Shadegg's use of PAC money questioned
ASSOCIATED PRESS
PHOENIX – Democrats say they have drafted a complaint to the Federal Election Commission accusing Arizona Republican Congressman John Shadegg of using his political-action committee to skirt laws that limit the amount of money donors can give a candidate.
Shadegg maintains everything is aboveboard and nothing was done improperly and doubts the FEC will take action.
The issue centers on money that election records show was transferred from Shadegg's political-action committee into his election campaign.
Two Phoenix-area businessmen who made the maximum allowable individual donations to Shadegg's campaign in 2007 also wrote additional $5,000 checks to Shadegg's PAC, Leadership for America's Future. Eleven days later, on June 26, the PAC wrote two identical $5,000 checks to Shadegg.
In the same reporting period, Shadegg's PAC received no other contributions and paid out only the $10,000.
Democrats said Shadegg used the PAC to avoid laws that prohibit donors from giving more than $2,300 to a candidate's re-election campaign in an election cycle.
Shadegg, who is facing re-election this year, said the contributions are legal because neither he nor the donors were aware that the money sent to the PAC would end up in his re-election campaign.
Shadegg accused his opponents of attempting to make it a political issue.
Democrats are demanding that Shadegg return the money to his donors, apologize to the public and fire the staffer who approved the transfer.
"This is a pure, dishonest Washington political maneuver. Voters are starting to learn this is the kind of behavior to expect from John Shadegg," said Emily Bittner, Arizona Democratic Party spokeswoman.
"The reason campaign-finance limits are in place are so that fat cats can't bankroll your campaign."
FEC officials won't comment on the Shadegg donations, saying they might be called to investigate.
Neither of the two donors, John Dawson, president of Dawson Co. Ltd., a national arranger of corporate conferences, and David Van Denburgh, president of American Fence Co., returned calls requesting interviews.
Records show Dawson made two donations of $2,300 each to Shadegg's re-election campaign on May 31 and $5,000 to the PAC on June 15.
Van Denburgh made two donations of $2,300 each to Shadegg on June 2 and $5,000 to the PAC on June 15. Under campaign-finance laws, individuals are allowed to donate up to $2,300 per election cycle to a candidate's re-election campaign and up to $5,000 to that candidate's PAC.
Lawyers representing Shadegg and the Republican Party dismissed the possibility of an FEC complaint.
They said the PAC donation to Shadegg's campaign is not an issue.
"It is all about the contributor's intent," said Lisa Hauser, a lawyer with Gammage and Burnham in Phoenix, who specializes in election law
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