The Freedom Foundation has accused the Pennsylvania State Education Association (PSEA) of laundering $1.5 million to illegally finance Democratic Governor Josh Shapiro’s 2022 campaign.
The watchdog group filed three complaints with various authorities, including the FBI and IRS, alleging that the PSEA channeled union dues through a created entity, the Fund For Student Success (FSS), to the Democratic Governors Association (DGA), which then contributed to Shapiro’s campaign.
They claim this scheme violated Pennsylvania election laws and the Internal Revenue Code, noting the PSEA’s alleged disregard for its members’ interests.
“PSEA’s scheme to secretly launder nearly $1.5 million in members’ dues through the Democratic Governors Association to support Josh Shapiro’s 2022 candidacy appears to have violated both an array of Pennsylvania laws and the Internal Revenue Code,” Freedom Foundation Director of Research and Government Affairs Maxford Nelsen stated.
“In the process, PSEA executives displayed as much contempt for their own members as they did for Commonwealth law and voters. Pennsylvania teachers deserve to know that their union’s assurances that the dues deducted from their hard-earned paychecks aren’t being used to back political candidates are worth no more than a politician’s campaign promises.”
Additional allegations include the FSS failing to register as a political committee and submitting fraudulent tax returns regarding the true destination of the funds.
The Freedom Foundation’s complaints also suggest potential criminal perjury by the DGA.
“The PSEA violated the prohibition in 43 P.S. § 1101.1701 against employee organizations using general treasury funds to ‘make any contribution… either directly or indirectly to any political party or organization or in support of any political candidate for public office’” the Foundation stated.
“Additionally, if DGA representatives knowingly submitted an incomplete report, they may have engaged in criminal perjury or written false statements in violation of 18 Pa.C.S.A. §§ 4902 and/or 4904,” the Foundation added.
