A pro-Hillary Clinton super-PAC accepted multiple contributions from a company that contracts with the U.S. government despite such donations being banned under campaign finance laws.
Boston-based Suffolk Construction donated a total of $200,000 to Priorities USA, which is backing Clinton’s presidential bid, while it held multiple contracts with the Department of Defense worth $976,560, the Hill reported Wednesday.
The company made two $100,000 contributions to the super-PAC, according to USASpending.gov. At the time, Suffolk was contracting with the government for maintenance and construction projects at a Rhode Island Naval base and the U.S. Military Academy in New York.
The donations are prohibited by a campaign finance law intended to block deals between public officials and companies collecting checks from the government.
Though Priorities USA states on its website that federal contractors cannot donate to the super-PAC, a spokesman declined to tell the Hill whether the Suffolk donations would be returned.
Suffolk also gave $10,000 to Jeb Bush’s Right to Rise super-PAC in 2015. The company takes in roughly $2 billion a year, according to Forbes, and has received $169.7 million in federal contracts since 2008.
Craig Holman, a lobbyist for Public Citizen, which was involved in a high-profile case against oil giant Chevron regarding the finance law, said he wasn’t surprised by the increase in such donations.
"Contractors now may circumvent the law either by creating an artificial division within the company for the purpose of making contributions, or even not bother with such machinations and make direct contributions, and can still feel assured they will not be prosecuted by a deadlocked FEC for violating the law," he told the Hill.