The Tennessean: Nashville's private club with a PAC
Receiving money from The Standard Club PAC and then using that money to pay for a personal membership at the club raises serious questions, said Brendan Fischer, a program director for the Campaign Legal Center.
“If this is a private club with a set membership fee, they would likely be prohibited under state law to just allow lawmakers to join for free, that that would be an impermissible gift,” said Fischer, who is also an attorney for the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit advocacy group.
“This would be their workaround: They give a contribution in the amount of the membership fee, and then it’s basically assumed the lawmaker would use that contribution as a cost for the membership fee. That definitely does seem to raise questions about whether a gift rule is being violated.”