2020: 'Beto' O'Rourke Paid $110,000 in Campaign Funds to His Own Company
Democratic hopeful criticised by ethics watchdogs
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Public records have revealed Democratic presidential hopeful 'Beto' O’Rourke paid $110,000 in campaign funds to his and his wife's web development company.
According to Federal Election Commission (FEC) records: Beto paid Stanton Street Technology Group $58,544 throughout the 2011-12 election cycle, then $39,060 during the 2013-14 period, and further $9,290 in the 2015-16 cycle and $32,778 during the 2017-18 cycle, reviewed by the Daily Caller.
During the majority of those payments, either O’Rourke or his wife owned Stanton Street, a company founded in 1998.
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But payments like this are legal if the campaign is charged for the actual cost of the services, but ethics watchdogs have argued that it is a form self-dealing.
O’Rourke’s wife, Amy Sanders O’Rourke controlled Stanton Street up until early 2017.
She then sold her stake in the company on March 31, 2017, according to the financial disclosure report.
He then listed the sale value in the $100,001 to $1 million range.
The sale was publically announced by Stanton Street more than two months after the fact in a June 2017 blog post that listed CEO Brian Wancho as Amy O’Rourke’s buyer.
“Amy will continue to be involved with the company during the transition,” read the blog post.
“She plans to spend more time on local initiatives in addition to joining her husband, Senate Candidate and current U.S. Representative Beto O’Rourke, on the campaign trail.”
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According to FEC records, Beto O’Rourke doubled as both candidate and treasurer during his first congressional campaign in 2011 and 2012.
Beto paid the candidate’s own business for service, which included “social media” and “consulting,” FEC records show.
But Beto O’Rourke’s presidential campaign is not using Stanton Street, according to Wancho.
Wacho added that he believed there was not anything unethical about a candidate paying campaign funds their own business.
“What would be out of bounds is if the candidate abused the process and over-paid for goods and services just to enrich themselves or their family. I expect the combination of campaign expenditure reporting and investigative journalism to work together to root out the situations where the candidate is abusing the system,” he said.
Yesterday, Beto doubled down on calling for the Electoral College to be removed by implying it could be related to a reparations-style apology for the institution of forced labor.
Last month, 'Beto' cited Hillary Clinton's defeat against President Donald Trump in the 2016 election as a reason to abolish the current system.
