NEW: Ernst Still Relying on Top Finance Consultant At the Center of Dark Money Scandal for Upcoming Fundraiser

As Her Lead “Evaporates” and Ethics Problems Grow, Senator Ernst Still Using Longtime Fundraiser Involved in AP Investigation That Found Evidence of Illegal Coordination

Even after an Associated Press investigation found damning evidence of illegal coordination between Senator Joni Ernst and a dark money group set up by her top aides, the vulnerable and scandal-plagued incumbent is still relying on the same Washington fundraising consultant at the center of the controversial arrangement. This comes as new polling shows Ernst’s approval falling and her lead evaporating against Democratic challenger Theresa Greenfield.

POLITICO obtained an invite to an upcoming in-person fundraiser on June 3 being organized by Senator Ernst’s shady fundraiser — the one who works for the Senator’s campaign, her Leadership PAC, and her personal dark money group.

Through internal emails and a private strategy memo, the AP found that Ernst’s longtime fundraiser Claire Holloway Avella was caught requesting “an investment of $50,000” — far above legal limits — from a wealthy GOP donor after Ernst made an introduction for the shady pro-Ernst political nonprofit that hides its donors. Tax laws and campaign finance rules prevent a Senator’s agent from establishing dark money groups on their behalf, or making political campaigning their primary purpose.

This blatantly self-serving political corruption is part of a growing pattern of troubling conduct from Senator Ernst:

• The Daily Beast detailed last month how Ernst’s campaign had “avoided reporting the names of the campaign staffers on her payroll, how many of those staffers there are, and the extent of payments they’ve received” for months in another scheme violating basic campaign finance laws.

• A report from Iowa Starting Line found last year that Ernst’s 2014 campaign for Senate was forced to pay “the largest civil penalty ever levied by the Federal Election Commission against an Iowa politician” for “knowingly accepting excessive and prohibited contributions.”

Learn more about Ernst’s dark money scandal that won’t go away:

• Associated Press: ‘Dark money’ ties raise questions for GOP Sen. Ernst of Iowa
• Associated Press: Group backing Iowa’s Ernst hit with complaint after AP story
• Open Secrets: Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst denounced ‘dark money’ as her campaign privately embraced it
• Iowa Starting Line: Swift Condemnation After Report On Joni Ernst’s ‘Dark Money’ Ties
• KGAN: Senator Ernst “under the microscope” for dark money ties

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