John Locher/Associated Press
Sam Brown, retired Army captain, Purple Heart recipient, and Nevada Republican Senate candidate, stands at his campaign office in Las Vegas, Tuesday, June 14, 2022.
Friday, February 16, 2024 | 1:51 PM
Voter advocacy groups today accused Republican Nevada Senate candidate Sam Brown of “illegal coordination'' between his 2022 campaign and political funding groups that spent so-called soft money promoting Brown. The complaint was filed with the Federal Election Commission, alleging that there is a possibility that the
Mr. Brown, a retired U.S. Army captain, is backed by the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the official fundraising arm of Senate conservatives, and is considered a front-runner for the Republican nomination.
Brown ran in 2022 to unseat Nevada Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, but finished second to former Attorney General Adam Laxalt in that year's primary.
The complaint was filed by End Citizens United, a group that describes itself online as “democratic activists fighting for real campaign finance reform.” The group has twice endorsed U.S. Sen. Jacky Rosen, who is running against Democratic incumbent Brown.
The seven-page complaint alleges that Mr. Brown, either directly or by proxy, provided money to a super PAC called Citizens For Nevada, which used the money to fund his own campaign, in violation of federal campaign finance laws. claims.
In a statement, Tiffany Miller, president of End Citizens United, called Brown a “Violator of Woking Campaign Finance Laws” and called on the FEC to open an investigation into the matter.
“It appears that he concocted a scheme to funnel major donors to super PACs supporting his campaign in order to circumvent federal campaign contribution limits,” Miller said in a statement.
Brown's camp did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The complaint alleges that Citizens For Nevada was fully funded by four individuals and two organizations. FEC records show each of these individuals had previously contributed the maximum amount allowed to Brown's campaign ($5,800) to the primary.
Records show that three of these donors gave to Nevadans in excess of the federal limit for political committees.
Mr. Brown was the only candidate supported by the Nevada Citizens Campaign, which spent more than $35,000 distributing mailers for Mr. Brown's campaign, records show.
The complaint also notes that Nevadans paid only one vendor for financing consulting, Arizona-based MWE Group LLC.
Mr. Brown's campaign was MWE's biggest customer during the 2022 campaign, giving the group about $150,000.
However, the suit alleges that he will remain in Brown's camp beyond 2022. Falicia Mandel, one of two members listed on MWE's Arizona business filing, is listed as the Brown campaign's financial director.
The complaint alleges that because the campaign and its financial consultants are the primary custodians of campaign donor data, the close relationship and continuing relationship between the campaign, PAC, and MWE suggests that Brown or MWE shared donor information. He argues that the possibility is very high.
“Given that Mr. Brown's campaign is by far MWE's largest customer, and that the close relationship between MWE officials and Mr. Brown continues to this day, it is possible that information passed from the campaign to CFN (Citizens of Nevada). is high,” he said. Complaints say.
In November, End Citizens United filed a separate complaint against Brown.
The complaint alleges that in order to pay off his debts in the 2022 election, Brown has created another political committee, “Duty First PAC,'' which Brown claims was created to help elect Nevada Republicans to Congress. '' was used “unfairly''.
CNN reported in August that less than 2% of Duty First's money went to candidates, and that about $55,000 of the $91,500 in funds went to repay campaign contributions.
End Citizens United alleges that Duty First appears to have collected funds without disclosing to donors that the funds would be used to pay off debt, which it alleges is a violation of the FEC, among other things. .
