Suffolk Construction, a Massachusetts-based company, was recently fined $34,000 by the Federal Elections Commission (FEC) for donating $200,000 to a Hillary Clinton super PAC while under contract with the government. Federal campaign finance law prohibits federal contractors from making political contributions.
Suffolk Construction claimed that the government contracts are only a “small fraction” of its work and also noted that the PAC refunded the donation in June 2016. However, FEC officials denied the company’s justification, citing that the donations were not refunded in a timely manner. The Campaign Legal Center and Democracy 21, the organizations that brought the complaint against the contractor, hope this outcome will deter companies from donating to political groups and believe it will set a precedent for similar donations.
