Several members of Congress are choosing to donate political contributions from accused fraudster Allen Stanford to charity — with the notable holdouts being Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), who has hung onto 4/5 of his Stanford cash, and Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX).
But the Dallas Morning News reports that lawmakers may not have a choice in the matter anymore, now that the court-appointed receiver who’s managing Stanford’s assets has asked both the Republican and Democratic campaign committees to give back all the cash. From the Dallas report:
Ralph S. Janvey, who was appointed by the U.S. District Court in Dallas to take control of Stanford’s assets, asked Democratic and Republican national political committees on Monday to return donations from Allen Stanford and his company’s political action committee.
Stanford, his employees and his corporate PAC gave $250,125 to the NRCC since 2000, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. The Stanford entities gave the most to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee – $965,500, according to the center.
Janvey’s request does not appear to have been sent to individual members of Congress (yet), but the Dallas paper adds that Sessions has already donated $2,000 to charity to offset his Stanford cash, and is considering getting rid of the rest of the $40,000-plus he received.
Late Update: As the AP reported last night, Janvey’s letters seeking a political-cash refund are “highly unusual.” The practice is common with charitable donations given by individuals before their assets are frozen, but rarely occurs with campaign donations. Here’s how Janvey put his request:
I hereby request your committee return to the receivership estate all campaign contributions made by Mr. Stanford or the other defendants to your committee. By returning such amounts to the receivership estate, you will help reduce the losses suffered by victims of the alleged fraud.
