Center for Public Integrity: Republican lawmakers’ posh hideaway bankrolled by secret corporate cash
Behind the scenes, several major corporations and trade groups secretly bankrolled a plush hideaway for lawmakers at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland.
But if the corporate payments to Friends of the House 2016 LLC were earmarked for the convention host committee, “they should have reported the actual contributor,” said the Campaign Legal Center’s Noble.
Noble said it’s difficult to know exactly how the money was solicited or who knew the original source of it, but “the effect is that you’re not seeing who really gave the money for this.”
In addition, Noble said, if contributors believed they were giving to benefit Ryan, which isn’t certain, the situation could brush up against rules that limit spending for the purposes of honoring or benefiting a member of Congress.