V.I. Republicans Get Unwanted Spotlight Again

The fundraising activities of the Virgin Islands Republican Party are under fire again. This time the shots are being fired in Utah. Calling the VIGOP fundraising a scam operation is nothing new.

In 2017 Politico wrote an article about Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke dealing with questionable PACs and the Virgin Islands was featured prominently.

Now making the claim is Rep. Mia Love, R-Utah, and she is making news in her home state newspaper the Salt Lake Tribune. The newspaper reported last week, “The thousands that the group (VIGOP) reports spending on Love’s behalf went mostly for consultants who send letters to raise more money, disclosure forms show.”

To answer to the question if the VIGOP is really a scam one needs to know where its independent expenditures are going. And that is what worries Brendan Fischer, director of the federal reform project of Campaign Legal Center, a watchdog group in Washington, D.C. 

Fischer told the Source Monday that VIGOP could be “exploiting loopholes” to raise money for members of the PAC instead of for candidates. He added he did not know of any investigation of VIGOP by federal authorities, but any such investigation would not be made public until after it was completed.

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