GOP Senate Hopeful Cooks Books, Skirts Donation Limits
Montana Senate candidate Matt Rosendale had a problem. A pair of high dollar donors,Tom Rastin and his wife, Karen Wright, kept giving Rosendale more than the $5,400 each individual can legally donate to a campaign per election cycle. And each time, twice to be exact, Rosendale’s team was forced to refund the excess donations.
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Brendan Fischer, the director of FEC reform programs at the Campaign Legal Center, called the scheme “pretty wacky,” but said it’s likely above board. “Unless the donors were in on the plan, I’m not sure it is illegal,” Fischer told PAY DIRT. “If the donors were told they were helping pay down Rosendale’s 2014 loan to his campaign, I don’t think there is anything stopping Rosendale from turning around and putting his repaid loan back into his 2018 campaign.