Virginia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe spoke at a fundraiser hosted by former President Bill Clinton’s IRS commissioner, Margaret "Peggy" Richardson.
According to an invitation obtained by Watchdog.org, tickets to the private event at Richardson’s Delaplane, Va. home ranged from $250 to $5,000.
Richardson was Clinton's IRS commissioner from 1993 to 1997 and has been involved in other ventures involving the Clinton family since then.
Richardson sits on the board of directors at Gulf Coast Funds Management LLC, a company run by Anthony Rodham, the younger brother of Hillary Clinton.
Gulf Coast Funds Management has received increased scrutiny in recent months given its relationship to GreenTech Automotive, the business formerly chaired by McAuliffe.
GreenTech Automotive used Gulf Coast Funds Management to get it investors through the government’s EB-5 visa program, which allows foreign investors to receive a visa in exchange for a sizable investment in a United States company.
The EB-5 investment scheme made GreenTech Automotive eligible for a SEC loophole that allowed the company to avoid filing basic information with the regulatory commission.
GreenTech Automotive and Gulf Coast Funds Management are located in the same building in McLean, Virginia.
McAuliffe reportedly "talked about bringing jobs to Virginia" at the event despite having taken GreenTech’s operations to Mississippi after Virginia officials expressed doubts that the "visa-for-sale scheme" could eventually "give the Commonwealth a black eye."
Neither Virginia nor Mississippi received the pledged jobs from McAuliffe’s failed venture.