BEFORE
THEFEDERALELECTIONCOMMISSION
New
HampshireDemocraticParty
105
N.
State Street
Concord,
NH
03301
Complainant,v.
Mitt
Romney
80
Hayden
Ave.Lexington,
MA
02421
Romney
for
President
Exploratory
Committee
Inc.
80
Hayden
Ave.Lexington,
MA
02421Respondents.
COMPLAINT
complainantfiles
thiscomplaint
under2
u.s.c.
g
a37g(a)(l)
against
Mitt
Romney,Romney
for
President
Exploratorycommittee
Inc.,
and
any
other
committeesauthorizedby
Mr.
Romney
to
support
hispresidentialcandidacy("Respondents")
forviolations
of
theFederal
Election
Campaign
Act ("Act"),
as
described
below.
A.
FACTS
In
the
fwo
years
leadinguptohis
April
I
I
,
20
I
I
declaration
of
candidacy
for
president,
Mr.
Romney
used
"softmoney"
pACsinfive
states
-
Alabama,
New
Hampshire,Iowa,
Michigan,
andSouth
Carolina
(collectively,
the
"State
PACs")
-
to
raise
funds
in
excess
of
Federal
limits,
andspendthose
funds
in
support
of
his
nascent
presidential
candidacy.
According
tomedia
accounts,
the
State
PACs
raised$1.5
million
in
2010.r
During
the
period
I
see
Michel
Luo,"Romney,
weighing
Run,LeansonstatePACS,"
NEwyoRK
TIMES
(Nov.20,zl]I)(attached
as
Exhibit
A),
available
at
.
between
January
1,2009
and
June
30,201
0,
the
State
pACs
raised
$4g6,700 from
just
24
individuals,
which,
at
more
than$20,000
per
individual,
is
eighttimes
the
per-election
limit
allowedby
the
Act.2
Thesenews
reports
also
suggest
that
donors
tothe
State
pACs
made
these
contributionsto
assist
Mr'
Romney'spresidential
campaign,
@
tohelp
candidates
in
New
Hampshire,Iowa,
Michigan,
South
Carolina,
and
Alabama.
For
example,
when
askecl
why
he
contributedto
Mr.
Romney's
State
PACs,Richard
Maniott
"said
he
contributed
so
mueh
becausehe
believesthe
countrycould
use
Romney's
business
acumen."3
Likewise,
another
donorto
Mr.
Romney's
state
PACs,
John
c.
Kennedy,
told
the
BostonGlobe,
,,Isee
everybody
else
who
I
think
is
running,
andsome
of
the
other
candidates
are
also,
let's
say,
likable
...
[b]ut
...
I
appreciate
sitting
across
the
table
from
someone
who
atleastunderstands
how
business
works,how
business
operates."4
Just
as
the
donorsmade
these
five-
and
six-figure
contributions
for
the purpose
of
assisting
Mr'
Romney'spresidentialcampaign,
Mr.
Romney
usedthefundsfor
thisillegal
purpose
as
well'
Mr'
Romney's
Alabama
PAC,for
example,raised
morethan
$440,000
in2010,
but
donated
only
$21
,500
(less
than
5
percent)
to
stateand
local
candidates
in
Alabama.sInstead,
Mr'
Romneyplowedthismoneybackintohis
Boston-based
operation,topay
for
staff
salaries,
consultant
fees,andotherexpenses
ofhis
nascent
presidential
candidacy.6
Finally,
even
though
Mr.
Romney
is
a
declared
presidential
candidate,subjectto the
2
see
Jeanne
cummings
and
Andy
Barr,"End run:
Romney's
craftyfinancing,',
polrrrco
(Aug.
g,
2010)
(attached
as
Exhibit
B),available
or
hfp'il."r"*!.o,ltiti",.,...l*/n.,ur/*roli..l
j*tbrottz*lii*,.
1 o-- n,_'
;:::j"j:":1'^:,::,1,
_.*:i"p
Tik.:
themosr
olfryding
rutes,,,
BosroN
Groar
(Apr.
I
5,201
r
)(attached
as
Exhibit
C),
available
athuo:/,
4
Id.
s
See
Luo,
"Romney.Weighing
Run,Leanson
State
pACs.,,
6
see
cummings
and
Barr,."Endrun:
Romney's
craftyfinancing" ("the
vast
majority
of
themoneyraisedby
Romney'sfivestatecommittees...is--actuallyspentto.support...Romney'scampaignapparatus.,,).
Forexample,
thesefundswere
lsed
topay
key
staffers
-
tu.h
u. EricFeirnstrom
and
Matt
Rhodes
-
andconsultants
-
such
as
BethMyers,Field
consulting,
and
sJZ
LLC.
se-e
cummings
and
Barr.
,,End
run:
Romney,s
crafty
financing,,;
Luo,"Romney, Weighing
Run,
L,eans
on
State
pACs.,'
McCain-Feingold
"softmoney"
ban,
the
State
PACsremain
in
existence.Theeffortsby
Mr.
Romney
and
his
team
to
disassociatethemselves
from
the
State
PACs
-
bychangingtheir
namesand
officers
in
the
weeksleading
up
to
Mr.
Romney'sdeclaration
of
candidacy
-
cannotchangethe
fact
that
Mr.
Romney"established"the
State
pACs
and
that
the
State
pACs
are
therefore
subject
to
the
Mccain-Feingold
banon
raisingorspending
,'soft
money.,,Z
B.
LEGALARGUMENT
1'
Respondents
may
have
violated
the
Act'scontribution
limits
byaccepting
contributionsin
excess
of
$5,000.Federal
law permitspresidential
candidates
to
accept$5,000
in
"contributions,,
from
each
individual,
with
$2,500 designated
for
the
primary
election
and$2,500designated
for
thegeneral
election.
,see
2
U.s.c.
g
aala(a)(lXA).
Federallawdefines
a',contribution,,to
includeany
"gift,
subscription,loan
..
'
advance,
or
deposit
of
moneyoranything
of
value
made
by
any
perconfor
the
purpose
of
influencing
any
erectionfor
Fecrerar
office....,,
l
l
c.F.R.
$
100'52(a)
(emphasis
added).
Therefore,
if
donors
to
Mr.
Romney's
State
pACs
intendedfor
their
contributionsto
be used
tohelp
Mr.
Romney'spresidential
campaign,these
contributions
would
be subject
to Federal
limits.
Theavailable
evidence
suggests
that
atleastsome
of
Mr.
Romney,sdonorsmade
contributionsto the
State
PACs,in
excess
of
Federal
limits,for
thepurpose
of
assisting
Mr.
Romney'spresidential
campaign.As
described
earlierinthiscomplaint,
therearestatementsonthe
public
record
suggestingthat
Mr.
Marriott
and
Mr.
Kennedy
-
each
of
whom
made
contributions
well
in
excess
of
Federal
limits
-
contributedto thestate
pACsfor
theexpress
7
see
Exhibit
D'
on
Aprill,
2011,
Mr-
Romney's
New
Hampshire
PAC
changedits name
from
,,Free
and
strongAmericaPAC
'New
Hampshire"
to
"The
CommonwealthPAC
-
Newuampstrire.,,
on
the
same
aay,etizauetrr
Mahoney
resigned
as
PAC-chair
(replacedby
Kirk
Jowers)
and
Mark
sykas?esigned
as
Treasurer(replacedby
Beverly
Bruce).
See
id.,15-17.
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