Yesterday, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that the US Attorney’s Office had filed a complaint accusing two men of funneling illegal campaign donations into San Diego area election. One of those candidates, “Candidate 2,” benefited from a $30,000 donation to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee:
A representative for Candidate 2, who was running for federal office in November 2012, declined an offer for contributions because Azano didn’t have a green card and couldn’t legally contribute. Encinas then helped Azano contribute in the name of a straw donor instead. That donor received $380,000 from Azano in October 2012 and gave $30,000 to Candidate 2’s political party.
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The straw donor is described in the complaint as contributing $120,000 to a pro-Filner political-action committee and $30,000 to a political party committee — all money he received from the foreign national — in or around October 2012.
A review of campaign records seems to show that the only contributor fitting that description is Marc Chase, co-owner of Symbolic Motor Car Company in La Jolla.
He gave those exact donations in late September 2012 to a pro-Filner PAC and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. The source close to the investigation also identified Chase as a subject of the federal probe.
According to the Center for Responsive Politics, the DCCC spent over $2 million to elect Peters and he was the only San Diego area candidate they spent money helping.