Watchdog group files complaint in shadowy super PAC gift

WASHINGTON (AP) — An election watchdog organization filed a complaint Friday with the Federal Election Commission over a $500,000 donation to a super political action committee aiding Marco Rubio from a mystery firm headed by a New York investor.

Efforts by good government groups to stem the use of shadowy corporate entities to channel large political donations have been long stymied by the FEC's internal political paralysis.

The complaint from the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, or CREW, seeks an investigation into IGX LLC for masking the donation and to determine whether the Conservative Solutions PAC was aware of the origins of the contribution.

In many cases, donors' identities have been exposed by media or political organizations, but the FEC has yet to rule on recent complaints because the agency's Democratic and Republican-leaning commissioners remain deadlocked.

The agency's six commissioners are divided evenly between Democratic and Republican appointees and have repeatedly split in recent years along party lines, prompting the FEC's chairwoman, Ann M. Ravel, to publicly vent frustration last year about its inaction.