Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s U.S. Senate campaign sent a letter to federal regulators Wednesday saying it had refunded or reattributed nearly $100,000 in donations that violated federal campaign laws.
The letter from Paxton campaign treasurer John Plishka comes in response to a March 25 request from the Federal Election Commission for the campaign to explain contributions from nine individuals that exceeded the federal limit of $3,500 per candidate per election.
At the same time, the feds requested the Ken Paxton for Senate campaign explain two donations that appeared to come from limited liability companies, or LLCs, which federal law bars from donating directly to political campaigns.
In his reply letter, Plishka said the campaign has addressed the excessive donations from all nine individuals highlighted by the FEC in addition to the two corporate donations. The letter also includes a point-by-point appendix showing the “corrective action” the campaign undertook for each flagged contribution.
“Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns you may have,” Plishka added.
Such exchanges between political campaigns and the FEC aren’t uncommon, but this is at least the third time the agency has asked Paxton’s Senate campaign to explain donations that appear to fly in the face of U.S. law.
In January, the FEC demanded the campaign to clear up $125,000 in donations that appeared to violate federal rules, and last summer, the agency requested an accounting for $658,000 in other questionable contributions.
The back-and-forth with regulators also comes as Paxton closes in on his May 26 Republican primary runoff with incumbent U.S. Sen. John Cornyn.
Cornyn, who’s held his office for four terms, has launched repeated campaign salvos against Paxton that question his ethics and moral fitness to serve in Washington. In addition to ads blasting Paxton’s multiple public scandals, Cornyn weaponized last summer’s FEC inquiry by putting it at the center of an online attack ad.
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