The Center for Public Integrity

SALEM, Ore. — Do candidate-specific super PACs pose a greater threat of corruption to democracy than multi-candidate super PACs, Federal Election Commission Chairwoman Ellen Weintraub asked Friday at a Willamette Law School symposium on political money and influence.

The answer, Weintraub said in response to her own question, "could be yes."

"I would probably define corruption a little more broadly than the Supreme Court does," Weintraub added. 

Ahead of last year's elections, candidate-specific super PACs proliferated.

President Barack Obama's allies, for instance, created Priorities USA Action, while GOP operatives launched Restore Our Future to support the presidential ambitions of Republican Mitt Romney.

In fact, every candidate during the Republican presidential primary was aided by at least one super PAC active on his or her behalf. Many times, one wealthy donor, or a small group of wealthy funders, provided the bulk of the money these groups raised.

Dozens of single-candidate-focused super PACs are currently registered with the FEC, and Weintraub, a Democrat, told the crowd at the Willamette Law School that these days candidates are asking, "Who are we going to get to start our super PACs?"

A "Primary Source" report from earlier this week from the Center for Public Integrity about Sheldon Adelson's charitable giving clearly touched a nerve with the casino magnate, the nation's top donor to super PACs in the 2012 election.

Adelson, currently listed as the world's 14th wealthiest man, generally avoids speaking with the press.

The analysis detailed Adelson’s nine-figure financial support for pro-Israel organizations, most notably a foundation called Birthright Israel, which offers free trips to Israel for Jews around the world. An email sent to the Center for Public Integrity reads:

Who made you the prosecutor, judge, jury and hang man on the subject of "Israel's occupation of the West Bank and its economic blockade of Gaza?"

I certainly wouldnt (sic) vote for you...... and are you suggesting that there is something wrong with reporting charitable contributions? I would like to see how mucy (sic) you give.

Sheldon G. Adelson

Adelson’s personal assistant, Betty Yurcich, confirmed by phone that Adelson wrote the message and that she sent it through her email account on his behalf. The Center has requested a follow-up interview with Adelson. Yurcich said Adelson wasn’t immediately available.

Since 2007, Adelson has given Birthright Israel $123 million — fully 40 percent of the organization’s revenue.

No matter that Rep. Patrick Murphy is the youngest member of Congress.

The 29-year-old Florida Democrat has formed a leadership PAC — once primarily the domain of veteran congressmen but lately used by most any federal legislator — that he's calling PEM PAC, according to documents filed Thursday with the Federal Election Commission.

Brian Foucart, a longtime Democratic financial official whose jobs have included stints with the presidential campaigns of Al Gore and John Kerry, will serve as PEM PAC's treasurer.

Members of congress may use leadership PACs to fund activities apart from their own political campaigns, including travel, advertising and donating cash to partisan brethren.

Like standard PACs, leadership PACs may accept up to $5,000 per year from individuals, party committees or other PACs.

Murphy may be a freshman Congressman who wasn't even born until late into Ronald Reagan's first term as president, but he's already scored a bigger electoral victory than most: defeating Rep. Allen West, R-Fla., one of the most visible GOP congressmen in the nation. 

Murphy beat West by about 1,900 votes in one of the closest and most expensive House races in 2012.

Since his defeat, West has launched an Internet television show.

Writing from a BarackObama.com email account, self-described "undocumented immigrant" Jose Magana last night shared his personal immigration story with the masses.

Magana said he came to the United States from Mexico at age 2. He slept on a couch for much of his young life. He worked hard and excelled in school but lived in fear of being deported to a country he barely knows.  

"Everyone has a story — I'm sure you do, too," Magana wrote in touting immigration policy reform on behalf of Organizing for Action, President Barack Obama's new nonprofit advocacy organization that sprung from his campaign committee. "At this critical moment, will you share your immigration story? Organizing for Action will use these stories to move the conversation forward."

But that's not all Organizing for Action might use your story for.

What isn't immediately evident to people inclined to submit their names, emails, ZIP codes, photo and personal immigration story through a provided online form: that the group reserves itself the right to use volunteered information as it sees fit.

By checking a box on the form, respondents grant Organizing for Action a "perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, sublicensable, royalty free license to publish, reproduce, distribute, publicly perform, publicly display, edit, modify, create derivative works of and otherwise use the submissions in any manner or media," according to a statement on the form's "submission terms" page.  

The six members of the U.S. House of Representative’s Office of Congressional Ethics found “there is substantial reason to believe” that Rep. Aaron Schock, R-Ill., “violated federal law, House rules and standards of conduct,” according to a report report released Wednesday.

The alleged offense? Soliciting more than $5,000 for a super PAC.

While super PACs are legally allowed to raise unlimited sums of money from individuals, corporations and unions, the Federal Election Commission has determined that federal candidates and officeholders may only solicit up to $5,000 for the groups — the same limit that applies to solicitations they make for other political action committees.

In March, Schock wanted to help Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., with his re-election bid. Redistricting had pitted Kinzinger against fellow incumbent Rep. Don Manzullo, R-Ill. The new Office of Congressional Ethics report found that Schock and his associates steered at least $115,000 to a super PAC called the Campaign for Primary Accountability, which, in turn, used the funds to air attack ads against Manzullo.

In April, Schock told Roll Call that he personally asked House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., to “match” the $25,000 that he was going to “do.”

