Md. Dems: Gov. Hogan took $200,000 in illegal campaign donations
Maryland’s Democratic Party is accusing Gov. Larry Hogan of campaign finance violations and is now calling for an investigation into his financial dealings.
Democratic Maryland Sen. Clarence Lam, who bought the allegations to light, began looking into Hogan’s campaign contributions after the governor vetoed a bill Lam proposed in May that would allow more transparency within Hogan’s appointment office.
Lam says he then noticed a connection between Hogan’s office and donations from the University of Maryland Medical Board. By statute, the governor appoints members of the board.
According to Lam, he then turned to the campaign finance database and found a correlation between appointees and donations.
In total, Lam says $200,00 in donations from 100 benefactors were made over the legal limit allowed, which is $6,000 per donor.
When questioned whether the governor’s attorney, Chris Ashby, who has experience with campaign finance, would allow such violations, Lam says he is standing behind his accusations.
“There are certainly some people and businesses that have donated over the $6,000 limit,” Lam said, referring to University of Maryland board members.
Lam said his main concern is the potential conflict of interest.
“We need to have better oversight over how these individuals make it onto the board,” Lam said.
He is now hoping to see a veto override once the state legislative session begins in January.
“This is a straight forward vetting of these appointees,” he added.
Ashby has said, in some cases, donations have been refunded and he calls the accusation “demonstrably false” and a “shoddy political hit job,” but Lam says refunded donations do not account for all of the possible violations.
Maryland’s Democratic Party is now calling on the state board of elections to investigate the allegations.
from https://ift.tt/2J7i9sp
Digital Marketing Agency in Maryland
Comments
Post a Comment