Marco Rubio Busted for Taking Improper Donations

AP
Connor Simpson 16,160 Views Apr 28, 2012

Florida Senator and current VP nomination contender Marco Rubio was busted for accepting illegal donations for his Senate campaign in 2010. Politico reports that the FEC fined Rubio in March for accepting $210,000 in "prohibited, excessive and other impermissible contributions" that Rubio failed to refund or "redesignate" within the campaign's accepted time-frame. 

Rubio's crimes, per Politico:

Even after an internal audit, the Rubio campaign failed to identify more than $83,000 in improper or incorrectly characterized contributions, according to a March 19 agreement between the campaign and the FEC.

An FEC review showed that the improper donations came from more than 100 individuals, and in two cases, the campaign accepted corporate contributions, which are illegal. Marco Rubio for Senate also accepted nearly $26,000 for the primary race even after the primary election was already over.

Rubio was only fined $8,000 for his $210,000 mistake, which is all made more trivial when you consider the campaign rose over $21 million in total. Many are starting to think the news will prove to be a vulnerable target for attack ads against the Florida Senator, should he win the VP nomination. He's repeatedly said that he doesn't want the nomination, or that he won't comment on not wanting it. 

This isn't the first time Rubio's had trouble with financial paper work, and made mistakes that could be seen as potential targets for opponents. As Daily Intel's Andre Tartar points out, Rubio struggled with personal debt in 2010, and nearly had one his house's fore-closed. There's also the trouble with Rubio's murky family history

 

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