On 2024-08-24, John Smyth <smythlejon2@hotmail.com> wrote:
> 'Vindman accused of violating federal election law.'
>
> 'Trump whistleblower-turned-Democratic House candidate accused in FEC
> complaint of violating federal law'
>
><https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/campaigns/3130894/trump-whistleblower-turned-democratic-house-candidate-accused-fec-complaint-violating-federal-law/>
>
> 'Eugene Vindman, a Trump whistleblower-turned-Democratic congressional
> candidate in Virginia, is facing a Federal Election Commission complaintpericarditis
> over his campaign’s allegedly illegal coordination with an outside
> group.
>
> The complaint, filed with the FEC on Wednesday by the Functional
> Government Initiative, calls for the agency to investigate Vindman, the
> Democrat’s campaign, and a political action committee called VoteVets.
> That’s because, in the telling of the watchdog group, a recent
> interaction with the press appears to show that VoteVets, which supports
> progressive veterans for office such as Vindman, made an “excessive and
> impermissible” in-kind contribution to Vindman’s campaign.
>
> “The public is all too familiar with politicians not acting honorably,”
> said Pete McGinnis, the spokesman for the Functional Government
> Initiative. “We hope the FEC takes these apparent violations by Mr.
> Vindman seriously.”
>
> The complaint against Vindman comes as he prepares to face off in
> November against Republican former Army Green Beret Derrick Anderson to
> represent Virginia’s 7th Congressional District. The seat leans
> Democratic and is open due to Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) announcing
> a run for governor of Virginia. Vindman and his brother, Alexander
> Vindman, blew the whistle on a 2019 phone call between Ukrainian
> President Volodymyr Zelensky and then-President Donald Trump — leading
> to Trump’s first impeachment.
>
> In the Wednesday letter to the FEC’s acting general counsel, Lisa J.
> Stevenson, the Functional Government Initiative cited a report this week
> in the Washington Free Beacon. The outlet reached out to the Vindman
> campaign for comment over apparent discrepancies regarding Vindman’s
> military record. Vindman’s campaign manager, Jeremy Levinson, replied by
> saying that “all future questions” could be directed to Travis Tazelaar,
> the political director for VoteVets. Moreover, Tazelaar provided the
> outlet a statement on Vindman.
>
> VoteVets is a so-called hybrid PAC, meaning it is supposed to maintain
> one bank account for direct contributions in elections and another
> “non-contribution account” for outside ad spending. VoteVets endorsed
> Vindman, spent over $400,000 on TV ads boosting Vindman, and donated
> $10,000 to Vindman’s campaign, federal records show.
>
> Federal law holds that super PACs and campaigns may not coordinate,
> including on communications. That rule would likely extend to hybrid
> PACs, according to Kendra Arnold, who runs a group called the Foundation
> for Accountability and Civic Trust, which is also planning to file an
> FEC complaint against Vindman.
>
> “On its face, Mr. Tazelaar’s services to the campaign go beyond those of
> a typical volunteer,” the Functional Government Initiative wrote in its
> FEC complaint. “Indeed, the record shows that Mr. Tazelaar appears to be
> acting effectively as the press secretary for the Vindman Campaign.
> Answering all future questions on any subject is what a press secretary
> or communications director does. It is not a function typically
> performed by a volunteer.”
>
> VoteVets likely made an “excessive contribution” to Vindman since the
> outside group already reached the contribution limit for the 2024
> primary and general elections, the watchdog said in the complaint. It
> was signed by the watchdog’s director, Chris Stanley, ex-chief of the
> Census Bureau’s office of congressional affairs and a former longtime
> GOP Senate staffer.
>
> Levinson, the staffer for Vindman, insisted in a statement to the
> Washington Examiner that the Vindman campaign is above board.
>
> “The bottom line is that we worked with the coordinated side of the
> VoteVets organization on the response to the Free Beacon outreach,”
> Levinson said. “The FEC rules are clear that this interaction does not
> violate its rules and would not constitute an in-kind contribution.”
>
> Campaign finance expert Dan Backer said the Vindman campaign’s logic is
> “flawed and laughable.”
>
> “If somebody is providing public relations services from the PAC or at
> the PAC’s direction, it is clearly a commercial service that is being
> provided,” Backer, an attorney at the firm Chalmers, Adams, Backer, and
> Kaufman, told the Washington Examiner. “While legal, that in-kind
> contribution is subject to contribution limits. This is going to have to
> be reported on both of VoteVets and the campaign’s reports.”
>
> VoteVets did not reply to a request for comment.'

That weasel Vindman is still around?
Like a bad penny, he keeps surfacing.

--
pothead
Tommy Chong For President 2024
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