CREW:

Last week, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) filed a complaint with the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, alleging that several key associates of a notorious dark money group may have violated federal laws by making false statements to the government, obstructing an investigation and pocketing more than $1 million originally meant for broadcasting television ads. In the course of investigating their possible illegal acts, CREW discovered other instances in which one of the individuals involved appears to have disregarded the law.

Scott Reed, a key figure in CREW’s complaint, is an experienced and well-known political operative in Washington, DC. The former campaign manager for Bob Dole’s 1996 presidential bid, Reed is now the senior political strategist for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which plans to spend as much as $100 million on the 2016 elections. As the founder and chairman of the consulting firm Chesapeake Enterprises, he has also been a registered lobbyist since at least 1998.