CREW files complaint against Florida Democratic PAC
CONTACT: Jordan Libowitz
202-408-5565 | [email protected]
Washington, DC—Florida Democratic PAC Future Generations should be investigated for breaking the law by using a sham company, Student Achievement First, LLC, to hide the identity of $60,000 in contributions, according to a complaint filed today with the Florida Elections Commission by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW). A “conduit contribution,” a donation made in the name of another to hide the identity of the donor, is illegal in Florida.
Student Achievement First was established in Delaware three weeks before the first donation and appears to exist solely to make anonymous donations to Future Generations. The chair of Future Generations even admitted that Student Achievement First “is funded by an anonymous donor from Sarasota who does not want his name revealed.”
“Use of made-up companies to hide the identity of donors is a growing problem, and this is about as clear cut a case as you will ever see,” CREW Executive Director Noah Bookbinder said. “They’ve admitted that the entire purpose of the contributions from Student Achievement First were to hide the identity of the donor.”
CREW is calling for the Florida Elections Commission to investigate and order Future Generations and Student Achievement First to publicly identify the true source of the donations, as well as any levy sanctions it finds appropriate.
“Disclosure laws exist so the public knows who is paying for their elections,” Bookbinder said. “If groups are allowed to use conduit contributions to get around the law, it defeats the entire purpose.”