Free Trade good, make yankee proud and great. You go shop now yankee. Pickup some nice low taint Poonjab doggie yumyum! You like. Make yankee happy.
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 ...
Financial experts say that if Trump had done nothing and just invested his inheritance, he would be richer than he is now.
At any rate Trump currently owes Wall Street banks at least $480 million.
Another vast-right-wing-conspiracy worthy of Hillary Clinton.
Key words here, “the lefties are right.”
Well of course he does, duh, he has a business, do you have a business, it’s call over head....that’s what I have is over head costs in my craft business....and people out there that work for a living know this...take your dribble somewhere else...
Oh and by the way while we are on this subject, remember back when you and I was talking about Ben Carson??? We both agreed something was not right with him, but when the truth came out, who was it that cost Mr. Carson the votes in Iowa? It wasn’t Trump....it was your candidate....
Did Cruz?
Ted Cruz is the happy warrior.
The Don is rich (no sin) and seems hacked of all the flippin time, changes with the wind
A mega hack off
C’mon. Cruz is the 2nd coming of Obama! Soros’ hands are all over this.
LOL yer killing me LOL
LOL yer killing me LOL
Free Trade good, make yankee proud and great. You go shop now yankee. Pickup some nice low taint Poonjab doggie yumyum! You like. Make yankee happy.
LOL...’financial experts’. Is there net worth half of what Trump’s is? I doubt it!
Love it when these ‘experts’ try to give millionaires and billionaires financial advice.
What Trump owes, personally....on his investments/developments, have nothing to do with secret PAC campaign donations.... ala CRuz.
If Trump weren’t good for any business credit he has, no bank would even be loaning him money. Banks make loans on RE developments that they know will turn a profit.
What business or payroll has CRuz ever managed/had to cover?
Kleenex stock must be way up with all you cry babies sniffling and whining so much.
Read where the trade agreement will cost 450K jobs, right off the bat.
Thanks untrusTED :(
The thread is about Cruz’s hidden donors.
Why are they hidden?
Why isn’t Cruz demanding that these hidden donors be named?
I think you must be confused...no crybabies on the Trump team....but PLENTY of crybabies on the CRuz team.
CRuzer’s even had to go start their own ‘Consistent CRybabies” website.
So, save your kleenex for those (not) dearly departed...and those who just can’t seem to make up their minds and have to spend their time going back and forth between there...and posting anti-Trump drivel, here.
And you are a Snake Handler.
Why isn’t CRuz demanding these donors be named, and why not just denounce and call for the closure of such a secretive operation?
| Contributor | Occupation | Date | Amount | Recipient |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ROSS, ADAM DALLAS,TX |
12/28/15 | $500,000 | STAND FORTRUTH, INC. | |
| ROSS, TARA DALLAS,TX |
12/28/15 | $500,000 | STAND FORTRUTH, INC. | |
| TRANQUIL PATH INVESTMENTS, LTD PARK CITY,UT |
12/8/15 | $250,000 | STAND FORTRUTH, INC. | |
| ARNOTT, ROBERT NEWPORT BEACH,CA |
12/31/15 | $150,000 | STAND FORTRUTH, INC. | |
| ABC LAND & DEVELOPMENT, INC FARMERS BRANCH,TX |
12/3/15 | $100,000 | STAND FORTRUTH, INC. | |
| ADAMS, MIKE MCLEAN,VA |
12/31/15 | $100,000 | STAND FORTRUTH, INC. | |
| HERZOG RAILROAD SERVICES ST JOSEPH,MO |
12/15/15 | $100,000 | STAND FORTRUTH, INC. | |
| CHATEAU MARINA LP LOS ANGELES,CA |
12/24/15 | $75,000 | STAND FORTRUTH, INC. | |
| PA MANAGEMENT PARTNERS LLC BEVERLY HILLS,CA |
12/24/15 | $75,000 | STAND FORTRUTH, INC. | |
| CENTURY APARTMENTS PARTNERSHIP LOS ANGELES,CA |
12/24/15 | $50,000 | STAND FORTRUTH, INC. | |
| LL BALTIMORE, LLC SKOKIE,IL |
12/21/15 | $50,000 | STAND FORTRUTH, INC. | |
| LL FORT WAYNE, LLC SKOKIE,IL |
12/21/15 | $50,000 | STAND FORTRUTH, INC. | |
| LL PEORIA, LLC SKOKIE,IL |
12/21/15 | $50,000 | STAND FORTRUTH, INC. | |
| LL WEST ALLIS, LLC SKOKIE,IL |
12/21/15 | $50,000 | STAND FORTRUTH, INC. | |
| PF FORT MYERS, LLC SKOKIE,IL |
12/21/15 | $50,000 | STAND FORTRUTH, INC. | |
| SOUTH BEVERLY DRIVE LLC LOS ANGELES,CA |
12/24/15 | $50,000 | STAND FORTRUTH, INC. | |
| UNITED AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE CO MIAMI GARDENS,FL |
11/20/15 | $50,000 | STAND FORTRUTH, INC. | |
| UNITED GROUP UNDERWRITERS INC MIAMI GARDENS,FL |
11/20/15 | $50,000 | STAND FORTRUTH, INC. | |
| BENNETT, ARCHIE DALLAS,TX |
12/29/15 | $25,000 | STAND FORTRUTH, INC. | |
| COUNCILL, GEORGE MONTGOMERY,TX |
12/10/15 | $25,000 | STAND FORTRUTH, INC. | |
| MARLING, KIM THE WOODLANDS,TX |
12/28/15 | $25,000 | STAND FORTRUTH, INC. | |
| MBB OPERATING LP DALLAS,TX |
12/29/15 | $25,000 | STAND FORTRUTH, INC. | |
| SUTTON, JOSEPH HOUSTON,TX |
12/16/15 | $25,000 | STAND FORTRUTH, INC. | |
| FRITCHER, SAM PLANO,TX |
12/17/15 | $14,200 | STAND FORTRUTH, INC. | |
| KURZAT FAMILY TRUST SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO,CA |
12/18/15 | $10,000 | STAND FORTRUTH, INC. | |
| LODGE LUMBER CO, INC HOUSTON,TX |
12/10/15 | $10,000 | STAND FORTRUTH, INC. | |
| BRIGHAM, BEN AUSTIN,TX |
12/28/15 | $5,000 | STAND FORTRUTH, INC. | |
| MICA MOSBACHER INTERESTS LLC HOUSTON,TX |
12/7/15 | $5,000 | STAND FORTRUTH, INC. | |
| PETRU, LAWRENCE CYPRESS,TX |
12/3/15 | $5,000 | STAND FORTRUTH, INC. |
Based on data released by the FEC on January 31, 2016.
