ProPublica: Super PAC Men: How Political Consultants Took a Texas Oilman on a Wild Ride

“What you have here is a pretty classic case of the sort of problems one can run into when they’re not familiar with politics and arrive with a pot of money,” said Trevor Potter, a former Republican FEC chairman.

“Consultants are attracted like bees to honey to situations like these,” Potter said. ...

Larry Noble, the FEC’s former top lawyer, said such abuse “adds to the cynicism the public has about politics.” He said that lawmakers are wary about cracking down on super PACs for a simple reason – they depend on the groups to help their reelection campaigns, despite numerous examples of donors getting fleeced.

“It hasn’t yet reached the critical mass where people are screaming about it,” said Noble, now senior counsel at the Campaign Legal Center, a nonpartisan group that advocates for strong enforcement of campaign finance laws.

“Ironically, what could do something about it is a number of wealthier donors getting ripped off,” he said. “They have more clout with legislators.” ...

But Patrick Davis reported the money to the FEC as a contribution, not a fee for service. According to Noble, the former FEC attorney who reviewed the filings for ProPublica, that distinction allowed Person to Person to do whatever it wanted with the money and pay no taxes on it. ...

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