First…DON’T SHOOT THE MESSENGER!!! This is the last thing I want to be writing about right now, but CQ reported it, it’s Hampton Roads, we’re known as a conservative blog, so it’s kinda something we have to mention.
Apparently 2nd District Congressional Candidate Ben Loyola’s self-funding of a half-million bucks a few weeks back (that we all sort of collectively went “huh?” on) is already under greater scrutiny.
CQ reports that some ethics groups are all over Loyola for what they call a questionable sale of a portion of his business to a Swedish investor.
Watchdog organizations say the sale of a division of Ben Loyola’s business, Loyola Enterprises, to a Swedish company could lead to questions about whether it represents an illegal campaign contribution. Loyola also must explain why the division sold for far more than he had estimated the value of his business, they said.
Loyola’s campaign said competition drove up the sale price and no violations occurred.
The groups said the case deserves, at least, an investigation.
Do we really need this right now?
Loyola Campaign response
This is nothing more than a pointless attack from liberal special interest front groups pushing their own agenda, pathetically intended to taint Ben and push him out of the way for a weak Republican candidate in the 2nd. Loyola is the GOP’s best chance to defeat Nye in the 2nd and the liberals know that, hence their made-up attacks on him and his business.Public Citizen is widely known for promoting Obamacare and CREW has a long history of specifically attacking Republicans. There is absolutely no merit to their politically motivated claims.
According to University of Wisconsin Business Professor Terrance Maxwell, “Values can change dramatically over time based on a lot of factors; just look at the stock market in the last year,” Maxwell said. “And in the [case] of a privately held company, no one can be sure what the value really is until the company is actually sold.” (Source of quote: http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/65081-rep-nye-challengers-sale-catches-ethics-groups-ire)
