Watchdog group wants Crapo campaign loan info

Washington D.C. based Campaign for Accountability (CfA) is asking the Federal Bureau of Investigation to release records from its investigation into a loan made by Senator Mike Crapo’s campaign committee in 2008.

At that time, Crapo’s campaign manager loaned $250,000 of campaign money to Blueberry Guru, LLC. Blueberry Guru is an investment company owned by a friend of the campaign manager. The business then invested the money in Pyramid Global Resources, a Nevada real estate venture, according to CfA. The manager reportedly believed the loan would generate an 8 percent return for the committee, but did not disclose the loan until he left for another job in December, 2010.

CfA, an independent, non-partisan, public accountability watchdog group, said Crapo hired an attorney to investigate, who disclosed the loan to the FBI. The FBI turned the results of its investigation over to federal prosecutors. In November, 2012, prosecutors decided not to bring charges.

The Federal Election Commission was not notified until 2013. It closed its investigation in 2014.

“Sen. Crapo’s campaign committee made a bad loan with other people’s money, and no one was held accountable,” said CfA Executive Director Daniel E. Stevens. “Senator Crapo’s donors deserve to know what happened to their contributions. The FBI should publicly release the records from its investigation of Sen. Crapo’s campaign committee.”

You can see the CfA Freedom of Information Act request here.