Wisconsin Democrats file Senate ethics complaint against Sen. Ron Johnson

The Democratic Party of Wisconsin filed a request Monday to investigate the legality of the campaign finances of U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis.

The request, filed with the U.S. Senate Ethics Committee, questions Johnson’s $10 million payment from the polyester and plastics manufacturer PACUR.

In the official Ethics Complaint, the Democratic Party of Wisconsin said that Johnson loaned his campaign committee approximately $9 million in the 2010 state Senate election. During the campaign, the committee repaid Johnson $300,000 of that loan. Following federal law, the committee could pay Johnson an additional $250,000 after the campaign ended. The Democratic Party alleges in their complaint that Johnson allowed his company, PACUR, to pay him $10 million to avoid the federal law restrictions prohibiting the committee from repaying his initial loan in full.

According to the complaint, “federal law bans a corporation from making a ‘contribution’ to a candidate for federal office.” Federal law also forbids any person to knowingly accept a contribution. In this case, a contribution is a payment that would not have been made if the recipient was not running for office.

Files provided as Exhibit A for the Democratic Party’s complaint show Johnson’s finances for 2010. Listed on those records is a roughly $10 million compensation payout, otherwise known as a golden parachute, from PACUR to Johnson when he left the company.

In a statement released today, the Democratic Party of Wisconsin said Johnson “refuses to make it public and failed to disclose it on his financial disclosure forms.” The Democratic Party also said that there is no evidence showing PACUR had a compensation payout policy in place before Johnson received the $10 million. In an article from The Hill, a spokesperson for Johnson's campaign said Johnson "followed the law and disclosed his back pay five years ago."

According to The Hill article, Johnson has repeatedly defended the payment, claiming it was deferred compensation since he didn't take a salary while running PACUR.

This complaint comes at a crucial time in the Wisconsin Senate race between Johnson and Democratic challenger Russ Feingold, as the Nov. 8 election approaches.