Trump Super PAC Accepted $100K from Private Prison Company in Violation of Federal Contractor Ban

WASHINGTON –  One day after the Obama administration announced its decision to phase out federal private prison contracts, the private prison company GEO Group made a $100,000 donation to the pro-Donald Trump super PAC Rebuilding America Now, in violation of the longstanding ban on government contractors making political contributions, according to a Federal Election Commission complaint filed today by the Campaign Legal Center.

GEO receives 45 percent of its annual revenue from federal contracts. The GEO subsidiary that made the contribution, GEO Corrections Holdings Inc., operates a federal detention facility in Georgia whose contract extension was rescinded on the morning the contribution was made. Donald Trump has publicly praised the private prison system, whereas his opponent Hillary Clinton has called for its elimination.

“It is obvious GEO has a personal interest at stake this election,” said Brendan Fischer, associate counsel of the Campaign Legal Center. "One day after the Obama administration announced it would be ending GEO's contracts, the company spent $100,000 to support the one presidential candidate likely to reinstate those contracts. It’s for this exact reason why we have the federal contractor ban in place. Officials are supposed to make contracting decisions based on what's best for the public, not based on what's best for their big money backers."

The complaint alleges that GEO Corrections Holdings Inc. broke the law by making the contribution, and Rebuilding America Now also violated the law by accepting it.

CLC filed a similar complaint in July against a super PAC supporting Hillary Clinton, Priorities USA Action, for accepting a $200,000 contribution from a federal contractor, Suffolk Construction Company.

CLC more recently filed complaints with the FEC against both the Trump and Clinton campaigns for coordinating with their super PACs in violation of federal law.