bars given to his wife, worth between $100,001 and $250,000.
Today, prosecutors believe the bars were a possible gift that a felon gave to Menendez or his wife in exchange for favors. Specifically, prosecutors are inquiring into whether “Bullion Bob” Menendez had offered to reach out to Justice Department contacts to try to help the felon, Fred Daibes, a banker and New Jersey developer who had been accused of financial crimes. Daibes—who The Daily Beast has reported on deeply in the Menendez matter—pleaded guilty to one count last year. A charging decision for Menendez is said to be imminent.
Watchdogs, rejoice. A judge with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia released a surprising opinion on Wednesday voicing an earnest support for an alternate campaign finance legal enforcement strategy championed by good government groups and Democratic commissioners frustrated with the perennial inaction of their ideological counterparts.
Judge Christopher Cooper’s opinion stood out, as the same court had previously ruled the other way. But Cooper agreed with Democratic commissioner Ellen Weintraub’s controlling statement of reasons in the case—a Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington complaint against dark money mammoth American Action Network. When the Republican commissioners vetoed enforcement action, CREW sued the FEC directly—the alternate strategy in question.
Cooper said the tactic was permissible, tossing the FEC and AAN’s motions to dismiss. The case is now stayed, pending the resolution of CREW’s direct lawsuit against AAN.
