Report: Mysterious company gives pro-Romney group $1M, then dissolves
A mysterious corporation that was formed in Delaware in March gave $1 million in April to a political group backing Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney -- and then dissolved in July, according to a report from NBC News' Michael Isikoff. It's unclear exactly who was behind the large donation.
The group Restore Our Future, a so-called "super political action committee," received a donation of $1 million from W Spann LLC on April 28, according to the super PAC's campaign disclosure report, filed last week. The group received $12.2 million during the first six months of the year, including gifts from four donors who gave $1 million each, the report showed.
One of the million-dollar donors was W Spann LLC, formed by Boston estate tax planner lawyer Cameron Casey, who specializes in "wealth transfer strategies" for high-end clients. Casey works for the firm Ropes & Gray's, which has done work for Bain Capital, the investment firm formerly headed by Romney.
Ropes & Gray's is also one of several major companies, Isikoff reports, that have offices at a Manhattan office building at 590 Madison Ave. -- the address listed for W Spann. Other companies there include UBS, IBM and Cemex. The building, however, has no record of a tenant called W Spann. On top of that, corporate records for W Spann give no information about the company's owner or the type of business it does.
Restore Our Future told Isikoff that the super PAC has complied with all Federal Election Commission disclosure requirements and said it did not ask W Spann for information about its business.
Restore Our Future is a super PAC that's independent of Romney's campaign but was founded by three former Romney aides with an interest in electing the former Massachusetts governor as president. The group is similar to Priorities USA, the super PAC founded by Obama allies Bill Burton and Sean Sweeney.
The 2010 Citizens United Supreme Court ruling allows for corporations and labor unions to spend unlimited money on political campaigns, though not by giving directly to candidates or party committees.
Lawrence Noble, former FEC general counsel, told NBC that the establishment of a company for the sole purpose of donating to a super PAC could raise a "serious" legal issue.
