Put up another finger, Herman. You've got two scandals.
(Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)
As Herman Cain flails around desperately looking to pin his history of sexual harassment on anyone but himself, his other scandal continues to simmer.
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) has filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission against the Cain campaign, campaign manager Mark Block, and Block's nonprofit Prosperity USA for the $40,000 worth of travel, iPads and other expenses that Prosperity USA paid for as Cain got his campaign up and running. According to a CREW release:
The complaint also alleges Mr. Block personally violated the Federal Election Campaign Act by authorizing the illegal corporate contributions as president of Prosperity USA, and then by accepting the illegal contributions as treasurer of Friends of Herman Cain. This makes Mr. Block the first person in the history of the Act to have both given and received the same illegal contributions. The complaint also alleges Mr. Block violated the Act by failing to disclose the Prosperity USA expenditures.
The Koch brothers-funded Americans for Prosperity, with which Cain has extensive ties, is also looking into its own financial relationship with Block's Prosperity USA. Block had been the head of the Wisconsin chapter of Americans for Prosperity and traded heavily on that brand name in starting organizations like Prosperity USA.
Block has stonewalled reporter questions on the questionable contributions beyond saying the campaign had lawyered up. He has extensive experience at dealing with scandals of his own making, having previously been fined $15,000 and required to stay out of Wisconsin politics for three years due to election law violations. Apparently that didn't make him less appealing to Herman Cain, though, so now we get the repeat.
11:43 AM PT: Just how extensive are Cain's ties to Americans for Prosperity and the Koch brothers? Today at the AFP's Defending the American Dream conference, Cain said—joking, but not enough—"This may be a breaking news announcement for the media: I am the Koch brothers' brother from another mother."