GOP operative pleads guilty to campaign finance violation

GOP operative Tyler Harber pleaded guilty on Thursday to illegally steering money from a super-PAC to help a candidate whose campaign he was managing, according to the Department of Justice.

The campaign finance conviction marks what reform advocates are calling a “groundbreaking” case of election law enforcement; the Federal Election Commission (FEC) has remained largely deadlocked on bringing violations to the forefront.

{mosads}Harber, who ran the campaigns or consulted for many federal candidates, is among the first to be convicted of coordinated communications between a candidate and an outside group. 

“The Department of Justice is fully committed to addressing the threat posed to the integrity of federal primary and general elections by coordinated campaign contributions, and will aggressively pursue coordination offenses at every appropriate opportunity,” Leslie R. Caldwell, an assistant attorney general in the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, said in a statement. 

According to a plea heard by a federal court in Alexandria, Va., on Thursday, he operated as a campaign manager and general political consultant for a congressional hopeful in the 2012 elections, and also set up a super-PAC able to raise limitless contributions from donors. 

Harber solicited donations to the super-PAC once individuals had reached limits to the campaign, and then directed the political action committee to spend $325,000 on advertisements against his candidate’s opponent.

“Harber admitted that he knew this coordination of expenditures was an unlawful means of contributing money to a campaign committee,” the Justice Department said on Thursday. “He further admitted that he used an alias and other means to conceal his action from inquiries by an official of the same political party as Harber’s candidate.”

The Justice Department documents do not mention political action committees involved, but The Washington Post reported that Harber had worked for failed GOP candidate Chris Perkins, who unsuccessfully challenged Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) in 2012. The National Republican Victory Fund, according to FEC disclosures cited by the Post, made a $325,000 ad purchase in attempt to influence the Perkins race. 

“With today’s groundbreaking criminal prosecution, the Justice Department has sent a clear and compelling warning that presidential and congressional candidates who engage in illegal coordination activities are no longer risk free and can face criminal prosecution for their campaign finance violations,” said Fred Wertheimer, the president of public interest group Democracy 21, which advocates for campaign finance reform. 

“Presidential and congressional candidates have been blatantly ignoring the laws prohibiting coordination between candidates and outside spending groups with full knowledge that the Federal Election Commission is paralyzed and will not enforce the campaign finance laws,” he continued in a statement.

Super-PACs largely emerged in the wake of the Citizens United decision from the Supreme Court. They are legally allowed to raise unlimited sums of money from donors, but the people who operate the committees are not allowed to directly coordinate with campaigns. 

Watchdog groups have sounded off about certain loopholes, however, including ones that allow candidates to speak at events wherein donors are asked to contribute to super-PACs. In addition, former aides to the candidate or lawmaker have formed some of the most successful outside groups, leading groups to question their independence.

While the plea may have been a “wake up call” to some, others in the election community said that sophisticated actors would find ways to skirt around the bright coordination line.

“Do I think this plea deal, this prosecution, will spook people? No, because I think most serious political players have lawyers who know the easy ways around federal coordination laws,” Paul Ryan, senior counsel for the Campaign Legal Center, told the Post.