Over the last several months, multimillionaire CEO Allen Weh has been the beneficiary of thousands of dollars in illegal corporate campaign contributions – in the form of charter flights from his own company, CSI Aviation. Now those illegal contributions are the subject of a formal federal election law complaint.
Despite the fact that corporations are prohibited by law from donating to political campaigns, CSI Aviation has been providing charter plane service so its CEO Weh can crisscross New Mexico in style to campaign events. Yet Weh has never reported the flights on his Federal Election Commission reports, as required by law. The formal federal election law complaint is being filed today by the Udall campaign.
“While multimillionaire CEO Allen Weh is able to use his personal wealth as an unlimited source of money to fund his campaign, FEC laws are very clear that using corporate funds or resources from CSI Aviation is still illegal,” Campaign Manager Dan Sena said. “New Mexicans expect their lawmakers to respect and follow the law. But it seems Allen Weh thinks he’s different from regular New Mexico families.”
Publicly available flight records show that CSI Aviation bought a Beech (Raytheon) BE-200 Super King Air in April and registered the tail number as 505AW (Weh's initials). The plane has a decal on the nose that says "Becky" (Weh’s wife’s name) and is solely operated by Bear Aviation and Helicopter. Bear Aviation is a subsidiary of CSI and a registered commercial charter operator, meaning there is no way to legally treat it as Weh's personal plane.
The pattern began to emerge throughout spring and summer, as Weh tweeted photos of himself from cities where his airplane had just landed. According to flight logs and the rates charged by Cutter Aviation in Albuquerque to charter the same type of plane, CSI Aviation’s plane has provided well over $20,000 worth of air charter travel to Weh’s campaign for flights to and from cities where Weh has held campaign events.
On May 17, CSI Aviation’s Super King Air B-200 with the tail number N505AW took off from Albuquerque Sunport at 12:25 p.m. and landed in Las Cruces at 1:05 p.m. That afternoon, Weh was at a political event with Governor Susana Martinez, where Weh and his wife posed for a photo with the governor. The plane departed Las Cruces at 3:23 p.m. and returned to Albuquerque at 4:10 p.m. In other instances, Weh was observed boarding the plane for the return to Albuquerque at the end of the day.
Yet nowhere along the way have Weh’s campaign finance shown any payment for chartering the plane as required by the FEC.
Federal election law regarding in-kind donations requires campaigns to disclose exactly where money is spent on behalf of a campaign. Either Weh is flying illegally for free – or at the very least, he’s failing to document this illegal gift to his campaign from his own corporation.
“What is Allen Weh trying to cover up – is it that he's getting an illegal campaign contribution from his own corporation? Or the fact that he's flying all across the state on his own private corporate plane at discount rates while regular New Mexico families are working to put food on the table?” Sena said.
“New Mexicans might remember that Allen Weh aired an ad criticizing Diane Denish in 2010 for flying to parades and other events. He promised to get there in his truck,” Sena added.
In fact, Weh has a pattern of ignoring the law when it doesn’t suit him. Just this month, the FEC threatened Weh with legal consequences for accepting campaign donations in excess of the legal limits. A pending May 2 complaint filed by his primary opponent accuses Weh of using his corporate resources to campaign, accepting $15,000 from an individual in excess of the $2,600 limit, and failing to file and end-of-the-year finance report.
He even violated Department of Defense regulations by stealing U.S. Marine recruitment footage to use in his campaign commercials.
“These rules exist to promote disclosure and prevent abuses – like preventing candidates from getting illegal campaign contributions in the form of discounted airfare from their corporations,” Sena said. “Allen Weh is just way wrong for New Mexico.”
BACKGROUND DOCUMENTATION
ALLEN WEH IS USING A COMMERCIAL CHARTER AIRPLANE OWNED BY CSI AVIATION FOR CAMPAIGN EVENTS
CSI Aviation Bought A 2001 Super King Air B200 With Tail Number N505AW In April Of 2014.According to FAA records, a Raytheon Aircraft Company B200 (Super King Air) manufactured in 2001 with serial number BB-1755 was registered on April 4, 2014, under the tail number N1755, with a pending number change to N505AW. The registered owner is CSI Aviation Inc. in Albuquerque, NM. [FAA Aircraft Registration Database accessed 8/12/2014]
N505AW Is Operated By Bear Aviation & Helicopter, An LLC That Was Incorporated By CSI Aviation Less Than Two Months Before CSI’s Purchase Of N505AW. In images of the aircraft N505AW, a sticker visible next to the door on the port side reads “Operated By Bear Aviation.” According to records from the New Mexico Secretary of State, Bear Aviation And Helicopter LLC filed a certificate of organization on February 12, 2014. The registered agent is listed as CSI Aviation Inc. at 3700 Rio Grande Blvd NW, Albuquerque, NM 87107. [New Mexico Secretary Of State Corporation ID: 4865979; Photo of Allen Weh boarding N505AW from Cutter Aviation Albuquerque, 8/13/2014]
According To Publicly Available Flight Plan Records, N505AW Has Flown At Least 12 Hours On Flights That Matched Up With Allen Weh For Senate Campaign Events. The flight times listed for each flight only includes the time from takeoff to landing and does not include time spent taxiing or idling at the airport. This additional time should also be factored into a flight’s operating costs, however the only information that is available in the public record is the actual time in the air.
ALLEN WEH’S USE OF THIS CHARTER PLANE VIOLATES CAMPAIGN FINANCE LAWS
Allen Weh’s Campaign Must Pay The “Usual And Normal Charge” For Commercial Air Travel To Avoid Receipt Of An In-Kind Contribution. According to 11 CFR 100.93(a)(2) “campaign travelers who use commercial travel, such as a commercial airline flight, charter flight, taxi, or an automobile provided by a rental company, are governed by 11 CFR 100.52(a) and (d),” which requires campaigns to pay the usual and normal charge for goods and services. Any difference between the amount paid and the usual and normal charge constitutes an in-kind contribution. [11 CFR 100.52]
Allen Weh’s Campaign Has Not Made Any Disbursements To CSI Aviation Or Bear Aviation.According to Allen Weh’s last campaign finance reports, no payments have been made to CSI Aviation or any other provider for air charter services. [www.FEC.gov, Committee: Allen Weh For Senate]
FEC Regulations Prohibit Contributions From Corporations To Candidates. FEC regulations published under 11 CFR 114.2 explicitly prohibit corporations from making contributions to candidates for federal office. Although recent Supreme Court rulings have allowed corporations to use unlimited funds for independent expenditures, the court has turned down requests to consider lifting the ban on contributions directly to candidates. [11 CFR 114.2; Washington Post, 4/7/2014]