Sen. John Cornyn is under fire from his Democratic challengers for accepting illegal campaign donations.
Major GOP donor and former University of Texas regent James Dannenbaum recently admitted to breaking campaign finance law in support of three federal candidates, including Cornyn.
Air Force veteran MJ Hegar accused Cornyn of “attempting to erase the fact he took illegal campaign contributions from a corrupt donor,” and called it “the perfect example of everything that is wrong with his career in DC.”
“I am sickened by the fact that John Cornyn received illegal and unethical contributions from Jim Dannenbaum,” said former congressman Chris Bell in a statement. “This is just more evidence that John is bought and paid for by the millionaires and billionaires who are seeking more kickbacks and giveaways at the expense of our working families.”
Dannenbaum made donations in excess of what federal law permits by recruiting employees to make political contributions and then reimbursing them with corporated funds. His firm, Dannenbaum Engineering, and its parent company have also been charged.
Cornyn’s campaign has claimed that they were unaware that the donations were illegal and said it would return the donations to the U.S. Treasury.
However, not all are convinced that Cornyn was ignorant of what was going on.
“As for the claims by the Cornyn campaign that they knew nothing of the illegal scheme, it seems highly doubtful that Mr. Dannenbaum would set up such an intricate system for illegal campaign contributions without making sure he would receive credit from the Cornyn campaign,” said Bell.
The case is currently under investigation by the Justice Department following FBI raids.
Photo: Tom Brenner/Getty Images
