This is called “giving in the name of another” and if knowing and willful, it’s a federal crime to do or ask others to do. washingtonpost.com/investigations…
Of course there is no way to be sure just from a news article if that’s what happened here. But even if lawbreaking wasn’t intentional, it is still deeply troubling (I’d certainly like to know which “former FEC general counsel” told them it was ok).
The problem, of course, is that we don’t have a functional regulator in this space—the @FEC is completely broken. That fosters a culture of impunity where deeply troubling conduct like this becomes a perfectly acceptable way to get ahead.
Note that the conduct alleged here all took place well before 2017. This is not a story of Trump-era corruption, but it is another example of how we continue to pay the price for having allowed so many institutional safeguards to atrophy.
Fixing agencies like the @FEC must be a priority for the next president and Congress. FEC overhaul is part of the #ForThePeople Act (#HR1), a landmark democracy reform bill that passed the House last year. It includes many ideas we also put forward here: brennancenter.org/our-work/polic…
