New Hampshire Governor and Democratic Senate candidate Maggie Hassan He will come back more than $30,000 in campaign donations from employees of a Boston law firm that allegedly participated in a fraud involving the operate of fraudulent donors.
Investigation by the Boston Globe and the Center for Responsive Politics found that partners at the firm received bonuses matching their political contributions. Three partners at Thornton Law Firm and one of the partners’ wives donated nearly $1.6 million to Democratic Party and political fundraising committees between 2010 and 2014. During that time, the same partners received $1.4 million in “bonuses.” More than 280 of the payments were made within 10 days of an employee receiving a “bonus” in the same amount.
Hassan received $31,000 from company employees, putting him in second place after Democratic Senator Russ Feingold of Wisconsin, who received $45,000.
Feingold, as well as Rep. Patrick Murphy of Florida, Missouri Secretary of State Jason Kander, Nevada Democratic candidate Catherine Cortez Masto, former Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland and Pennsylvania Democratic candidate Katie McGinty have said they will return the money they received from employees of Thornton Law Firm, according to Politico.
More specifically, McGinty, Strickland, and Murphy announced that they would donate their donations to the Treasury Department.
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire and Congresswoman Annie Kuster of New Hampshire he also reportedly received donations.
Aaron Jacobs, Hassan’s spokesman, issued an official statement on Sunday:
“We had no knowledge of the practices inside this company, and we assume that, as the Globe reported, none of the other Republican or Democratic candidates who received contributions did either. We will return contributions from this company.”
