#VETOBETO: Campaign Finance Money Laundering Edition

"For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows."
1 Timothy 6:10

One of the more noteworthy aspects of Robert Francis O'Rourke is how, when you examine what he's actually done in life, he quickly emerges as nothing more than a typical Texas politician.

RedState's Brandon Morse is a friend of this website.  Last week, Brandon discovered several questionable financial exercises in the aspiring U.S. Senator's past.  Over the next little bit, we'll highlight each item individually.  Suffice to say, none of these opportunities would be available to average citizens.

First up, looks like Robert Francis has no qualms about using campaign funds to "generously" hire friends:

According to www.opensecrets.com, in 2015, almost 50% of the Beto O'Rourke's top expenditures went to former City Representative, Suzie Byrd.

In 2014, 24% of the representatives top expenditures went to Suzie Byrd, although the total amount was larger: $81,152.00 (made in 47 payments).

The Merriam Webster Dictionary defines "cronyism" as: "the unfair practice by a powerful person (such as a politician) of giving jobs and other favors to friends."

For 2015, Open Secrets lists the top expenditure to vendors / recipients, and of those top expenditures, there is an amount for $21,000 divided in to 12 payments, and a seperate amount for $10,500 divided into six payments, for a total of $31,500. The payments are made to Moxie Communications and Consulting, which is owned by Byrd (Note 1).

A quick Google search for "Suzie Byrd" reveal her to be an El Paso based political looter of a type that is all too common in this state; she's currently on the board of El Paso ISD.

Must be nice to be able to clear over $120k in laundered political funds.

But what's even better is that Robert Francis did not face a serious political contest during that time.

Better still:

In both 2014 and 2015, O'Rourke profited from his political contributions, shifting money to Stanton Street Technology Group. In 2014, he paid his own company $39,063 (11.7% to top expenditure) and in 2015, he paid his own company $1,335.

So, in addition to paying his friend over $120k, Robert Francis managed to skim over $40k off the top for himself.

Also, keep in mind that the report linked above only covers two years (2014 and '15).  God only knows what the numbers are over a longer period of time.  We suspect it's higher.

Sinatra said it best:



Bottom Line:  Must be nice to be a former city council colleague of a sitting Congressman at a time when the Congressman in question isn't facing a serious political challenge....