Local Dark Money - Flipbook - Page 71
donation was “a mechanism to get money to
the GOP”.
What Hyde described are clear violations of
election law. Candidates may not donate to or
coordinate with PACs. Candidates may not
identify themselves by party in a non-partisan
race. The violation(s) were reported in a
complaint to the Florida Election Commission.
The FEC found probable cause of election law
violations. Hyde gave $4,000 to the Making a
Better Tomorrow political action committee on
Feb. 13, 2017. That same day the Legal Reform
Now Committee gave $4,000 to the Republican
Party of Sarasota County. Eric Robinson is the
registered agent, chair and treasurer for both
political committees.
The consent orders by the FEC to settle the
complaints against the Sarasota GOP and
Martin Hyde were approved on August 12,
2019.
