The Senate Leadership Fund (SLF) has filed a complaint with the Federal Elections Commission, pursuant to 52 U.S.C. § 30109(a)(1), against U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy and others, urging the commission to investigate what SLF alleges are illegal straw donations made to Murphy’s 2012 campaign for Congress and Charlie Crist’s 2010 campaign for the United States Senate.
The SLF complaint, filed Thursday, which can be accessed here (plus exhibits), lays out "a highly suspicious pattern of large donations to Murphy and Crist." The donors have no prior contribution history other than the out-of-state contributions to Murphy and Crist detailed in the complaint; contributions were all made on overlapping or closely clustered dates; and the only apparent connection between these contributors is a wealthy ally of Patrick Murphy named Ibrahim Al-Rashid.
Specifically, the complaint alleges the following violations of federal election laws and urges the FEC to open an immediate investigation:
- Al-Rashid and the named straw donors violated 52 U.S.C. § 30122, which prohibits the making of a contribution in the name of another;
- Patrick Murphy, Charlie Crist and their campaign committees violated 52 U.S.C. § 30122, by accepting contributions which were made in the name of another person;
- Al-Rashid exceeded the contribution limits of 52 U.S.C. § 30116 with respect to Charlie Crist in 2010 and Patrick Murphy in 2011; and
- Patrick Murphy, in his capacity as treasurer of his campaign committee, submitted false FEC reports in 2011.
“Four years ago, Patrick Murphy was able to sneak into Congress with a phony resume and a fraudulent campaign finance operation boosted by his dad’s fortune," said Steven Law, former chief of staff to Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and president of Senate Leadership Fund. "But this dumbed-down Frank Underwood wasn’t slick enough to not get caught, and now his house of cards is starting to collapse. Whether Murphy disintegrates before the primary or afterwards, we are confident that he won’t be Florida’s next U.S. senator.”
A little history on the "straw donations connection" to Murphy:
The Sacramento Bee reported in May that Congressman Ami Bera’s father Babulal has been charged by the U.S. Attorney with soliciting straw donations for his son’s congressional campaigns and is likely to plead guilty.
The Bee reported this:
"The charges filed Monday night allege that, beginning in 2009, Bera contributors gave at least $235,000 to a campaign committee in Elk Grove, and that Babulal Bera later caused the contributions to be illegally refunded.
"Those contributors 'received full or partial reimbursements for their contributions in the form of funds that originated from the defendant (Babulal Bera), either from the defendant directly or through third parties working at the defendant’s behest,' court documents state.
"The charging document also alleges that Babulal Bera and his wife 'directly and indirectly solicited relatives, friends and acquaintances to make the maximum allowable federal campaign contributions' to a campaign committee, 'knowing that his personal money would be used to advance funds to, or reimburse these individuals for the contributions they made.'
"This was designed, according to the charging document, to avoid limitations federal law imposes on the amount an individual is allowed to give a congressional candidate in a single election cycle."
Here is the specific Babulal Bera connection to Patrick Murphy:
First, Murphy’s Senate campaign received $5,000 from Bera on June 27, 2015.
Second, in 2014 the Philadelphia Inquirer reported that the Murphy family and the Bera family were involved in a controversial donor swap scheme. Specifically, Bera donated $5,200 to Murphy and, in return, Patrick’s mother Leslie Murphy donated $5,200 to Ami Bera. This is how such straw-donor schemes work.
Finally, and perhaps coincidentally, Ami Bera’s campaign manager in 2012 is currently managing Patrick Murphy’s Senate campaign.
