The Tea Party Patriots Citizens Fund chairman Jenny Beth Martin is alleging a loan given to a super PAC backing Sen. Thad Cochran (R-MS) in the bitter Mississippi primary race was illegal, according to a complaint she filed with the Federal Election Commission Thursday that was obtained by Breitbart News.
The complaint says the $250,000 loan amounts to an illegal campaign contribution. It also says, in contrast to the group’s explanation of the loan, that the group’s own filings indicate the loan was not secured with collateral.
Representing the Tea Party Patriots Citizens Fund in the complaint filing with the FEC is high-profile conservative attorney Cleta Mitchell. Mitchell serves on the board of the American Conservative Union (ACU) and is the lead attorney for many Tea Party groups against the IRS over that scandal. She has also testified before various congressional committees about the IRS scandal and other matters.
As Roll Call first reported, Mississippi Conservatives—a pro-Cochran Super PAC—notes on its FEC reports that it had “receipts of $717,993 during the first quarter of 2014, including a $250,150 loan from Trustmark Bank.”
Trustmark is a nationally chartered bank and publicly traded corporation headquartered in Jackson, MS. Its president Harry Walker is a Cochran donor.
Roll Call’s Kent Cooper wrote that “the most unusual aspect of the loan” from Trustmark to Cochran’s Super PAC “is there are no future contributions or future receipts pledged as collateral for the loan.”
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