Grimm fundraiser charged with campaign finance violations
A woman who raised money for Congressmember Michael Grimm’s campaign has been arrested on charges of having exceeded legal campaign contribution limits by funneling her excess contributions through straw donors, who allegedly made contributions to the campaign that she later repaid.
In papers filed in U.S. Eastern District Court, in Brooklyn, Diana Durand, a Texas resident, is alleged to “knowingly and willfully make, and cause to be made, contributions to Committee A, a federal campaign committee formed to receive campaign contributions for the election of Candidate A to federal office, which contributions exceeded the limitation contained in the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971.”
The complaint charges that in funneling her excess contributions through other individuals, Durand “was aware that she was not permitted to make further monetary contributions to Committee A,” and is quoted as telling “two acquaintances that ‘the max you can donate is $4800.00 and after that you can’t give a dime, so believe me if I could give more than that so I wouldn’t have to ask everyone for help thats [sic] what I would do.’”