Patrick Murphy's Super PAC is out with its latest quarterly finance report, and - surprise, surprise - the vast majority of its haul came from Dear Old Daddy Murphy:
Patrick Murphy thinks he’s got it made in the Treasure Coast shade. He gets to spend his days playing congressman and doing cheesy campaign photo ops while Daddy foots the bill. Now he wants Floridians to hand him a Senate seat just like he’s had everything else handed to him in his life. As voters learn the truth about Patrick Murphy’s out-of-touch ways and stunning hypocrisy, they may decide his father’s money is better spent finding his son a new job.
As another campaign fundraising period comes to a close, there are two things Floridians can bank on: the sun will rise in the east, and Patrick Murphy will get another influx of Daddy’s cash. The Miami Herald reports:
"In mid-December, Thomas Murphy gave $200,000 of his own money to “Floridians for a Strong Middle Class,” and then on March 31, Thomas Murphy’s Miami-based construction company — Coastal Construction Group — shelled out $300,000 to the super PAC.
"The $300,000 donation was revealed Friday when the super PAC’s quarterly financial disclosure was made available online through the Federal Election Commission. It accounted for 74 percent of the super PAC’s intake between January and March, the report showed."
It’s long been established that Murphy’s “Super PAC” is essentially a slush fund for Murphy’s dad and a handful of his wealthy friends to bankroll Murphy’s political career, and allegations of conflicts-of-interest between Murphy’s official position and his big money backers’ business interests abound.
Murphy’s quest for outside cash doesn’t stop there – or with his recent Super PAC-friendly b-roll clip dump – Politico Florida reports:
"Democratic U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy has established a network of committees, including one with the Florida Democratic Party, that has given a slight bump to fundraising efforts for his U.S. Senate campaign and could provide a big boost moving forward.
"They are called joint fundraising agreements, and they allow committees and members of Congress to join forces to raise campaign cash. Murphy’s campaign committee has agreements with seven different committees, two of which have transferred a total of $57,741 to his campaign, according to campaign finance records."
How does Murphy explain his professed “disgust” with money in politics with his scramble for outside cash? Apparently by lashing out at reporters, as the Tampa Bay Times’ Adam Smith found out in March:
"But when asked by the Tampa Bay Times about the possibility of cutting off the biggest source of money flowing into his U.S. Senate race – his Republican father, who so far has given at least $200,000 – Murphy made it clear it did not appreciate the question.
"'I hate the money in politics, and I hate the sort of gotcha questions too,' said the Palm Beach County congressman, drawing applause from members of the Suncoast Tiger Bay Club."
Amelia Chassé is press secretary for America Rising PAC.
