Washington, DC—In speeches before conservative and progressive groups in Florida, CREW Board Chair Norm Eisen emphasized the importance of an investigation of Florida Democratic PAC Future Generations for breaking the law by using a sham company, Student Achievement First, LLC, to hide the identity of $60,000 in contributions, and asked audience members for any information further developing the allegations.  The illegal conduct was the subject of a complaint filed earlier 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.”

“This kind of bogus contribution to avoid revealing the identity of donors is a major problem, and we cannot tolerate it,” Eisen said. “Anyone with information that can strengthen this already compelling case of wrongdoing should come forward right away.”

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.

Eisen addressed the issue before conservative campaign finance group Take Back Our Republic and progressive conference Democracy Matters in Florida this week.