Ohio For-Profit Schools Cheated Election Laws

Last week, lawyers for Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner and a pro-charter school PAC named All Children Matter Ohio squared off before the Ohio Elections Commission.
Brunner alleges the Ohio PAC exceeded contribution limits and illegally received $870,000 from a sister PAC based in Virginia that never registered in Ohio.
The true source of the money was hidden because the Virginia PAC dumped the dollars into Ohio through five and six-figure checks.
The Ohio PAC spent the money on 29 Republican candidates for statewide office, the General Assembly and the State Board of Education.
There is an Akron angle. David Brennan, the charter school entrepreneur, gave money to the Virginia PAC.
The Ohio PAC either contributed directly to or paid for direct-mail pieces and radio advertising for Mary Taylor, who was elected state auditor, state Sen. Kevin Coughlin, R-Cuyahoga Falls, failed state House candidate Tom Cousineau and state school board member Deborah Owens Fink, who was unseated.
Let's clear the legal cobwebs here.
Brunner is arguing that so-called fat-cat contributors such as Brennan are maxing out on their contribution limits to candidates in Ohio. They then contribute to a PAC in Virginia. The out-of-state PAC launders the money back to Ohio in a way that cannot be traced directly to the fat cats.