Public Citizen asks FEC to investigate Ky. donation

TheHill.com, April 22, 2004

The consumer-advocacy group Public Citizen called on the Federal Election Commission Thursday to investigate possible money laundering by a donor who gave to Republican Geoffrey Davis in Kentucky's 4th District.

The complaint came the same day The Hill reported that Quentin Nesbitt of Cincinnati, after donating the legal limit of ,000 to Davis, gave ,000 to Family First PAC; the PAC then made an identical contribution, on the same day, to Davis.

The contribution from Family First PAC was the only one the political action committee has made to a candidate in this election cycle. Nesbitt's contribution was the only donation the PAC has received this election cycle.

In an interview with reporters, Kevin Murphy, Davis' opponent in the May 18 GOP primary, demanded that Davis say whether he or his campaign helped coordinate the Nesbitt contribution to Family First.

"I call on Mr. Davis to take some responsibility here," Murphy said. "I'd like to know what the Davis campaign knew about this scheme, when they knew it, and I'd like to know ... how were these arrangements made?"

Murphy also said Nesbitt had "funneled at least ,000" to the Davis campaign via political action committees supporting the candidate.

Craig Holman, legislative representative for Public Citizen's Congress Watch, said in a statement: "Every appearance is that these groups are working closely in tandem with each other and Mr. Nesbitt to evade the contribution limits."

Justin Brasell, spokesman for the Davis campaign, said: "These are trumped-up charges by Kevin Murphy, who is running a losing campaign 26 days before a primary."

Brasell added that Nesbitt has given to dozens of conservative candidates and causes across the country.

Carl Forti, spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee, said Nesbitt has contributed to the Club for Growth and the National Right to Work Committee PAC, both of which have contributed to Murphy's campaign.

According to PoliticalMoneyLine, a website that tracks political donations, Nesbitt appears to have donated ,000 in February to the Club for Growth. That money was earmarked for a specific candidate, but it was not possible to determine who received the money. No documents could be obtained to verify that Nesbitt had donated to the National Right to Work Committee PAC.

Murphy has faced questions of his own about contributions connected to Griffin Industries. On Thursday, Davis issued a statement calling on Murphy to return ,500 from business clients under criminal indictment; those clients include Griffin executives Thomas Griffin and Rick Elrod. Murphy said he would not return the money.