Cal Cunningham repeatedly begging for outside dark money to bail him out in the North Carolina Senate Democratic primary has triggered an ethics complaint for illegal coordination.
Washington Free Beacon: Establishment-Backed Democrats Accused of Campaign Finance Violations
VoteVets has spent tens of millions of dollars backing Democrats in key 2020 Senate races, including Cal Cunningham in North Carolina and M.J. Hegar in Texas. The dark money group spent over $7 million supporting the pair in February. The seven-figure ad blitz has helped Cunningham and Hegar secure their frontrunner status ahead of contested Super Tuesday primaries. The ad blitz also drew scrutiny from watchdogs who accuse Cunningham and Hegar of illegally coordinating with the dark money group in ethics complaints obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.
Campaign photos and videos released by Cunningham and Hegar were later used in VoteVets ads. The short turnaround suggests “coordination with an outside organization,” which is illegal under campaign finance law, according to the complaints, which will be filed on Tuesday.
Cunningham’s own plan to “fight corruption and big money in politics” specifically states: “Cal supports reforming the Federal Elections Commission so it can carry out its watchdog function over our elections, instead of letting the current gridlock create loopholes for those willing to violate campaign finance laws and get away with it.”
Ironically, Cunningham is cynically using these same “loopholes” to “violate campaign finance laws and get away with it.”