A watchdog group on Thursday accused a Pennsylvania teacherâs union of laundering $1.5 million to illegally fund Democratic Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiroâs 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 Shapiroâs campaign, according to a news release from the organization.
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 Harrisâ running mate.
âPSEAâs scheme to secretly launder nearly $1.5 million in membersâ dues through the Democratic Governors Association to support Josh Shapiroâs 2022 candidacy appears to have violated both an array of Pennsylvania laws and the Internal Revenue Code,â Freedom Foundation Director of Research and Government Affairs Maxford Nelsen said in the news release. âIn 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 unionâs assurances that the dues deducted from their hard-earned paychecks arenât being used to back political candidates are worth no more than a politicianâs campaign promises.â
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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 Shapiroâs campaign.
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.
âThe PSEA violated the prohibition in 43 P.S. § 1101.1701 against employee organizations using general treasury funds to âmake any contribution⦠either directly or indirectly to any political party or organization or in support of any political candidate for public office’â 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.
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They also alleged that the DGA failed to disclose the receipt of the funding from the FSS in May 2022.
âAdditionally, 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,â 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.
Shapiroâs office and the PSEA did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundationâs request for comment.
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