Miami mayor defends contribution amid FEC investigation request

Watchdog urges FEC probe of $500K contribution to Mayor Suarez’s super PAC
Complaint: Business used to hide the identities of the contributors
Suarez: No doubt donations weren’t made by U.S. citizens or residents

Updated: Jul 28, 2023 / 02:33 PM CDT

MIAMI (NewsNation) — Miami Mayor Francis Suarez brushed off a brewing controversy surrounding a donation the super PAC endorsing his bid for the Republican presidential nomination received.

“I have no reason to believe that any of the contributions received by that entity are not by United States, either citizens or residents,” he said Friday on NewsNation’s “Morning in America.”

The nonpartisan group Campaign Legal Center filed the complaint with the Federal Election Commission on Tuesday. The complaint says the business PassionForest, LLC, which sells artificial flowers on Amazon.com, did not have the financial means to make such a large contribution and was instead used to hide the identities of the true contributors to the political action committee America for Everyone, now called SOS America.

The $500,000 contribution is among the largest listed as received by the super PAC, according to FEC records.

Campaign Legal Center also says the artificial flower shop accused in the scheme filed a trademark application listing a Chinese address and the seller information listed by Amazon.com shows a ZIP code in Shenzhen, in southeastern China. The group says the scheme could have been meant to hide foreign contributions, which are prohibited.

The super PAC said the complaint is an attack “intended to undercut the only Hispanic Republican candidate.”

Suarez said that anyone can make a complaint, as we live in a “very litigious society.”

“It’s part of the rough and tumble reality of modern-day politics where everyone is throwing everything against the wall trying to see what sticks.”

“It is our understanding that the complaint makes no accusations whatsoever against SOS America PAC or the Mayor. This is nothing more than a political attack and it will be seen for what it is,” said SOS America PAC spokesperson Chapin Fay.

Suarez is one of the long shots running for the 2024 GOP nomination. The mayor is among the lesser-known candidates in a crowded field that include two other Floridians, former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.