Secret Corporate Money Powers Pro-Romney Super PAC

WASHINGTON -- A corporation that contributed $1 million to a political action committee supporting the presidential bid of former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney has been dissolved just four months after being formed. The company's fold, and its relationship to the Romney campaign, marks the new contours of the continued breakdown in campaign finance disclosure in the wake of the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision.

The company, W Spann LLC, donated to Restore Our Future PAC on April 28 and cancelled its certificate of incorporation on July 12, according to Delaware state records obtained by NBC's Michael Isikoff.

The company's records were signed and handled by Ropes & Gray lawyer Cameron Casey, a Boston-based expert in estate planning for "high-net-worth individuals and families," according to an official bio on the Ropes & Gray web site.

As Isikoff notes, Ropes & Gray recently represented Bain Capital, the investment firm once headed by Romney. Both the firm and the PAC refused to comment to NBC about the contribution.

Bain Capital's New York office is located at the same address that W Spann listed on its contribution to Restore Our Future. They share the address with Akin Gump lawyer Randy Levine, who is also a major Romney supporter.

Restore Our Future was created by three former Romney campaign staffers to support his bid for the Republican Party's presidential nomination. The committee reported raising $12.2 million during the first six months of 2011, the largest amount raised by any Super PAC.

Super PACs are political committees that can receive unlimited contributions from individuals, corporations and unions so long as they spend only on independent expenditures. Restore Our Future is not allowed to coordinate with the Romney campaign in any way.

The W Spann contribution is one of four $1 million contributions given to Restore Our Future. Two of the other three came from small, unknown corporations and the third from hedge fund billionaire John Paulson. Records filed with the State of Utah for the two corporations did come with some identifying information, connecting them to the executives of the anti-aging product company Nu Skin Enterprises.

The big question for the individuals behind W Spann and Restore Our Future is whether any of their activity is illegal. While it is perfectly legal for a corporation to form and dissolve or to contribute to a political committee like Restore Our Future, it is illegal to use a conduit to contribute to a political committee.

According to Paul Ryan, FEC program director and associate legal counsel at the Campaign Legal Center, "Federal law clearly prohibits making a contribution in the name of another." Ryan explained that it would be illegal, "if the humans behind the straw corporation put money into the straw corporation for the purpose of contributing to the Super PAC. It's illegal under federal law to use a straw donor."

The possible legality of contributions like the one W Spann made to Restore Our Future looks like an oversight on the Supreme Court's part. The Court allowed corporate spending on independent expenditures in the Citizens United decision, but also affirmed the need for disclosure.

In the Citizens United decision, Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote: "Prompt disclosure of expenditures can provide shareholders and citizens with the information needed to hold corporations and elected officials accountable for their positions. This transparency enables the electorate to make informed decisions and give proper weight to different speakers and messages."

"People can set up a corporation give millions to a Super PAC and shut it down before they have to file annual reports," allowing donors to remain anonymous, Brett Kappel, counsel at Arent Fox and an expert in campaign finance, told HuffPost. "This was a natural extension of what the Supreme Court allowed in Citizens United."

Still, Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer said the $1 million corporate donations to Restore Our Future "may well be a violation of the campaign finance laws." In a statement, Wertheimer called for the matter to be "investigated by the Federal Election Commission and the Justice Department."

"It takes nine months to create a human, decades for that human to be able to make judgements reaching the level of contributions to political causes, but only a matter of days to create a corporation," Ryan said. "There's a big difference between humans and corporations that the Supreme Court ignored in their Citizens United decision."

 

 

Comments

[BetNot]

12:48 PM on 08/08/2011

Corporations are asking me for my political activity, what is that about?

[BetNot]

12:47 PM on 08/08/2011

Must be legit, right Republican'ts...Bet not

[EFMLawSF]

10:31 AM on 08/08/2011

This maneuver by Ropes & Gray, Bain, and Romney is shocking and should be investigated, BUT: the donor (a former Bain managing diorector) identified himself on Friday. It is BAD journalism and damages HuffPo's credibility to run this story 3 days later without mentioning that the donor has come forward. We don't need another FOX "News" in the house.

[pavd8]

11:04 PM on 08/05/2011

romney gets "mystery" money..sounds shady to me, and he is asking for your vote? romney, the guy who made mega millions, buying and selling american companies, stripping them to the bone, and outsourcing tens of thousands of american jobs. but yet, he whins about job creation, as does the other republican candidates. do they forget, from 2000-2008 while the republicans were in control, geaorge w. there were 2.6 american jobs lost. there were more american jobs outsourced than any other administration in history. so what are they talking about? i haven't heard any plans or agendas on how to create jobs. i do know, they voted against president obamas job creation bill, twice. for decades, they have been against raising the minimum wage. they have outsorced thousands of private sector jobs, now they want to eliminate tens of thousands of public jobs. so, what do they know about job creation?

[jfedens]

09:22 AM on 08/06/2011

Not a Romney fan but don't think little "o" has clue on how to create private sector jobs. The need to get a seasoned business person in the big chair will be important in the next election. We the people made a mistake putting someone in the white house who has no experience. I am so beyond "HOPE AND CHANGE". THE American people were fooled once...lets not become fools twice.

[Mise]

05:42 PM on 08/06/2011

One thing we do know, tax breaks for the wealthiest in our society are NOT the way to create jobs.

