Clinton’s campaign has been giving back thousands of dollars as donations linked to which might stand as one of the largest straw-donor schemes, unfurled ever in the history.
A small law firm which has given money to Senator Elizabeth Warren, Senator Harry Reid, President Obama and many others has been accused of improperly funneling millions of dollars into Democratic Party coffers. The program had been exposed by the Center for Responsive Politics and the exactly same team of Boston Globe investigative reporters that had been featured in the movie “Spotlight.”
The Law Firm has 10 partners, it’s one of the nation’s biggest political donors. But according to the firm’s own documents which had been leaked by a whistleblower after making those donations, the partners have received bonuses matching the amount that they gave.
Boston Globe’s Spotlight editor , Scott Allen said, “Once the law firm knew that we had these records, they didn’t deny that this was the case. If you give a donation and then somebody else reimburses you for that contribution, that is a clear violation of the spirit and the letter of the law at the state and federal levels,”.
Federal law had limited the partnerships, , to a maximum donation of $2,700 per candidate like the Thornton Law Firm. But campaign finance watchdogs infored that the firm has utilized its individual partners as straw donors, allowing them to funnel money to campaigns above legal limits.
Viveca Novak , the director of Center for Responsive Politics , said, “Straw donor reimbursement systems are something both the FEC and the Department of Justice take very seriously, and people have gone to jail for this,”.
The Center for Responsive Politics and the Spotlight team had been looking at donations from three of the firm’s partners from 2010 to 2014. The trio and one of their wives donated $1.6 million, to Democrats. During the same period of time, they have received $1.4 million back in bonuses.
By Prakriti Neogi
