Press Release: Burgess Owens accepted illegal contributions

PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 27, 2020

Salt Lake City, UT – Today, the New York Times broke the story that Republican candidate for Utah’s 4th Congressional District, Burgess Owens, has accepted at least $130,000 in illegal campaign contributions. These donations were over the legal limit for Congressional donations and have not yet been returned or reattributed, as is required by federal election law. When questioned, his campaign punted the issue to the FEC, but failed to mention that the FEC is unable to meet or make decisions on illegal campaign contributions due to a lack of quorum as a result of Congressional inaction. 

This is the second time a Republican candidate for Utah’s 4th Congressional District has been accused of illegally raising campaign funds. In 2018, Alliance for a Better Utah filed a complaint with the FEC against then-Representative Mia Love following news that her campaign had illegally raised over $1M. 

Chase Thomas, executive director for Alliance for a Better Utah, issued the following statement: 

“Once again, Burgess Owens has shown why he is unfit to represent Utahns living in the fourth Congressional district. He still hasn’t adequately answered questions of alleged plagiarism or his relationship to Q-Anon. Now, we find out Owens has followed the example of his GOP predecessor, refusing to play by the rules and holding on to a substantial amount of illegal campaign contributions with only a week until the election. 

“If voters can’t trust a candidate to honestly follow laws and regulations during their campaign, there is no reason to believe that voters can trust that person once in office. Owens has repeatedly undermined that public trust and it’s only unfortunate that these new revelations are coming out after thousands of votes have already been cast in the district.”

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Alliance for a Better Utah is a nonprofit that holds politicians accountable and advocates for progressive policies that make Utah an even better place. The organization improves the lives of all Utahns through advocacy, transparency, and accountability in Utah politics, policy, and government. More information at www.betterutah.org.

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