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Embattled lender’s PAC gave to Cunningham |
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By Elana Schor
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Posted: 04/16/07 08:52 PM [ET] |
The political action committee (PAC) of a student-loan provider under investigation by the House and Senate education committees received a warning from the Federal Election Commission (FEC) in 2005 for making an excessive contribution to former Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham (R-Calif.), according to public disclosures.
Education Lending Group PAC, run by the then-parent company of lender Student Loan Xpress, gave $5,000 to Cunningham’s reelection campaign in October 2004. When the FEC notified the PAC the following April that the contribution exceeded legal limits, the lender voided the check and gave $2,500 to Cunningham’s leadership PAC in June 2005.
Three executives at Student Loan Xpress, a unit of Education Lending Group, which was sold in 2005, were placed on leave earlier this month when congressional Democrats and New York’s attorney general began investigating the company’s relations with several university financial-aid officials. Cunningham resigned his seat in November 2005 and is serving an eight-year-plus prison term for accepting bribes from a defense contractor.
Cunningham was one of only a few lawmakers receiving PAC donations from the lender who did not sit on the Education and Workforce Committee, according to totals released by PoliticalMoneyLine. Education Lending Group gave $10,500 to the leadership PAC of House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio), the panel’s then-chairman, and $12,500 to Rep. Buck McKeon (Calif.), the panel’s current ranking Republican.
Student Loan Xpress, based in Cunningham’s former San Diego district, has retained the Stanton Park Group for lobbying since 2005, according to Senate disclosure forms. Among the Stanton members on the contract is Erin Strawn, who spent five years as an education appropriations aide to Cunningham.
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