New York Times: Three Men Charged With Running ‘Scam PACs’ That Bilked Small Donors
Paul S. Ryan, the vice president of policy and litigation at Common Cause, a watchdog group, called the indictment “good news for democracy and small donors,” adding that Mr. Tunstall was perhaps the best known of the fund-raising operatives taking advantage of donors in this way.
“This should send a sign to potential scam artists that the Department of Justice is watching,” Mr. Ryan said.
Mr. Ryan said he expected that a superseding indictment would eventually cover Mr. Tunstall’s past four years of activity. He noted that the charges filed were made under financial crimes statutes and not under campaign finance law. And he urged federal lawmakers to stiffen the existing campaign-finance rules to better protect small contributors.
“Congress really needs to act here,” Mr. Ryan said.