Jake Corman’s staffers are fleeing his weak campaign, Lou Barletta’s facing a FEC complaint for using his federal PAC to allegedly funnel himself money, and Doug Mastriano was subpoenaed for his involvement in Trump’s efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
PENNSYLVANIA — It’s safe to say it’s been a pretty bad week for the “Trump Primary” candidates, and Pennsylvanians are reading about their controversies all across the Commonwealth. Thanks to Republicans’ disarray, the GOP PA-Gov race is getting a reputation for the “hot mess” that it is — and it’s “starting to bubble.”
Jake Corman’s campaign is facing a mass exodus of staffers and a desperate strategic shakeup following his inability to make good on his initial campaign promise of clearing the field. Instead, the “Super MAGA” primary is getting messier by the day — and with the GOP State Committee’s decision to stay out of it, they’ve all but guaranteed that this race is going to be “costly” for Republicans.
Lou Barletta’s LOU PAC has already been called “an ethically questionable venture designed to benefit Barletta personally,” and now, Barletta’s federal PAC is once again drawing scrutiny for its use of Pennsylvanians’ money to pay Barletta’s wife $33,000 for rent on a property they jointly own. This week, the Democratic Governors Association filed a federal campaign finance complaint against Barletta and his LOU PAC for “likely [violating] federal election law” by “funneling campaign funds to his own property.”
Doug Mastriano made waves this week as one of six Trump allies across the country subpoenaed by the Congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection and Trump-sponsored attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. Now, the only thing Pennsylvanians are left wondering is if Trump’s “alternate elector” Lou Barletta or his former U.S. Attorney — and author of the infamous letter — Bill McSwain will be next to earn subpoenas for attempting to help Trump throw out millions of Pennsylvanians’ votes, undermining our democracy, and causing instability in our communities.
In case you missed it, check out some of what Pennsylvanians have been reading this week about the GOP PA-Gov primary candidates’ disarray:
By Andrew Seidman, 02/15/22
When Jake Corman launched his campaign for governor of Pennsylvania in November, more than a half-dozen Republican candidates were already in the race and several more were eyeing it. But Corman and his aides believed he could effectively clear the primary field — something the state Senate leader reportedly said himself.
That didn’t happen.
Not only did more candidates jump in, but things haven’t gone smoothly for Corman. At least five staffers and advisers — his campaign manager, political director, finance director, a fund-raiser, and scheduler — have left, according to several sources familiar with the matter.
[…]
The personnel moves come as the primary enters a new phase. More than a dozen candidates are seeking the nomination, and the state GOP declined to endorse a candidate at its winter meeting.
Pennsylvania Capital-Star: Dem group files campaign finance complaint against Barletta-linked PAC
By Stephen Caruso, 02/14/22
A Democratic group has filed a federal campaign finance complaint against Pennsylvania Republican gubernatorial hopeful Lou Barletta over political spending directed to a rental property formerly owned by him and his wife.
[…]
If the payments exceeded fair market value, then the payments were an illegal personal use of campaign funds, the DGA argued. And if the payments were below the rent’s fair market value, then the contributions are an illegal contribution by Barletta to the PAC over federal limits.
The complaint called this “a troubling sign indicating the Representative may have been either enriching himself by overpaying or illegally undercharging his committee.”
“Either way, Representative Barletta’s funneling campaign funds to his own property likely violated federal election law,” the DGA concluded.
LOU PAC is unrelated to Barletta’s gubernatorial campaign, which is funded by a separate campaign account governed by Pennsylvania state law, not federal law. Unlike federal campaigns, there are no limits on how much one can contribute to state-level races.
But in an email, DGA Deputy Communications Director Sam Newton said that Barletta is “a corrupt politician who said one thing to Pennsylvanians … then used their money to line his own pockets with tens of thousands of dollars.”
“That type of shady self-dealing shows he can’t be trusted to be anywhere near the governorship,” he added.
By Andrew Seidman, 02/15/22
The congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol has issued a subpoena to Doug Mastriano, the Pennsylvania Republican state senator who is running for governor.
The panel said Tuesday that it sent subpoenas to six people, including Mastriano, demanding information “about efforts to send false slates of electors to Washington and change the outcome of the 2020 election.”
“Based on publicly available information and information produced to the Select Committee, we believe that you have documents and information that are relevant to the Select Committee’s investigation,” Rep. Bennie Thompson (D., Miss.) wrote in a letter to Mastriano that was dated Tuesday.
[…]
Mastriano is seen as a top contender in Pennsylvania’s May 17 Republican gubernatorial primary election. He has consistently won the support of about 20% of GOP voters in opinion polls, sometimes leading the field of more than a dozen candidates.
They’re running to succeed Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat whose term ends in January 2023.
The congressional committee also sent a subpoena Tuesday to Mike Roman, a longtime Republican operative from Philadelphia who has played prominent roles behind the scenes in Pennsylvania politics.
The letter to Roman said he was involved in a “coordinated strategy” to urge lawmakers in swing states to send alternate slates of electors. He couldn’t immediately be reached for comment Tuesday.
###