GRAND RAPIDS, MI — Hank Meijer’s identify was mistakenly left off a marketing campaign finance report detailing a $150,000 donation — now the subject of a federal complaint — he made to a Republican tremendous PAC supporting his son’s congressional marketing campaign, a household spokesperson stated Saturday.
“He made the donation with the complete expectation that his identify could be made public,” stated John Truscott.
Meijer is the manager chairmen of the Meijer supercenter chain and the daddy of Peter Meijer, the Republican candidate difficult Democrat Hillary Scholten in Michigan’s third Congressional District race.
Hank Meijer’s donation to Congressional Management Fund, which works to elect Republican U.S. Home candidates, got here below scrutiny Friday.
The Marketing campaign Authorized Middle, a nonpartisan marketing campaign finance watchdog group, filed a complaint Friday with the Federal Election Fee in opposition to Montcalm LLC, alleging that the LLC was created on Sept. 28 solely for the aim of masking the identification of the person behind its Oct. 8 donation.
Till final evening, Montcalm LLC was the one identify hooked up to the donation. Hank Meijer’s identify was not included. The one info linking the LLC to the Meijer household was its deal with — 80 Ottawa Ave. NW, suite 101. That’s the similar deal with as The Meijer Basis/Greenville Companions, LLC. The deal with has additionally been utilized by different members of the Meijer household when making political donations.
The Congressional Management Fund has since up to date its FEC submitting to indicate that Hank Meijer made the donation.
“We obtained and reported a contribution, and as quickly as we obtained extra written info from the donor we amended our report as such,” Congressional Management Fund spokesperson Calvin Moore stated in a press release.
The Marketing campaign Authorized Middle’s grievance alleges that Montcalm LLC’s donation — earlier than it was up to date to incorporate Hank Meijer’s identify — violated federal marketing campaign finance legislation as a result of contributions can’t be “made by one individual within the identify of one other individual.”
Brendan Fischer, the group’s lawyer, stated aside from its Sept. 28 articles of incorporation, there is no such thing as a public file of Montcalm LLC.
Due to that, there’s no indication that the corporate was producing impartial sources of income and was not “legitimately producing revenue that it might have used to finance the tremendous PAC contribution,” he stated.
On Friday, Meijer’s lawyer, Mark Rizik, declined to remark when instructed concerning the grievance.
Truscott, on Saturday, stated Rizik spoke with officers at Congressional Management Fund on Friday and realized {that a} employees member on the PAC “admitted she made a mistake as a result of she didn’t assume she needed to embrace Hank’s identify” on the FEC submitting.
“The Congressional Management Fund all the time had the mandatory info to fill out the report accurately, they simply made a mistake in omitting some info,” Truscott stated.
The Marketing campaign Authorized Middle’s grievance factors out that in the future after Montcalm LLC made its $150,000 donation to the Congressional Management Fund, the group “started making impartial expenditures in Michigan’s third Congressional district opposing candidate Hillary Scholten, who’s working in opposition to Peter Meijer.”
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