(The Center Square) – Two complaints have been filed alleging U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt, R-Texas, committed campaign finance violations.
The non-partisan ethics watchdog, the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT), filed the complaints with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requesting investigations into Standing for Texas and Hunt for Senate. Hunt challenged incumbent U.S. Sen. John Cornyn in a three-candidate Republican primary election in March and lost.
Hunt’s campaign did not respond to requests for comment in response to the allegations in the complaints.
The complaints were filed as paid social media influencers continue to flood, X, Instagram, TikTok and Facebook with posts in favor of one particular Republican candidate in multiple races, both state and federal, in Texas. In response to this growing phenomenon, Kendra Arnold, executive director of FACT, told The Center Square, “For federal candidates, the law is designed to have full transparency for all campaign spending, whether done by the campaigns themselves or outside groups. This allows for citizens to assess credibility by knowing who is making the statements and their possible motivations behind them. Often the disclosure laws are met with the ‘paid by’ message at the end of an advertisement.”
FACT’s complaint with the FEC alleges Standing for Texas and Hunt for Senate violated federal campaign finance laws by failing to properly register, report expenditures, and disclose funding related to millions of dollars in political advertising influencing the U.S. Senate primary election in Texas.
Standing for Texas, a 501(c)(4) organization, was established last March. It reportedly spent more than $4.4 million on five television ads promoting Hunt during the primary race even though it had never registered as a political committee with the FEC. It still hasn’t filed disclosure reports that are required under the Federal Election Campaign Act, FACT states.
Federal law requires groups that raise or spend more than $1,000 to influence a federal election to register as a political committee and to file regular public disclosure reports.
The complaint points to anonymous accounts on X appearing to share Hunt campaign information, “discreetly sharing strategic information, private polling, messaging advice and media-buying data.” If the posts were produced in coordination with Hunt’s campaign, “they could constitute unlawful in-kind contributions that were never reported to the FEC. Even if the ads were not coordinated, the organization still appears to have failed to file the required independent expenditure reports related to the advertising campaign,” FACT said.
“It is not legal to create an outside organization, spend more than $4 million to influence an election and file nothing with the FEC,” Arnold said. “Federal campaign laws exist to guarantee transparency so voters know who is funding political messaging.”
The second complaint was filed with the IRS alleging Standing for Texas violated federal tax laws by registering as a tax exempt 501(c)(4) under Internal Revenue Code when it appears it was created primarily to support the Hunt for Senate campaign. In addition to the television ads, the organization recently transferred $690,000 in three installments to a Super PAC, Fighting for Texas, which aired ads for Hunt, FACT alleges. In total, Standing for Texas spent $5.1 million on political activity, which appears to violate 501(c)4 IRS rules, FACT alleges, asking the IRS to investigate.
The complaints come after Hunt was previously investigated by the U.S. House Ethics Committee for using $74,000 worth of campaign funds for personal club memberships. It concluded his campaign did not fully comply with campaign finance standards but cleared him of any wrongdoing.
Cornyn’s campaign also pointed to inconsistencies in Hunt’s Senate race after he released a copy of his 2016 provisional ballot claiming he voted in the 2016 general election. The ballot was rejected because Hunt was not registered to vote. Hunt also claimed in a sworn affidavit that he had been discharged from the military in October 2016. He was discharged in 2012, according to his military discharge date and official congressional biography.
Cornyn campaign senior adviser Matt Mackowiak alleged Hunt had “unwittingly proved he committed voter fraud by lying in a sworn statement to an Election Judge both verbally and on a sworn document. His military discharge form, and his official biography prove he was discharged in 2012, not in 2016 as he claimed in an attempt to illegally vote. Corrupt [Attorney General] Ken Paxton should investigate Wesley Hunt for voter fraud and Wesley should admit he lied in a sworn document.”
Hunt claimed Cornyn’s campaign had doxxed him and continued to argue he voted in 2016. The affidavit was published by multiple news organizations and is a matter of public record.
