Daily Caller: GOP chair Michael Steele shuffled contributions to inflate his fund-raising prowess

The Republican National Committee at the end of last year struck a deal with the Michigan Republican Party that if the state party could raise what turned out to be a half a million dollars for the RNC from its donors, the committee would immediately give the money back, in a scheme apparently devised to increase the RNC’s 2009 fundraising numbers.

“It was a known secret that a deal had been struck on the topic,” a former RNC official confirmed to The Daily Caller.

“I think the benefit to them was them getting guaranteed money,” the source said of the Michigan GOP, “and the benefit to the RNC was getting higher fundraising numbers.”

RNC spokesman Doug Heye, contacted by a reporter Tuesday afternoon, did not comment.

The allegations appear to be backed up by FEC reports: Fifteen donors from Michigan maxed out their donations to the committee on a single day —Dec. 31 — the last day of 2009 — giving $456,000 to the committee. Over the next two months, $500,000 was disbursed back from the RNC’s coffers to those of the Michigan Republican Party, with $250,000 given in January and another $250,000 disbursed in February.

Chairman Michael Steele has boasted bringing in over $90 million dollars since his term as chairman began in 2009. Michigan state law allows individuals to donate an unlimited amount to political parties, though contributors who give to the party are subjected to federal campaign laws that restrict spending on federal races to $10,000 per year, per individual.

Asked the motivation for the individual contributors to donate to the Michigan Party through the RNC, the official said by doing so, “they would be able to give more money to the Michigan state party than the federal limit of 10k.” Calls by The Daily Caller to the individual contributors were either not returned, or the donor refused to comment.