GOPAC Failed To Report All Contributions

WASHINGTON (AllPolitics, April 22) -- The political action committee known as GOPAC failed to disclose contributions made to state and local candidates even though they were required by law, an Associated Press review found.

The citizen's lobby group Common Cause will press for an investigation of the group, which was founded and formerly directed by House Speaker Newt Gingrich. "On its face, this raises very serious questions about whether GOPAC violated state campaign finance laws," Common Cause president Ann McBride told the Associated Press.

GOPAC Executive Director Lisa Nelson maintained the committee files reports when required, but she couldn't explain why some states were missing. "It could be that the files of some of these states are as incomplete as some of our records are," she told AP. In February, a federal judge dismissed a government lawsuit accusing GOPAC of illegally aiding political candidates during 1990.

Reports were absent in Colorado, New York, Texas and Wisconsin, while incomplete reports were found in Georgia, California, Michigan, Missouri and Mississippi. Donations were not fully documented in Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Florida, Oregon, Idaho, Ohio, Kansas, Montana and Arizona.

Campaign finance expert Steve Jost suggested GOPAC failed to disclose contributions in order to mask its strategy from the Democrats. He said Gingrich's operatives were "pretty brilliant in terms of developing this concept of flying under the radar -- both on a federal and state level."

AllPolitics home page