A formal complaint has been filed with the Office of Congressional Ethics, noting the appearance of a prohibited contribution resulting from the sale of Murphy’s non-publicly traded shares in his father’s company – shares his father gave to him as a “gift” – to raise money to loan to his campaign.
When Murphy announced the personal loan, the Tampa Bay Times noted that he was desperately funneling the money into ad time:
“Democratic U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy personally loaned $1 million to his U.S. Senate campaign in October to pay for extra TV ad time in the final two weeks before Election Day, his campaign says. The move comes after Murphy had lackluster fundraising in the third quarter and after national Democratic groups withdrew millions of dollars from Florida this fall, leaving Murphy to largely fend for himself.” (Kristen Clark, “Patrick Murphy Loans Campaign $1 Million For TV Ads,” Tampa Bay Times, 10/27/16)
The complaint notes:
If Rep. Murphy’s father or the company indeed purchased the shares, or if he otherwise arranged for the sale, then Rep. Murphy’s loan of this money to his campaign would constitute a contribution from his father in Rep. Murphy’s own name.
Murphy’s sham stock sale appears to be an attempt to allow his deep-pocketed father to pump an extra million dollars directly into his campaign to pay for last-minute television ads. Murphy’s father already has given the maximum allowed by law to Murphy’s campaign, and also made massive contributions to both Murphy’s super PAC and Senate Majority PAC in support of his son’s campaign. Murphy’s actions potentially violate both federal campaign finance laws and House Ethics rules.
The complaint was filed with and received by the Office of Congressional Ethics.