Oklahoma Watch: New PACs Tied to Pruitt Cast National Net for Corporate Donors

Elected officials seeking higher office will often establish multi-candidate PACs to help fundraise for other political candidates, said Lawrence Noble, general counsel for the Campaign Legal Center in Washington, D.C. That helps raise their national profile and create a larger network of fundraisers for themselves in the future.

“I have heard of (state) elected officials with federal ambitions trying to set up PACs to gain political credits,” Noble said. “I guess one of the questions is, does he (the politician) have ambitions for the future?”

Noble said federal election laws probably allow a sitting attorney general to form a federal multi-candidate PAC or a Super PAC to assist other candidates, but it is rare for any sitting politician to set up a Super PAC.

“They won’t set up Super PACs generally, because they could be considered coordinating with them and anything they (Super PACS) do to support them (the politician) would be an illegal contribution,” Noble said. “I haven’t heard of anything like that directly.”

Noble, of the Campaign Legal Center, said the appearance of conflicts of interest with sitting politicians is a concern when corporations and other interests donate to PACs or campaigns.

“If it is interests who want something from him (the politician), then it does raise appearance issues,” he said.

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