The Federal Election Commission has asked Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s campaign for U.S. Senate to explain nearly $125,000 in third-quarter donations that appear to violate federal campaign laws.
A Jan. 11 letter from the Federal Election Commission gives the Ken Paxton for Senate campaign roughly a month to justify the contributions, which look to run afoul of several federal rules, or return the money.
Such FEC letters aren’t uncommon, but this one comes after the same agency last summer asked the campaign to explain or return roughly $658,000 in political contributions that appear to violate federal law — a relatively large amount for regulators to flag.
Paxton’s rival in the Senate race’s Republican primary, incumbent U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, also weaponized last summer’s FEC inquiry by featuring it in an online campaign ad questioning Paxton’s ethics.
During his time as Texas attorney general, Paxton has racked up scandals including a high-profile impeachment trial in the Texas Legislature in which he was eventually acquitted, an agreement to settle a years-old state securities fraud charge and allegations of extramarital affairs.
In the new FEC letter, the agency questions the legality of contributions from 10 individual Ken Paxton for Senate donors totaling $118,000, which exceed individually allowed limits.
Federal law bars individuals from contributing more than $3,500 to a candidate per election, yet of the six people listed in the campaign’s third-quarter report made donations of $14,000 during the period. The remaining four blew past the limit by smaller amounts, but still exceeded it by thousands of dollars each.
The letter also flags a total of $5,500 in contributions that potentially violate a federal law barring limited liability companies, or LLCs, from donating directly to political campaigns. Under that rule, LLCs may only donate if the IRS considers them to be organized as partnerships rather than corporations.
Finally, regulators ask the campaign to explain or return a $1,000 donation from the Asian Republican Club Of North Texas, a group the letter says isn’t registered with the federal government as a political committee.
Failure for Paxton’s campaign to meet the deadline could prompt an audit or enforcement action, the FEC warned. The letter also states that the agency won’t offer any addition time for the campaign to comply.
“Although the Commission may take further legal action concerning the acceptance of prohibited contributions, your prompt action to refund the prohibited amount will be taken into consideration,” the document states.
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