The Swamp Accountability Project

A 501(c)(4) organization
PO Box 26141
Alexandria VA 22313
www.swampaccountabilityproject.com

October 9, 2018

Caroline C. Hunter
Chair, Federal Elections Commission

Ellen L. Weintraub
Vice Chair, Federal Elections Commission

Matthew S. Petersen
Commissioner, Federal Elections Commission

Steven T. Walther
Commissioner, Federal Elections Commission

Federal Elections Commission

1050 First Street NE
Washington, DC 20463

Dear Chair Hunter, Vice Chair Weintraub, and Commissioners Petersen and Walther:

Re: Campaign Legal Center Petition for rulemaking on personal use of leadership
PAC funds

I am writing to you in support of proposed Federal Elections Commission (“FEC”)

rulemaking restricting the ability of Leadership PACs to use funds on “personal
expenditures,” or those benefiting federal candidates and officeholders who establish,
finance, maintain, or control said Leadership PACs where such expenditures are not
obviously connected to such candidates or officeholders’ actual or proposed
government service.

As you may know, this election cycle has seen controversy erupt regarding various
Leadership PAC expenditures.

Our organization and others have specifically criticized the expenditure of money by a
Leadership PAC controlled by Rep. Devin Nunes on Boston Celtics basketball tickets,
as well as travel, lodging and transportation associated with Rep. Nunes’ live and in-
person viewing of Celtics games, all such expenditures appearing thoroughly unrelated
to “fundraising” or other purposes for which Leadership PAC funds might ethically be
used, despite the Leadership PAC in question’s description of them. As you may know,
the LA Times has reported that Nunes “ador[ed]” Larry Bird as a teenager and remains
a diehard fan to this day.

More recently, our organization has uncovered further use of NEW PAC funds for
clearly personal uses, namely the expenditure of NEW PAC funds on travel by Rep.
Nunes to Portugal. Specifically, Nunes financed a trip to Portugal including a visit to the
swanky Tivoli Avenida Liberdade Lisboa hotel using Leadership PAC funds.

As you are no doubt aware, Rep. Nunes is of Portuguese descent; since 2013, he has
been a “Grand Officer” of the Portuguese “Order of Prince Henry”; he likely boasts many
friends and family in Portugal. However, as Portuguese citizens who do not also
maintain U.S. citizenship or are not U.S. green card holders are not eligible to vote in
U.S. elections or donate to American political campaigns—and the number who are, are
very few— there is no legitimate ethical purpose we can identify for this expenditure.
Notably, Rep. Nunes does not sit on the House Foreign Affairs Committee at all, let
alone the Subcommittee on Europe, Eurasia and Emerging Threats, membership of
either of which might justify expending Leadership PAC funds on travel to Portugal.

The reality is that along with the expenditures on Celtics tickets, these items appear
wholly unrelated to Nunes’ current or potential future government service, or political
“leadership.” They are simply expenditures on luxury items of high personal value to
him, given his interests and background, which have been financed by Leadership PAC
donors.

It is our view that these kinds of expenditures should be banned or severely limited by
the FEC because they increase the risk of certain interests seeking to directly “buy”
outsized political influence being able to do so by funding Leadership PACs which then
drop money on items that do not advance a politician’s career or enable them to
disseminate a message (as a campaign or even a SuperPAC or 501(c)(4) might), but
rather directly and personally benefit them through luxurious travel or entertainment
options that would otherwise be foreclosed to them due to a lack of personal wealth or
available cash.

As I am sure you are aware, our example in this letter—Rep. Nunes—is not a wealthy
member of Congress; his only major investment is in a winery implicated in a scandal
involving his co-investors, cocaine and child prostitutes. Without his Leadership PAC
spending on Celtics tickets or travel to Portugal, including stays at swanky hotels there,
it is unlikely that he would be able to afford to partake of live, in-person viewing of
Celtics games or travel of this type.

While we are not asserting that any specific donors to Nunes’ Leadership PAC sought
to “buy” his vote or advocacy on an issue by funding a visit to his family’s home country
during which he stayed at a hotel that describes itself as “the place to see and be seen,
a natural meeting point for celebrities” and boasts a “unique swimming pool amidst the
fronds of its semi-tropical garden,” a “luxurious world of Anantara SPA,” and a “palatial
19th century Conference and Events Centre,” we are asserting that allowing Leadership
PACs to fund this kind of travel—as well as high-priced sporting event tickets, concert
tickets, and the like—is an easy avenue for would-be corrupting influences in our
political system to take to buy outcomes.

Donating to a Leadership PAC that is known to spend money on these kinds of items for
a political leader is ethically distinct from donating to a standard political campaign
committee, a SuperPAC or other “dark money” organization, because those entities are
either not directly linked to a candidate and/or are restricted from expending money to
cover certain personal costs of candidates.

Our organization is confident that Rep. Nunes is not the only candidate or Member of
Congress using Leadership PACs in this way. However, he is a good example of
someone whose Leadership PAC has expended money in an unethical, if not actually
illegal, manner.

The FEC should investigate this situation thoroughly and heed the call to place further
restraints on permissible expenditures by Leadership PACs. Doing so would close a de
facto loophole by which donors may be able to buy political outcomes far more than the
much-decried Citizens United decision permits.

At a time when Americans’ confidence in our institutions, including government, is

ebbing, and President Trump continues to pledge to “drain the swamp,” FEC action to
rein in personal expenditures by Leadership PACs would do much to restore confidence
in our political system and make good on a key campaign promise by our President.

Sincerely,

Liz Mair
The Swamp Accountability Project