Posted on 02/06/2016 1:14:48 PM PST by Jane Long
Manchester, New Hampshire (CNN)A super PAC spending millions of dollars to bash Ted Cruz's Republican rivals is shielding the names of many of its top donors and strategists, accepting and directing donations through a particularly high number of hard-to-trace companies, new documents reveal.
Stand for Truth, Inc., an emerging player in the orbit of often clashing constellation of pro-Cruz super PACs, recently pledged to air more than $4 million in television ads to back Cruz in Iowa and South Carolina. Super PACs can accept unlimited contributions but are required to disclose their financial backers.
The twist here is that Stand for Truth has accepted more than $1 million in donations from corporations or limited liability companies, whose funders are difficult to uncover, meaning the original source of the campaign cash is hidden. While corporations can make donations to super PACs, an LLC allows individual donors to steer cash through easy-to-register, self-owned organizations.
"LLCs seem to be a new vehicle for laundering money into elections," said Paul Ryan, a campaign finance reformer worried about donors essentially using them as shell companies to transfer cash anonymously. "It's really hard to find out about LLCs. That's one of the reasons they've become popular."
Stand for Truth has largely operated quietly, not responding to questions about new television advertisements from media .....
SNIP
.....No leadership beyond the treasurer who filed its federal elections forms, a former counsel to Mitch McConnell named Eric Lycan, has publicly identified itself. Lycan has not responded to repeated requests for comment from CNN about the group's activities, and he declined to talk by phone this week. He did say in an email on Friday that the group was run by "consultants from across the country committed to electing a courageous conservative as our next President."
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
U.S. Chamber of Commerce
By FactCheck.org
U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which represents more than 3 million businesses, is one of the most powerful lobbying groups in Washington. Since 1998, the chamber has spent $650 million on federal lobbying - more than any organization, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics.
The chamber is a 501(c)(6) - an IRS designation for nonprofit trade groups. It can accept unlimited contributions and does not have to disclose its donors, although it did disclose spending $23.1 million on political activity in 2008. Its national political director is William C. Miller Jr., a one-time chief of staff for former GOP Rep. Constance Morella of Maryland. In 2008, Miller oversaw what the chamber called its ‘largest issue campaign to date with 33 individual television ads and 37 individual radio ads, more than 6.8 million pieces of direct mail, and 8 million phone calls’ in 44 congressional races.
In addition, the chamber operates a federal political action committee called U.S. Chamber PAC, which makes direct contributions to federal candidates. In 2008, the Chamber PAC gave $144,000 in campaign donations, mostly to Republicans. The Chamber PAC, which cannot accept contributions of more than $5,000 per year from individuals or other PACs, received corporate PAC donations from Pfizer, a pharmaceutical company; AEGON USA, an insurance company; and CVS/Caremark Corp., among others.
The Washington Post reported in March that the chamber intends to spend ‘at least $50 million’ on federal elections, and the New York Times said in October that the business group could spend as much as $75 million. ‘The group will target vulnerable Democrats in up to two dozen states with ads, get-out-the-vote operations and other grass-roots efforts,’ the Post wrote.
I’m not denying anything.
You’re trying to insinuate something that is not there.
I’m done trying to be rational with you. Peddle your drivel elsewhere.
Agree! Soros is involved in several Rubio connections, like his chief of staff Cesar Conda.
I tried today to find out who donated to Adam Laxalt, our Attorney General. I found out he had 1.8 million in donations but most of it is hidden other than the casinos.
That was just out of curiosity since Cruz donated to just about all Iowa politicians.
I think I got conned again by another Nevada politician. I’m beginning to think they are all crooked.
You need to beat Obama up on that.
He just halved border surveillance.
Not Ted Cruz
I’m done trying to be rational with you. Peddle your drivel elsewhere.
Connect the dots.
The onslaught of AM talkers and their anti-Trump diatribes, in the day/days before Iowa is making a lot more sense, now.
It certainly would be interesting to see exactly who received the $192K/PAC radio ad $$.
Cruz voted FOR TPA at the same time as he was STILL pushing huge increases in H1B visas. He said research shows that immigrants create jobs.
Then he said he did not know that program was being abused. (Although Disney was splashed all over the news.)
—
And he did not know McConnell lied to him about TPA
And he did not know Corker/Iran was not the best we could do.
And he did not know he was a Canadian citzen.
And he did not know he had to file official paperwork on a loan.
And he did not know he should have told Texans in his Senate race that he has a Canadian birth certificate.
And he did not know that Glen Beck is a loon.
And he did not know he did not lose his health insurance
And he did not know he really did not liquefy all his assets
And he is, according to his professor, Alan Dershowitz, off the charts brilliant.
Something does not quite add up, does it,
LOL...your s/n is certainly appropriate :)
Did I make a wrong turn and end up on DU? All the usual Trumpeteer suspects on the same thread
No idea. Candidates by law can't coordinate with the PAC even if the entities they collect from are known donors to the campaign itself.
You might want to ask McCain or Feingold.
Facts - they’re just not for Trump supporters.
Hey I grew up with these guys.
They don’t get rich honoring the constitution.
They play games, they game people and fleece them
Nice list. Ted forgot this too!
Ted Cruz Failed To Disclose Ties To Caribbean Holding Company
An old college friendship led to financial entanglement with a Jamaican private equity firm and a British Virgin Islands holding company. Neither was disclosed during his 2012 campaign.
http://swampland.time.com/2013/10/18/ted-cruz-failed-to-disclose-ties-to-jamaican-holding-company/
Ted Cruz did....
Cruz is as sleezy as Tricky Dick Nixon.
I thought he was supposed to be a different type of candidate.
Cruz, if he had any integrity, would denounce these secret pacs like TRUMP did!
Trump calls on Super PACs supporting his bid to return money
bigstory.ap.org/.../trump-calls-super-pacs-supporting-his...
Associated Press
Oct 23, 2015 - NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump is denouncing the outside political action committees supporting his ...
Trump is sleezier than Hillary and Obama combined.
Trump is sleezier than Hillary and Obama combined.
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