Correction (Feb. 8, 2013, 2:00 a.m.): The 2012 spending numbers from the Center for Responsive Politics that were originally cited in this story combined Bachmann's expenditures during both her presidential run and her House re-election campaign. This story has been updated to reflect that fact that Bachmann spent only $12 million on her congressional bid, not $23 million.

Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., is one of the most prolific fundraisers in the U.S. House of Representatives, but the woman who founded the House Tea Party Caucus in 2010 knows it's never too early to ask for more campaign cash.

On the heels of being named one of the first 10 targets by Democratic-aligned House Majority PAC, Bachmann e-mailed supporters on Wednesday to ask for funds to replenish her war chest.

"The liberal Democratic attack machine never gives up," Bachmann wrote of being targeted by House Majority PAC.

"Your online donation of $25, $35, $50, $100 or more will go immediately towards funding my campaign's efforts to fight back," she continued. "Only with your immediate support can we show them that conservatives don't give up either!!!"

Sheila Krumholz, the executive director of the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politcs, told the Center for Public Integrity that it is "standard operating procedure" for politicians on both sides of the aisle to turn "an attack into a fundraising appeal."

Bachmann, Krumholz continued, is "uniquely suited" to utilize attacks by liberal groups to "energize her base" because she is "a standard-bearer of sorts for the right flank of Congress."

Update (Feb. 7, 2013, 9:43 a.m.): This article has been updated to include previously overlooked campaign contributions by Sally Jewell, including $5,000 given to Obama last year, which were listed in FEC records under her legal name of "Sarah Jewell."

President Barack Obama today nominated Sally Jewell, the president and CEO of Recreational Equipment, Inc. (REI), to become the next interior secretary.

During Jewell's last year with the Washington-state-based retailer that specializes in outdoor gear and clothing, the company has seen its profile climb in the nation's capital.

In January 2012, the firm hired its first in-house lobbyist and reported spending $250,000 on federal lobbying, congressional records indicate. That's more than double the $120,000 it has spent annually since Obama took office in 2009.

In addition, over the past four years REI has also retained lobbying firm Monument Policy Group, LLC.

REI's lobbying has focused on natural resource issues, as well as fitness and business concerns, including legislation to "reduce outdoor apparel prices" and opposition to "state taxation of e-commerce."

Want VIP access for Sen. Marco Rubio's speech at this year's annual Conservative Political Action Conference?

A new contest by Rubio's leadership PAC is offering one lucky winner the opportunity to fly to Washington, D.C., for the high-profile conference, along with VIP seats and a backstage photograph with Florida's junior senator.

While the contest's fine print indicates no donation to Reclaim America PAC is required for a chance to win a trip to CPAC in March, raffles such as this are a popular way for politicians to raise money from small-dollar contributors.

Both President Barack Obama and his Republican rival, Mitt Romney, conducted numerous contests throughout the 2012 presidential campaign.

Rubio's leadership PAC, Reclaim America PAC, has raised more than $8 million since it was launched in August 2011, according to Federal Election Commission filings. That money cannot be used to fund Rubio's own campaign efforts, but can be doled out to support fellow conservative politicians or used to pay for travel, political consulting fees, polling and the like.

Rubio, a Cuban-American and GOP rising star, was last year discussed as a possible Romney running mate. This year, he's taken a lead on immigration reform legislation in the U.S. Senate, and many wonder if he'll seek the Republican presidential nomination in 2016.

Republican mega-donor Sheldon Adelson isn't just interested in political giving.

Since 2007, the casino mogul has given into the hundreds of millions of dollars to pro-Israel causes through a Massachusetts-based foundation he and his wife operate, according to a Center for Public Integrity review of Internal Revenue Service filings.

The top recipient of tax-exempt gifts by the Adelson Family Foundation is by far a foundation called Birthright Israel. It has received $123 million from Adelson since 2007, IRS filings indicate.

Birthright offers free 10-day trips to Israel to Jews between age 18 and 26. The goal of the trips, according to Birthright, is to “send tens of thousands of young Jewish adults from all over the world to Israel as a gift” and is made possible through a “unique partnership” between the government of Israel and private philanthropists.

Foremost among those philanthropists is Adelson, whose support accounts for fully 40 percent of the money raised by the Birthright Foundation since 2007.

In 2008, Adelson’s $27.5 million gift to Birthright constituted 57 percent of all money raised by the organization. His patronage accounted for 19 percent of the group's revenue in 2011, the most recent year IRS records are available.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is heading to Washington, D.C., to score what could be hundreds of thousands of campaign dollars waiting for him at the palatial home of one of the nation's leading lobbyists — BGR Group Chairman Ed Rogers. 

Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell will serve as the ceremonial host of the Christie fundraiser, which is slated to take place on Thursday, Feb. 28, according to an invitation obtained by the Center for Public Integrity.

Individuals must donate $3,800 to attend, the invitation states. Political action committees and corporations are also allowed to donate up to $3,800 for the governor's re-election efforts, although New Jersey law prohibits entities in certain regulated industries — such as casinos, financial institutions, insurance companies and utilities — from contributing.

Rogers in 2012 personally registered to lobby for numerous corporations and special interests, including Affiliated Computer Services, pharmaceutical firm GlaxoSmithKline, defense contractor Raytheon, energy giant Southern Co., Xerox and the governments of Kurdistan, Kazakhstan and India.