| The ghost of Tom Craddick lives on. The once tyrannical House Speaker is still making news. Texans for Public Justice (TPJ) filed a complaint with the Texas Ethics Commission today alleging that the Texas Jobs & Opportunity PAC served as an illegal conduit in 2008 for contributions from then-Speaker Tom Craddick to three Democratic House candidates.
The complaint specifically cites $150,000 in contributions from Tom Craddick to Democrats Kevin Bailey, Kino Flores and Aaron Pena. Rep. Bailey was defeated by Armando Walle in the 2008 primary, Kino Flores has recently resigned, making Pena the only active Representative to receive a $50,000 check from the Texas Jobs & Opportunity PAC.
According to TPJ, the timeline is clear.
Jobs PAC reported that it received $250,000 from Tom Craddick's campaign committee on January 10, 2008. According to news reports, around that time Craddick campaign employee Christi Craddick also provided Texas Jobs with written instructions to distribute the funds to Democratic Reps. Kevin Bailey, Dawnna Dukes, Kino Flores and Aaron Pena. All four incumbents previously supported Republican Speaker Craddick and faced challengers in the 2008 Democratic primary.2 According to its own reports, Jobs PAC wrote three checks of $50,000 apiece to the campaigns of Reps. Bailey, Flores and Pena on January 11, 2008. By its own accounting, at the time Texas Jobs wrote these checks its sole source of funding was the $250,000 that it received the day before from the Craddick campaign. Rep. Dukes, the fourth lawmaker, told the Austin American-Statesman that she rejected an offer to receive $50,000 from Texas Jobs because her opponent already was making her Craddick ties a campaign issue.
"Tom Craddick wanted to move tens of thousands of dollars to his favorite Democrats without letting voters know," said Texans for Public Justice Director Craig McDonald. "Hiding the true source of campaign funds is illegal. Craddick could have contributed the money directly and openly. Instead, he used Texas Jobs to launder his money and keep Texans in dark."
TPJ alleges the Texas Jobs & Opportunity PAC violated Chapter 253.001 of the Texas Election Code which directly prohibits individuals or political committees from secretly acting as conduits for other donors. Because Craddick employee Christi Craddick gave Texas Jobs & Opportunity PAC with a letter detailing instructions on who and how to distribute the original $250,000 donation, the recipients were obligated to disclose the original source of the donations-- then-speaker Tom Craddick.
According to TPJ, "The Craddick campaign used Texas Jobs to try to keep its large campaign contributions anonymous."
For more information, visit Texans for Public Justice's website. |
