Clinton Super PAC Illegally Paid $200k by Defense Contractor

A company with several contracts with the U.S. government and the U.S. defense department has defied a ban on funding presidential campaigns and donated at least US$200,000 to a pro-Hillary Clinton super PAC, according to an investigation by The Hill website.

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According to the website, Priorities USA Action, a group that is backing the former first lady, received two US$100,000 checks last year from Boston-based Suffolk Construction Company, according to public records.

The company, which has an annual revenue of some US$2 billion, has nearly US$1 million in Defense Department construction work on projects in at least two U.S. bases, West Point and Newport.

Suffolk Construction also contributed US$10,000 to the super PAC designed to elect Republican Jeb Bush, Right to Rise.

According to election rules, companies that have contracts with the federal government are not allowed to contribute to presidential elections in order to avoid conflict of interest and corruption. However, the country’s Federal Election Commission has been ignoring the ban and has turned a blind eye to such transactions.

The company clearly has financial stakes in who will be the next president as records show that it received US$170 million in federal contracts since 2008.

But The Hill found that several other contractors have made payments to other super PACs backing other candidates.

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The website said that at least 14 federal contractors had given a total of US$173,250 to Right to Rise, the pro-Bush group. “Two had also given to Conservative Solutions PAC, a group that supported Sen. Marco Rubio’s bid for president.”

Priorities USA has raised US$88 million so far this cycle to help elect presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Clinton.

The revelations highlight the contrast between the Clinton campaign and the campaign of her opponent Bernie Sanders, who ran a platform based on rejecting super PACs and donations from big corporations.