Oregon congressional candidate Alek Skarlatos' use of funds questioned

WASHINGTON — Alek Skarlatos, a hero soldier-turned-Republican congressional candidate, started a nonprofit shortly after his 2020 defeat in his race against longtime Democratic Rep. Peter DeFazio, pledging to advocate for veterans “left high and dry” by the country “they put their lives on the line for.”

The group, which Skarlatos seeded with $93,000 in leftover campaign funds, has done little since then to advance that cause.

What it has nurtured, though, are Skarlatos’ political ambitions, providing $65,000, records show, to his 2022 bid for a rematch with DeFazio in a district centered on Eugene that stretches to the coast. It’s a seat that Republicans are targeting in their quest to win back the House.

Campaign finance laws prohibit candidates from self-dealing and from accepting illicit money from often opaque and less regulated world of political nonprofits. That includes a prohibition on candidates donating campaign cash to nonprofit groups they control, as well as a broader ban on accepting contributions from such groups, legal experts say.

Read more: https://www.oregonlive.com/politics/2021/10/oregon-congressional-candidate-alek-skarlatos-funds-questioned.html