A watchdog group on Thursday accused a Pennsylvania teacher’s union of laundering $1.5 million to illegally fund Democratic Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s 2022 campaign.
The Freedom Foundation filed three complaints that allege the Pennsylvania State Education Association (PSEA) illegally laundered and sent $1.5 million to fund Shapiro’s campaign, according to a press release by Freedom Foundation. The complaints were filed with various parties in Pennsylvania, including the FBI and IRS, as Shapiro has emerged as a contender to become Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate.
“PSEA’s scheme to secretly launder nearly $1.5 million in members’ dues through the Democratic Governors Association to support Josh Shapiro’s 2022 candidacy appears to have violated both an array of Pennsylvania laws and the Internal Revenue Code,” Freedom Foundation Director of Research and Government Affairs Maxford Nelsen said in the press release. “In the process, PSEA executives displayed as much contempt for their own members as they did for Commonwealth law and voters. Pennsylvania teachers deserve to know that their union’s assurances that the dues deducted from their hard-earned paychecks aren’t being used to back political candidates are worth no more than a politician’s campaign promises.” (RELATED: REPORT: Harris VP Vetting Is Underway. It Excludes One Key Name)
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro greets people at the Commemoration Ceremony on the fifth anniversary of the Tree of Life synagogue attack on October 27, 2023 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin Merriman/Getty Images)
The Freedom Foundation alleges the PSEA sent $1.5 million to the PSEA-created Fund For Student Success (FSS) in May 2022, which in turn sent the same amount to the Democratic Governors Association (DGA), which then contributed $5.6 million to Shapiro’s campaign, according to the Freedom Foundation. They alleged the PSEA violated the PA Election Code and PA Public Employee Relations Act by using funds from union dues to contribute to a political campaign.
“The PSEA violated the prohibition in 43 P.S. § 1101.1701 against employee organizations using general treasury funds to ‘make any contribution… either directly or indirectly to any political party or organization or in support of any political candidate for public office'” the Foundation said in a complaint to the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board.
The Foundation also alleged that the FSS failed to register as a political committee and filed fraudulent tax returns with the IRS that said the funds instead went to Put Pennsylvania First, a political committee, when the funds allegedly went to the DGA instead, according to the Foundation. They also alleged that the DGA failed to disclose the receipt of the funding from the FSS in May 2022.
“Additionally, if DGA representatives knowingly submitted an incomplete report, they may have engaged in criminal perjury or written false statements in violation of 18 Pa.C.S.A. §§ 4902 and/or 4904,” the Foundation said in a complaint addressed to the Pennsylvania attorney general, the Dauphin County district attorney and the office of the secretary of Pennsylvania.
Shapiro’s office and the PSEA did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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