Questionable PAC draws fire from Sanders campaign

A nondescript mailbox provider at a Las Vegas strip mall is the address of a political action committee that claims to be raising money on behalf of Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders.

But the campaign of the independent Vermont senator, who spurns big-money political action committees, has concerns about the organization, which initially called itself Ready for Bernie Sanders 2016 and Bet on Bernie 2016.

The opaque super PAC, which has no apparent physical address, is tied to fundraising websites that use Sanders' name and likeness. It has prompted the Sanders campaign attorneys to fire off a letter to the organization, complaining that its activities create "harmful confusion" for the presidential hopeful's supporters. The Center for Public Integrity first reported about the concerns and obtained the correspondence of Sanders' attorneys.

Specifically, Sanders' campaign attorneys have complained about the group's unauthorized use of the senator's name, campaign logo and websites that include his name, saying they appear to be official Sanders sites, confuse supporters and are likely diverting donations.

Since then, the group has made its name more generic: Americans Socially United. But other aspects of its operation, including a pledgesanders2016.com website, remained up last week, redirecting viewers to sociallyunited.org. It continues to solicit contributions, listing the Las Vegas address on its homepage alongside photos of Sanders.

Even James Bond is mixed up in this PAC — sort of. Actor Daniel Craig, who plays the fictional British spy, gave the group nearly $50,000, the center reported.

Federal Elections Commission regulators have taken notice and sent the PAC a letter on Sept. 3 ordering it to file its required midyear report of finances, as it was past the deadline. Since then, the organization has filed a report that the Sanders campaign calls "problematic."

The PAC's founder, Cary Lee Peterson, has a spotty record of complying with similar requirements for five other political action committees he started in February, the same month he formed the Sanders-supporting organization. Peterson also is registered as a U.S. Senate lobbyist for other groups, and the FEC has notified him he has failed to submit the required midyear financial reports.

Cyberspies?

Peterson apologized for his tardiness in a statement that accompanied his Sept. 16 financial filing.

He doesn't blame any real-life spies for his troubles, but comes close.

In his telling, the PAC "has been a target of cyber-industrial sabotage and alleged acts cyber-industrial sabotage and alleged acts of criminal syndicalism."

Those acts came from former financial and Web service providers to the PAC, Peterson said.

Since that filing, the Sanders campaign hasn't heard anything.

"Nothing has happened at the FEC since then, and we have not heard from Peterson," campaign spokesman Michael Briggs said.

Peterson, in an email to the Review-Journal, said his group doesn't support Sanders directly, only the candidate's positions on political issues.

He contends the Ready for Bernie Sanders 2016 registered name was retired when Sanders announced his candidacy on April 30.

But both federal elections regulators and the Sanders campaign were prodding Peterson to follow the rules well beyond April, when he changed the PAC's name became Bet on Bernie 2016.

The FEC sent a letter to Peterson on May 19, telling him to stop using the candidate's name because he isn't authorized. A letter from Sanders' attorney went to him the next month.

On June 18, Peterson officially changed the name again to Americans Socially United.

Peterson didn't respond to a request for an interview to answer more questions.

As for the Bond actor, the attention on the PAC has led to him to give a statement to the media in recent weeks.

"I made a donation to this organisation in good faith as I understood it to support Senator Sanders' candidacy," Craig said. "Currently, I have been informed of no evidence to question that my donation has not been used as intended. Should that situation occur, then clearly, I will review my position."

Filing details

The cash-drained PAC has spent or refunded more money than it received during the first six months of 2015.

It was nearly $50,000 in the red on June 30. It received $90,690 in individual contributions, dispersing $143,258 during that period.

Donor and expenditure information in the filing lacks the street addresses, a required detail. The report shows a variety of expenses, including car rentals, hotel stays, and public relations ventures.

Nearly $5,500 went to Robert Peterson Fields Associates — Peterson's company — for "professional services." No other details are given.

The clash between the PAC and the Sanders camp is the opposite of what usually happens, said Thomas Mann, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and expert in campaign finance.

More commonly, super PACs are set up by associates of candidates. As a result, steps have be taken to keep the organizations at arm's length from the campaigns, he said.

"Most people concerned about super PACs are not spending their time on this," Mann said. "They're concerned about unlimited sources of individual and corporate money going into the campaigns. All the attention is on the big picture, and that's how people like this get to slide around below the sight line."

History of problems

Peterson is tied to other political action committees, and he has a consistent pattern of not filing the required financial disclosures.

Those groups list the same Las Vegas mailing address, naming Peterson as their treasurer.

He also is a registered Washington, D.C., lobbyist, claiming them as his clients.

They have official-sounding names, but with similar problems as the Sanders-supporting PAC. There is the Congressional Committee on Cuban Affairs. There are four others: the Congressional Committee on Eurasian Affairs; the Congressional Committee on Law Enforcement and Public Safety; the Congressional Task Force on Human Trafficking; and Every Vote Counts Restoring America.

Peterson filed lobbying registration forms for all of them in April. All but one list the same Washington, D.C., address as Peterson's in the capital.

The D.C. address, like the Las Vegas one, isn't a location where you will necessarily find Peterson: It's a "virtual office" space that people can rent so they have an address in the U.S. capital.

Every Vote Counts Restoring America lists a Minneapolis post office box instead of a Washington, D.C., address.

Addresses aside, federal elections regulators notified them all in August, telling Peterson that he hadn't filed the required midyear financial reports.

As of Friday, the FEC hasn't heard back.

Review-Journal Washington Bureau writer Peter Urban contributed to this report. Contact Ben Botkin at bbotkin@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2904. Find him on Twitter: @BenBotkin1