[mukarrib]

09:57 PM on 08/06/2011

This is a little stiff. Obama puts through financial reform to rein in the banks, insurance companies and what else have you from the GOP pushed deregulation. O protected good paying jobs, insurance companies with loss of all those health insurance plans, investment houses that almost ran themselves into bankruptcy.. Also the stimulus was working as corporate profits were returning and unemployment was dropping-until the Republican take over of the house. Health access is also something O addressed and used Romney's plan as a model-along with a Republican health care plan from the mid-90's. There's hope on that front now. FInally, he helped keep industry in the US with GM and those related suppliers.
So, O has protected jobs, kept businesses and industry vital to the US economy rolling and created jobs.
Give the man some credit. It may not have been the prettiest picture O painted, but it was working. But the idiotic and wild riding foolishness of the GOP with deregulation, tax cutting in the middle of two expensive Asian land wars, piling on debt while cutting those taxes left a huge amount of problems that O went about solving with responsibility and gusto.
I'm ticked with O that he compromised with the GOP when he should've told them to sh*v* it.

[holyghostie]

10:58 PM on 08/05/2011

Something smells fishy in Romney land. I also understand Mitt claimed to be living in his sons basement in 2008 when he voted in Mass for Scott Brown. The only problem is the basement wasn't built yet....

[tamashi]

09:20 PM on 08/05/2011

The liberal media has its uses, thank you ,this RINO should be stopped at all costs.

[holyghostie]

10:58 PM on 08/05/2011

maybe the check came from Acorn?

[mukarrib]

10:08 PM on 08/06/2011

Yeah, maybe Bachmann would be a better choice. The Anti-tax crusader from the IRS. Or, how about Palin-the great capitalist that failed to stop the socialist practice of giving oil company money to the people of Alaska. Maybe the speed and directional consistency of Pawlenty would work out. Or how about Cain, the anti-Islam religious bigot from pizza delivery with more apologies and excuses than 1945 Germany.
Romney is about the only one with his act together-I'll just forget his motives for now-and stress he's the one from the GOP that could reasonably oppose Obama.
Romney needs to go down in defeat and his own party will assure that. Look at McCain.

[TheNative]

07:55 PM on 08/05/2011

This can only get more interesting. It's sounds shady and the FEC should pursue this until and answer is found. Although I admit that it's a creative way to funnel money and still remain unknown. Had they made a few tweaks, that could have gotten away with it. But to form a corporation a few weeks earlier make the donation and then desolve it wasn't a very bright idea. It raises flags.

[Aquest]

06:34 PM on 08/05/2011

If Romney wanted to run an legal campaign or one that at least had the appearance of being legal, he would call for an investigation.

If he doesn't, you can only conclude he knows where the money actual came from and wants it to stay hidden and he doesn't care to run a legal campaign.

[jimkainz]

05:25 PM on 08/05/2011

Making Bush tax rates permanent will require bipartisan support. Republicans will insist on adherence to the Norguist no tax rate increase pledge. Democrats will require increased revenues to replace the loss which will come with no change in existing tax law. There is a $600 trillion market which will accommodate both conditions.

Derivatives.

The $600 trillion market for Derivatives is 40 times the value of the US stockmarket - yet most Americans have never heard of it. A tiny 0.5% transfer fee when these billion dollar contracts trade would raise $4 trillion over 10 years - enough to cover the Bush tax rates (which are scheduled to bring in an additional $3.8 trillion) at current levels. Something both sides can agree to and still declare victory.

No change from current income tax brackets. No cuts to Medicare or Social Security.

Whoever announces this solution first will reap a publicity windfall which will improve their standing in the polls and bring in substantial campaign contributions. It is a race to be the leader who puts this idea into the public domain and champion a position both sides can support.

See www.howtopayoffthenationaldebt.wordpress.com for details.

[fokman]

11:39 PM on 08/05/2011

casino capitalism is obviously NOT solving problems but generating more problems..... and that's unfortunately what brought the us o' a down to a 3rd world nation so what are you even talking about???

[Kache]

11:56 PM on 08/05/2011

But, the casino capitalism is continuing, and taxing "evil" is as American as apple pie.

[jimkainz]

01:50 PM on 08/07/2011

What are you proposing as an alternative? - outlawing Derivatives as some do?

That is not going to happen. A realistic proposal I think is to tax them to cover some of the systemic risk they expose our economy to and use it to pay down the National Debt.

No one is talking about this in the Debt debate. We all need to make it an issue with our Congressional leaders and public media immediately to influence the public opinion for the next election.

[msblynne]

05:01 PM on 08/05/2011

It was probably just Mittens wanting it to look like the money was not coming from his own bank account.

[LynneF]

06:18 PM on 08/05/2011

Or the church

[msblynne]

06:44 PM on 08/05/2011

He was hoping that people would see the bottom line and interpret it as a groundswell from the People who know that Mittens is the One.

[bessielil]

04:36 PM on 08/05/2011

Certainly this issue won't die along the debate trail. Even if the 'debates' are heavily scripted, surely we'll see bogus corporation donor come up in ads and other opportunities to deflate opponents.

Unless, of course, every candidate has done it or is trying to make it happen for them.

[Rangergirl]

04:35 PM on 08/05/2011

Wow this is a really scarry situation. Citizens United has totally corrupted (more than it was) the political funding system.

[nofriendofrepublicans]

04:07 PM on 08/05/2011

Thank you Supreme Corp.

[dennis1943]

04:01 PM on 08/05/2011

Well, we know SOMEBODY loves him.................

[Littlewords]

03:53 PM on 08/05/2011

John Roberts, the worst Chief Justice in our nation's history.

[msblynne]

05:02 PM on 08/05/2011

HE gave Mittens the money? I guess it makes sense. (joke)