A mysterious corporate donor to a Super PAC supporting Mitt Romney has already drawn the full attention of campaign finance watchdogs, who suspect the barely-existent firm, W Spann LLC, was created to conceal the origins of a giant $1 million contribution. Now Romney’s political opponents are taking notice as well.
The Democratic National Committee echoed various nonpartisan groups’ call for an investigation into the donation, which experts say may be illegal, in an e-mail by executive director Patrick Gaspard to supporters on Friday.
“We don’t know what kind of business the now-defunct firm, ‘W Spann LLC,’ was in — or claimed to be in, anyway,” he wrote. “The lawyer listed as its founder won’t respond to inquiries, and the office building listed as the company’s headquarters has no record of its existence. There’s no way to tell where the money came from or who was responsible. Mitt Romney might be fine with that. We’re not.”
Romney’s presidential rival Jon Huntsman also said the issue raised concerns on the campaign trail Friday.
“What is important on the fundraising is transparency, knowing where the money comes from and having a reporting requirement allows the voters of this country to know who is contributing, when they contributed,” he told reporters, according to NBC.
The Super PAC in question, Restore Our Future, is legally barred from coordinating with the Romney campaign but is operated by former aides with the stated intent of electing him president. Neither they nor the now-defunct W Spann LLC, which only existed for several months and left almost no record of activity besides its donation, have offered any details on the donation. W Spann LLC listed its address as a midtown New York building that also houses Bain Capital, Romney’s old firm, as well as several prominent past Romney supporters, but Bain has publicly denied any involvement with the donation.
Benjy Sarlin
Benjy Sarlin is a reporter for Talking Points Memo and co-writes the campaign blog, TPM2012. He previously reported for The Daily Beast/Newsweek as their Washington Correspondent and covered local politics for the New York Sun.
Facebook Conversations
Questions about commenting with non-Facebook accounts like Yahoo, or other concerns? Click here to read the TPM Commenting FAQ.