FEC: Beto O’Rourke Funneled $110,000 in Campaign Funds to His Web Development Company

Democratic presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke listens to a question as he speaks to supp
AP Photo/Tony Dejak

Democrat 2020 presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke funneled roughly $110,000 in campaign money to a private web development company he and his wife owned at one time while he served as a congressman, according to FEC rules.

O’Rourke’s campaign, Beto for Texas, donated money to Stanton Street Technology Group in several different election cycles.

The campaign donated $58,544 to the group between 2011 and 2012, $39,060 between 2013 and 2014, $9,290 between 2015 and 2016, and $32,778 between 2017 and 2018, according to Federal Election Commission (FEC) records obtained by the Daily Caller.

During that time, either O’Rourke or his wife owned Stanton Street Technology Group— a web development firm created by O’Rourke in 1998.

The payments to the firm are legal if the campaign sends a bill for the cost of the services, but some people have criticized the practice as unethical, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

Amy Sanders O’Rourke, Beto’s wife, took over the web development firm when the Texas Democrat began serving in Congress in January 2013.

She took the helm of the firm until March 2017, when she sold her share of the company for $100,001 to $1 million, according to a 2017 financial disclosure report for Beto O’Rourke’s campaign.

Beto O’Rourke is not the only Democrat to be accused of funneling campaign money to a private company. An FEC complaint released Wednesday alleged that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) ran a “subsidy scheme” to go around federal campaign requirements.

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