The Federal Election Commission deadlocked over whether to investigate a $500,000 contribution to a super political action committee that backed Sen. Marco Rubio’s (R-Fla.) presidential bid.Watchdog groups contend the 2016 donation was illegally funneled through a limited liability corporation.Conservative Solutions PAC reported receiving the money from IGX LLC. Complaints filed with the FEC, citing news reports, said the money should have been reported as coming from Brooklyn investor Andrew Duncan.
The commission’s 2-2, party-line vote on whether to pursue enforcement action resulted in dismissal of the matter. The vote was announced today….
In an open commission meeting May 24, Weintraub proposed to begin writing new disclosure rules covering LLCs and other mechanisms that can conceal donors. She said those could be used to provide campaign money from foreign sources to influence U.S. elections. Her motion failed on a 2-2 vote.During the commission meeting, Weintraub cited a previous FEC enforcement case involving a super PAC supporting Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-Fla.), who’s no longer in Congress. The FEC declined to investigate whether a contribution from an LLC headed by a Florida real estate developer had originated from Chinese nationals.