Democratic White House hopeful Beto O’Rourke faces a new wave of scrutiny after Federal Election Commission filings reveal that his previous campaigns donated $110,000 to a company he founded and his wife ran while he was in office.
FEC records show O’Rourke’s congressional campaigns shuffled funds to Stanton Street Technology Group, a web development firm O’Rourke started in 1998, over eight years, the Daily Caller reports. O’Rourke successfully ran three congressional campaigns in Texas, the first in 2012, before mounting a failed U.S. Senate bid against incumbent Republican Ted Cruz last year.
The Beto for Texas campaign paid the company $58,544 during the 2012 election cycle, $39,060 in the 2014 midterms, $9,290 in the 2016 cycle, and $32,778 in the 2018 midterms. O’Rourke’s wife, Amy Sanders O’Rourke, was at the company’s helm when the payments were made.
The transfers, listed as payment for services, might not violate federal election law. But they would be illegal if the campaign deliberately paid more than the services’ market value.
The O’Rourkes sold their stake in the company in 2017. Stanton Street CEO Brian Wancho said that O’Rourke’s presidential campaign is not using the company’s services this time around.
Wancho argued there is nothing wrong with a campaign paying the candidate’s company for services rendered. “What would be out of bounds is if the candidate abused the process and over-paid for goods and services just to enrich themself or their family. I expect the combination of campaign expenditure reporting and investigative journalism to work together to root out the situations where the candidate is abusing the system,” he said.
The O’Rourke presidential campaign declined comment.
