Republican Committee Sends $500K to New 527 Group

By Kent Cooper

Posted October 22, 2013 at 10:54am

A national Republican committee has sent $500,000 to a two-month old Section 527 Group based in Florida.

The Republican State Leadership Committee (RSLC) reported it gave $500,000 on 9/23 to And Justice For All, a new Section 527 organization that registered with the I.R.S. on August 7th. The address used is that of the treasurer, Nancy Watkins, the Treasurer, who is based in Tampa, Florida. Carlos Alfonso is the chairman.

In 2010, there was a Section 527 committee with the same name that was based in Kansas and its purpose was “the education of citizens regarding issues important to the Kansas court system.”

The Republican State Leadership Committee reported it had receipts of $1,405,837 and expenditures of $1,826,105 during September. Major donors included $150,000 from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce; $100,000 from AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals; $50,000 from Las Vegas Sands Corporation; $50,000 from Purdue Pharma LP; $50,000 from Fluor Enterprises; $50,000 from Keystone Automotive Industries; and $35,000 from Dickstein Shapiro LLP; among others.

Besides the $500,000 sent to And Justice For All, the committee gave $75,000 to the Republican Party of Florida; $100,000 to the Republican Party of Virginia; and $50,000 to the Dominion Leadership Trust (VA); among others. The committee paid $137,195 to Baker Hostetler for legal fees. The committee paid $110,000 for “event deposit” to the Four Seasons Resort, Lan’i Manele Bay, Hawaii.