Cleveland Plain Dealer: The Federal Election Commission is examining whether dozens of political action committees and individuals contributed more than the legally allowed amount to House Speaker John Boehner during last year’s election cycle.Needless to say, the FEC expects FoJB to send some checks back. Of course, this isn’t the first time Boehner’s been caught playing fast and loose with campaign finance laws. In 1995, Boehner was caught on the House floor, handing out checks from Big Tobacco prior to a vote. Most people would call that bribery and most people would be right.
Letters the Federal Election Committee sent Monday to Friends of John Boehner indicated that donors including coal, energy, and gambling interests, exceeded contribution limits to Boehner’s committee by more than $150,000.
Among the groups that were allegedly overgenerous to Boehner were Coalpac and Minepac, which represent the mining industry, as well as political committees representing the Exelon, Constellation and Luminant power companies, and the Ceasars and Penn National gambling enterprises.
After the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling, the world of campaign finance is damned near anarchy — there aren’t a lot of laws left governing it. That Boehner still managed to find one to break shows skill and a real commitment to corruption.
[photo by Gage Skidmore]
