Republicans push Fresno-area Democrats to return TJ Cox campaign donations after indictment
Fresno-area Republicans have seized on the indictment last week of ex-U.S. Rep. TJ Cox to pressure Democrats to return or donate campaign contributions ahead of the November mid-term election.
Elected officials and Democratic candidates who once considered Cox an ally quickly distanced themselves from him and returned his donations.
Cox, 59, spent most of Aug. 16 in custody at Fresno County Jail and pleaded not guilty in court to 28 federal charges, including wire fraud, money laundering, financial institution fraud, and campaign contribution fraud. Upon his release, Cox blamed the charges on politics and promised to vigorously defend himself in court.
In addition to the indictment, questions remain about Cox’s political donations through two political action committees, one of which was repurposed from his congressional campaign.
The PACS are not part of the indictment against Cox.
Democrats return or donate Cox money
One day after Cox’s arrest, campaign staffers for former Merced County Sheriff Mark Pazin apologized for falsely claiming Fresno City Councilmember Esmeralda Soria accepted a personal donation from Cox. Pazin and Soria are competing for the new state Assembly District 27 on the November ballot.
Soria’s campaign hit back at Pazin’s campaign, suggesting incompetence or “malicious intent.”
Since then, Pazin’s campaign raised more questions about donations from Cox’s PACs.
Cox’s Rising Electorate PAC reported to the Federal Elections Commission that it donated to Soria’s assembly campaign in February, but Soria’s campaign had no record of receiving the donation.
In a text message to The Bee, Cox explained: “I think the situation was a check was sent, but the PAC hadn’t yet been registered by the state so they returned it. So, no the Soria campaign hasn’t accepted a contribution from us.”
Soria’s campaign disclosed returning a $4,900 donation from Cox’s Voter PAC in April. However, Voter PAC did not disclose the returned contribution, leaving questions about what happened to the money.
“Last week Soria denied that her campaign received money from indicted former Congressman TJ Cox. Now Esmeralda Soria admits that she did take money from Cox’s affiliated political action committee, and returned the money later,” said Jordan Dennison, Pazin’s campaign manager. “Given the ongoing accusations of corruption against Soria, none of this is surprising.”
Soria’s campaign did not respond to the latest criticism from the Pazin camp.
Soria isn’t the only Democratic candidate to face criticism over campaign donations from Cox.
In Cox’s former 22nd Congressional District, Democrat Rudy Salas quickly distanced himself from Cox, who endorsed him. Salas is running against Rep. David Valadao, R-Hanford, who Cox defeated in 2018 and then lost to in a 2020 rematch.
“TJ Cox has disgraced himself,” Salas said in a statement the same day Cox was indicted.
Salas’ campaign manager said when the news of Cox’s indictment broke, the campaign immediately initiated the return of the donation, but it won’t show up on campaign disclosures until October.
The Republican National Congressional Committee said Salas shouldn’t have accepted the donation in the first place.
“TJ Cox’s criminal behavior was reported on for years and Rudy Salas still accepted his endorsement, support and money,” said Torunn Sinclair, a spokesperson for the RNCC. “Salas is a typical politician who will do whatever it takes to get elected– even befriend corrupt TJ Cox.”
Another candidate quietly returned a Cox donation without any public discourse.
Assemblymember Adam Gray, D-Merced, is running for the 13th Congressional District. He received a $1,000 donation from Cox’s Rising Electorate PAC.
A consultant for Gray’s campaign told The Bee that Gray donated the money to the Yes on Prop 1 campaign, a California ballot initiative to protect abortion access.
Gray didn’t receive any pressure to make the donation. Rather, he “just felt it was the right thing to do,” the consultant said.
PACs pay legal fees
Cox’s Rising Electorate and Voter PACs disclosed spending thousands on legal services to a number of firms.
Most notably, the Rising Electorate PAC gave $25,000 to the Law Offices of Nuttal & Coleman between December 2021 and February 2022.
Mark Coleman is representing Cox in his fight against the federal charges and appeared in federal court with Cox last week. Roger Nuttal is another high profile defense attorney in Fresno. The two attorneys previously worked under one law firm.
The two PACs also gave thousands to other law firms based in Long Beach and Silicon Valley that deal with government, politics and corporations accused of crimes.
The next step in the case is a status conference in October.
If convicted, Cox could face a maximum of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for wire fraud and money laundering; up to 30 years and a $1 million fine for wire fraud against a financial institution; and a maximum of five years and a $250,000 fine for campaign contribution fraud.
This story was originally published August 26, 2022 at 6:48 AM.