New federal complaints: State Sen. Brian Kelsey, other lawmakers broke straw donor laws

Federal authorities are poised to probe a series of potentially illegal donations and contributions involving state Sen. Brian Kelsey (R), five other state lawmakers — including House Majority Leader Glen Casada — and four political action committees.

The flow of money into and out of Kelsey's failed 2016 congressional bid is the subject of a complaint filed Wednesday with the Federal Election Commission and a letter sent to the U.S. Department of Justice.

The complaint and letter stem from a USA TODAY NETWORK-Tennessee investigation earlier this month that found Kelsey and others may have been involved in illegal straw donations, inappropriate coordination and other possible wrongdoing.

“In order to disguise the illegal transfer of prohibited state money into his federal race, it appears that Kelsey concocted another illegal scheme to pass the money through a dark money daisy chain and straw donor reimbursement scheme," said Brendan Fischer, an attorney and Federal Election Commission reform program director with Washington, D.C.-based Campaign Legal Center, one of the organizations to file the FEC complaint.

Read more: http://www.tennessean.com/story/news/politics/2017/06/21/fec-complaint-sen-brian-kesley-others-broke-campaign-finance-laws/408804001/