Feel free to distribute or cite this material, but please credit the Center for Responsive Politics. For permission to reprint for commercial uses, such as textbooks, contact the Center: info@crp.org
From the article, at link....
There is no evidence that routing the LLCs was a coordinated attempt to avoid disclosures, but the amount of cash donated is substantial.
Of the 29 individual contributions made to the group between Nov. 20 and Dec. 31, more than half of the gifts were not immediately connectable to an individual donor, the FEC report shows. On December 21, for instance, five seemingly identical donations in equal increments of $50,000 came from five different LLCs — “LL Baltimore, LLC”; “LL Fort Wayne, LLC”; “LL Peoria, LLC”; “”LL West Allis, LLC’ and “PF Fort Myers LLC.”
Many of the individuals plotting the group’s plans remain unknown as well. The individuals receiving payment from Stand for Truth are all being paid through similar entities, with all but one company receiving payment using a limited liability companies or a limited liability partnership to accept the funds.
Finding the LLC backers
It is not uncommon for vendors to receive payments from campaigns through groups like these, and some of those firms are easily identifiable, such as Lycan’s Kentucky-based law firm, Dinsmore and Shohl.
But LLCs are more difficult to crack. The Texas-based “Stalwart Advisory LLC” and Robinson’s “One Harbor LLC” that the group used as consultants are not visible to the public without sleuthing through Texas public records. Stalwart Advisory does not appear in any state’s corporate records, according to OpenCorporates.com, which tracks these filings, nor does One Harbor’s ties to Robinson.
Lycan, asked why so much of the group’s intake and outflow of cash were conducted through these LLC’s declined to directly answer.
“Stand for Truth reports the information for each donor from whom a contribution is received, in accordance with applicable law,” he wrote in an email.
Donors are increasingly using LLCs like these to give to political groups ever since the Citizens United decision made it easier for non-individuals to cut checks. But the prevalence of these opaque companies on Stand for Truth’s report is widespread, campaign finance observers say.
“The super PAC probably gets more corporate funding than most do by a pretty big margin, but still the bigger donors are individuals,” said David Keating of the Center for Competitive Politics, a group advocating for looser restrictions on donations. “This isn’t Exxon Mobil corporate funding.”
Stand for Truth, meant to add to menu of choices for high-dollar donors, has so far focused on negative television advertisements aimed at both Rubio and Donald Trump. A leading force behind the group, Lycan confirmed, is Hal Lambert, a Dallas money-manager who was a co-chair of the official campaign’s finance committee until he started the outside group and is a close ally of Willie Langston, the Houston campaign’s finance chair.
And largely funding the group is Adam and Tara Ross, a Dallas couple close to Ted and Heidi Cruz who together gave $1 million of the $2.5 million raised. Adam Ross is influential in Jewish Republican fundraising circles and is said to be close with Peter Thiel, the Silicon Valley billionaire who has remained on the sidelines this year despite being wooed by much of the GOP field.
The super PACs supporting Cruz that have been blessed by the candidate himself, a network titled Keep the Promise, has not used virtually any of these LLCs. The $40 million raised by Keep the Promise almost entirely comes from three families that each gave more than $10 million to support Cruz through their own independent groups — with their names attached.
Grand Total: $4,486,484
Total For Democrats: $0
Total Against Democrats: $0
Total For Republicans: $2,124,923
Total Against Republicans: $2,361,561
Why don't the numbers add up?
| Candidate | Party | State | Office | Total | For | Against | Results | Ads |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cruz, Ted | R | President | $2,124,923 | $2,124,923 | $0 | |||
| Rubio, Marco | R | President | $1,338,754 | $0 | $1,338,754 | |||
| Trump, Donald | R | President | $1,022,807 | $0 | $1,022,807 |
Based on data released daily by the FEC on February 06, 2016.
Who . . . cares?
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