Comments on: Faux volunteer firefighter cause trolls Las Vegas and nationally

By: William P. Barrett

William P. Barrett — Tue, 28 Feb 2023 18:10:12 +0000

In reply to Scamhunter5171. Scamhunter5171, I'm not sure there are minimum requirements for fundraising or expenditures for a PAC, so long as it is registered appropriately with either the FEC or IRS.

By: Scamhunter5171

Scamhunter5171 — Tue, 28 Feb 2023 08:19:09 +0000

I’m only just beginning to delve into some of the financial and other aspects of this, and I’ll probably never be as good at it as you are. (Those folks at The Daily Beast and OpenSecrets.org did some deep digging, too.)
But I might also pose an argument that if they aren’t registered as a PAC because they have raised or spent a threshold amount, then they’re not a PAC, and should have no exception under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.
A judge might call that a “novel” argument, but I’m not a lawyer, so maybe I can scoot by under some rule of “lenity.”
Thanks again for shining some light on all this.
You might already be aware of this one, since James Kyle Bell is from Nevada.
“Bell diverted almost all of the funds from PAC donors and the taxpayer-supported PPP loans to bank accounts where they could be used for Bell’s personal benefit, commingling the proceeds of the fraud and further violating federal campaign finance laws with exacting record keeping for PACs. According to court papers, the government has located and seized $519,000 of Bell’s criminal proceeds. Bell’s plea agreement requires that Bell make full restitution to his victims and agree to the entry of a money judgement of $862,000 against him.”

By: William P. Barrett

William P. Barrett — Sat, 25 Feb 2023 22:37:48 +0000

In reply to Scamhunter5171. Scamhunter5171, state jurisdiction over national PACs can be iffy.

By: Scamhunter5171

Scamhunter5171 — Wed, 22 Feb 2023 07:46:14 +0000

Today I checked my p.o. box, and there was a new mailing from the “National Breast Cancer Committee PAC,” with a return address of P.O. Box 5167, Elm Grove, WI. The window envelope is a style I haven’t seen anywhere else, except on the mailings I received from the “National Committee for Volunteer Firefighters PAC” (Brookfield, WI) and the “Breast Cancer Relief Committee PAC” (Waukesha, WI). The “NBCC” mailing was addressed to the same fake name I gave the “records department” AI at the “NCVF” about 2½ weeks ago.
Google Maps says a round trip from Waukesha to Elm Grove to Brookfield and back to Waukesha would take about 43 minutes; Brookfield and Elm Grove are about 6 minutes apart.
Not exactly evidence, but . . .
I also found out that neither the “NCVF” nor the “BCRC” PAC is registered with the Maine Ethics Commission. I’m hoping to have a conversation with the Political Committee & Lobbyist Registrar who told me in an email that “Organizations are required to register as PACs in Maine once they raise or spend more than $2,500 to influence candidate elections in the State.” I’m not sure how I’d find out if any of the above have “crossed that threshold” (her words), but it sounds like an interesting endeavor. Want to bet that the “raise” part would beat the “spend” part by a long shot?