Hidden yesterday-heads-up from Vachel Lindsey
Tuesday, March 20, 2018
As alleged in the indictment, in or about April 2014, Smukler became aware that the campaign was running out of funds that it could spend on primary election expenses. According to the indictment, Smukler nevertheless directed the campaign to continue paying for goods and services associated with the primary election. According to the indictment, in or about May 2014, one of Smukler’s companies made a $78,750 payment to the campaign that was used to pay for primary election expenses. Smukler falsely told the campaign that this money came from a segregated media account, when in fact the payment was funded by an associate of Smukler’s and therefore constituted an illegal campaign contribution.
As alleged in the indictment, after the campaign lost the primary election, the campaign did not have sufficient funds to repay the contributions that the campaign had received for the general election. As alleged in the indictment, in order to conceal this shortfall, Smukler funneled illegal contributions totaling $150,000 from an associate to the campaign through two of Smukler’s consulting companies. As alleged in the indictment, Smukler falsely told the campaign that these payments were refunds of money that had been escrowed in Smukler’s companies for general election expenses, when, in fact, the money had come not from escrow accounts but from Smukler’s associate, and the money could not have been escrowed campaign funds because Smukler’s companies had already spent a significant portion of the funds they had received from the campaign.
According to the indictment, Smukler caused the campaign to falsely characterize the payments from his companies as refunds in FEC reports and in a letter to the FEC, which led the FEC to dismiss a pending complaint against the campaign.
from the linked document:
“Smukler made and caused to be made excess and conduit contributions and engaged in a falsification and obstruction scheme involving a candidate for the Democratic Party’s nomination for Member of the U.S. House of Representatives in 2014.”
Just in case anyone was wondering about affiliations.
Do we know who the candidate is?