A mysterious Hawaii company that donated $150,000 to a mainland political action committee has prompted a complaint to the Federal Election Commission, which is being asked to investigate and fine the company.
The Daily Beast reported Monday the hefty donation from the Society of Young Women Scientists and Engineers LLC, which was registered to do business in Hawaii on Nov. 26, was directed to a super PAC that is backing Maine Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins.
Collins is considered one of the most politically vulnerable Republican members of the Senate, and the super PAC, called 1820 PAC, has ties to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Daily Beast reported.
The 1820 super PAC spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on advertising in Maine in 2019 to promote Collins’ reelection, according to the Daily Beast.
The complaint by the Washington, D.C.-based Campaign Legal Center filed Monday alleges the Society of Young Women Scientists and Engineers violated federal campaign finance law.
The nonpartisan CLC alleged that based on published reports, the people who contributed to the society apparently did so as a way of donating money in the name of another person, which may be a violation of federal law. The complaint also alleged the society may have violated federal law by allowing its name to be used as the source of the Dec. 31 donation.
“Because the SYWSE does not have a website, social media account, search engine presence, or business record, the available facts do not suggest that SYWSE conducted any business” or had sufficient business income to cover the donation to the super PAC “without an infusion of funds provided to them for that purpose,” according to the complaint.
The complaint also alleges the SYWSE should have registered as a political committee.
The articles of organization for the society list the organizer as “Jennifer Lam,” and list a Honolulu post office box as its address.
Honolulu Civil Beat published an article Friday saying executives affiliated with a Hawaii company called
Navatek LLC — including Navatek CEO Martin Kao — have donated generously to Collins’ campaign.
Collins last summer joined Navatek executives
in announcing an $8 million contract with the Navy’s Office of Naval Research, and Collins also took the opportunity to tour the Navatek offices in Portland, Maine, according to her U.S. Senate web page.
Kao’s wife, Tiffany Jennifer Lam, has also donated to the Collins campaign, the online publication reported, but Kao and Lam could not be reached for comment Friday to determine whether Lam was the same Jennifer Lam who was listed as organizer for the Honolulu-based SYWSE.