{"id":1005674,"date":"2021-11-13T00:59:08","date_gmt":"2021-11-13T05:59:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1005674"},"modified":"2021-11-13T00:59:28","modified_gmt":"2021-11-13T05:59:28","slug":"watchdog-florida-democrat-val-demings-violated-campaign-finance-law-while-fundraising-off-of-mcauliffe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/watchdog-florida-democrat-val-demings-violated-campaign-finance-law-while-fundraising-off-of-mcauliffe\/","title":{"rendered":"Watchdog: Florida Democrat Val Demings Violated Campaign Finance Law While Fundraising off of McAuliffe"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fwatchdog-florida-democrat-val-demings-violated-campaign-finance-law-while-fundraising-off-of-mcauliffe%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1005674&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p class=\"subheading\">A campaign finance watchdog group hit Rep. Val Demings (D-FL) with a fundraising complaint this week alleging the Florida Democrat illegally raised money off of former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe\u2019s (D) since-failed gubernatorial campaign.<\/p>\n<p>Americans for Public Trust, a right-leaning group focused on Federal Election Commission (FEC) violations, filed its complaint with the FEC after Demings sent out email blasts \u2014 paid for by McAuliffe\u2019s Common Good Virginia PAC \u2014 soliciting donations to split between Common Good and Demings\u2019 senatorial campaign.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"gmxrevmore\" class=\"H\"><\/figure>\n<p>Demings, who is seeking to unseat Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) in next year\u2019s midterms, sent out a fundraising email in October stating:<\/p>\n<blockquote readability=\"7\">\n<p>I have to ask you humbly and directly because outlets like CNN say my race could decide Senate control: will you split a donation of $25 or more between Common Good VA and my campaign to help me win in Florida and defeat Marco Rubio?<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Another email Demings sent out in October that was paid for by McAuliffe\u2019s PAC warned that the Florida Democrat needed campaign cash because \u201cRepublicans are trying to PERMANENTLY keep Florida red and flip the Senate.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The complaint alleges Demings violated the FEC\u2019s \u201csoft money ban\u201d by asking for money for her&nbsp;<a class=\"x5l\" title=\"This external link will open in a new window\" href=\"https:\/\/docquery.fec.gov\/cgi-bin\/forms\/S2FL00631\/1519100\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">U.S. Senate campaign<\/a>&nbsp;through&nbsp;<a class=\"x5l\" title=\"This external link will open in a new window\" href=\"https:\/\/cfreports.elections.virginia.gov\/Committee\/Index\/27409b3e-aa83-e911-acc7-984be103f032?CurrentTab=Scheduled%20Reports\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Common Good<\/a>, which is not a federal committee. The complaint reads:<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<blockquote readability=\"11\">\n[Demings\u2019] fundraising solicitations, which were paid for by non-federal funds, represent an illegal use of non-federal (or \u201csoft\u201d) funds to raise money for a candidate for federal office. As such, Representative Demings\u2019 campaign has accepted an in-kind contribution and thereby violated the federal soft money ban.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The complaint calls for an investigation into Demings\u2019 solicitations and for the FEC to \u201cimpose appropriate sanctions\u201d if it finds a violation occurred.<\/p>\n<p>McAuliffe was defeated by Republican Glenn Youngkin in an upset on November 2, and the weeks leading up to the contentious election centered largely around education issues. Youngkin emphasized the role of parents in schools, while McAuliffe aligned his plans more with teachers\u2019 unions and school administrators.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_18525178\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" readability=\"36\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/GettyImages-1349796150-2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-18525178\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/GettyImages-1349796150-2.jpg\" alt=\"CHARLOTTESVILLE VIRGINIA - OCTOBER 28: Democratic gubernatorial candidate, former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe speaks to supporters at the Champion Brewing Company during a campaign event October 28, 2021 in Charlottesville, Virginia. The Virginia gubernatorial election, pitting McAuliffe against Republican candidate Glenn Youngkin, is November 2. (Photo by Win McNamee\/Getty Images)\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Democrat gubernatorial candidate former Gov. Terry McAuliffe speaks to supporters during a campaign event October 28, 2021, in Charlottesville, Virginia. (Win McNamee\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Rubio\u2019s campaign blasted Demings for associating with McAuliffe\u2019s campaign and for the alleged violation and cited a brief&nbsp;<a class=\"x5l\" title=\"This external link will open in a new window\" href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/81G3aLwmqho\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">clip<\/a>&nbsp;of Demings, a former Orlando police chief, saying during an MSNBC appearance that \u201cnobody is above the law.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDemings hitched her wagon to one of the biggest opponents of parent involvement in education, and she appears to have broken the law in the process,\u201d Rubio Communications Director Elizabeth Gregory said in a statement. \u201cAs Demings said herself, \u2018Nobody is above the law.\u2019 Demings and her campaign must comply with any investigation that follows from these claims.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Demings campaign&nbsp;<a class=\"x5l\" title=\"This external link will open in a new window\" href=\"https:\/\/floridapolitics.com\/archives\/472223-complaint-says-val-demings-took-improper-aid-from-terry-mcauliffes-committee\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">charged<\/a>&nbsp;that&nbsp;the complaint is \u201cfrivolous,\u201d according to Florida Politics, and claimed its fundraising activity with McAuliffe\u2019s PAC was legal because FEC guidelines \u201chold that email[s] have no in-kind value.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read the full complaint&nbsp;<a class=\"x5l\" title=\"This external link will open in a new window\" href=\"https:\/\/americansforpublictrust.org\/document\/fec-complaint-against-rep-val-demings\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><em>Write to Ashley Oliver at <a href=\"mailto:aoliver@breitbart.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">aoliver@breitbart.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A campaign finance watchdog group hit Rep. Val Demings (D-FL) with a fundraising complaint this week alleging the Florida Democrat illegally raised money off of former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe\u2019s &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":49,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1005674","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1005674","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/49"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1005674"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1005674\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1005674"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1005674"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1005674"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}