FEC Asked to Investigate Ghost Donations to Jeb Bush Super-PAC
A liberal watchdog group has filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission charging that the super-PAC supporting Jeb Bush, Right to Rise, received contributions from companies that were used to shield the identities of the donors. The six-figure donations from these mysterious entities—one of which has ties to an investment firm run by a Bush relative—were first reported by Mother Jones.
The complaint, submitted by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), requests an investigation into Heather Oaks LLC and TH Holdings LLC, which each contributed $100,000 to Right to Rise last winter. As Mother Jones reported, each of these firms—which are limited liability corporations (LLCs)—appears to have virtually no real-world presence or assets, suggesting they may have been used as a conduit by donors seeking to keep their fingerprints off these contributions. Under current campaign finance laws, it's legal for a corporation to donate to a super-PAC. But if a corporation or individual makes a donation through a company to hide their identity, that's a potential violation of campaign finance law.
"After the various court decisions, corporations are allowed to donate a lot of money, but what you can"t have is a situation where it appears that an individual is using a corporate structure merely to make a pass through," says CREW's executive director, Noah Bookbinder. "And what you have here is two LLCs where it doesn't look possible that they have any other source of money."
CREW's investigation produced several new twists in the mystery over these ghost entities bankrolling Right to Rise.
When TH Holdings was incorporated in New York in 2010, it listed no registered agent, physical address, or shareholders. However, when it made its $100,000 donation to Right to Rise on February 26, it used the address of Neuberger Berman, a Wall Street investment firm that was formerly part of Lehman Brothers and is now led by George Walker IV, Jeb Bush's second cousin. Both Walker and a spokesman for Neuberger Berman denied to Mother Jones that the Wall Street firm had made the donation.
The trail appeared to go cold there. However, CREW discovered tax assessment records that provide additional clues. Shortly after its incorporation, TH Holdings purchased land in the Hamptons, on Long Island. According to current tax records, the point of contact for TH Holdings is Marvin Schwartz, who happens to be the vice chairman of Neuberger Berman. Schwartz, who did not respond to a request for comment, is a legendary Wall Street investor. He has attended various fundraising events for Jeb Bush, including a retreat this summer for high-level donors at the Bush family compound in Kennebunkport, Maine. Schwartz has donated $5,400 to Jeb Bush's official presidential campaign but is not listed as a donor to the pro-Bush super-PAC.