We’ve heard about Hewlett-Packard, Lucent Technologies, and other small ‘lone wolf” scandals that are piling up for Presidential candidate Carly Fiorina, but this one has left me scratching my head.
Why would anyone seeking the presidential nomination for the Republican Party donate such a large sum to a competitor? No one currently knows the answer, but it is a question to which the FEC is actively seeking an answer from a Ted Cruz SuperPAC.
Crooks and Liars wrote a story in August called “What The Hell?,” which exposed Keep The Promise I, one of four Ted Cruz’s official Super PACs, that had donated half a million dollars to Fiorina’s Super PAC.
Check out the official FEC filing, which refers to a $500,000 check to Carly For America as “Other Disbursement.”
The FEC requested an explanation be given for the disbursement of funds to CARLY for America, and that “Failure to adequately respond by (October 21) could result in an audit or enforcement action.”
The only explanation listed for the expense at the time of the contribution was “other disbursement.”
As I mentioned earlier, Keep The Promise I is one of four political PACs set up to raise money for Cruz’s presidential campaign (the other three are “Keep the Promise PAC,” “Keep the Promise II,” and “Keep the Promise III”).
Keep The Promise I has already raised over $11 million dollars for Cruz so far. According to the FEC, only $536,170 has been used by that particular PAC. $36,170 of that went towards paying for attorney’s fees and surveys while the bulk of the cash went towards Fiorina’s presidential war chest.
Even stranger, the large sum was donated to Fiorina while she was still a relatively unknown candidate. According to one Washington Post – ABC News poll, the former HP head was polling at 0% at the time. It wasn’t until August 6 — when Fiorina performed well in the first GOP lower candidate debate — that she was on anyone’s political radar nationally.
h/t – Washington Post, Crooks and Liars
