From Utah, With Love

Last week, I mentioned an odd transaction reported in the 2013 filing submitted by the Minnesota Democrat Party (officially, the Minnesota DFL State Central Committee) to the Campaign Finance Board.

On March 15, 2013 (the Ides of March), Minnesota Democrats contributed $27,500 to the Utah State Democratic Committee.

According to records on file at the Federal Election Commission (FEC), exactly one week later (March 22^nd), Utah’s Democrats transferred $25,000 from their federal campaign account to the federal campaign account of the Minnesota Democrat party.

So we have $27,500 going west, only to return east a week later, less the standard 10 percent transaction fee.  In the end, the only thing accomplished was a shift from Minnesota’s state account to its federal account.

What is so odd is that Minnesota’s Democrats transfer money from their state to federal accounts all the time, on their own.  Almost $790,000 flowed in that direction last year, sometimes in chunks larger than $27,500.

I can see no economic purpose for the transaction, which, for all the world appears to meet the classic definition of money laundering.  But whose money?  And why?