Today’s winner of SuperPAC Fun is a PAC called Save America From Its Government. If you suspect it’s not a Democratic PAC, you have a pretty good shot at being right.
Datwyler
The PAC was set up by Thomas Datwyler, and gives a Plano, Texas (think Dallas suburb) post office box. Datwyler works for a political consulting firm that is so white that they don’t even have to buy light bulbs. Datwyler used to be the comptroller for Marco Rubio’s campaign, and he runs several other GOP PACs because SuperPACs mean Super Duper Money. As far as we know, Datwyler has no connection to Plano, Texas.
In four days, the Save America From Its Government PAC spent $1 million on pro-Trump advertising.
Now all this is perfectly legal. Everything is on the up and up.
But it gets real cute.
Beal
Enter Andy Beal. Andy Beal is an oilman who is often called, “The Richest Man in Dallas”. He was named to Trump’s economic advisory team after he gave Trump $100,000. Andy Beal describes himself as a poker player and a banker.
The Beal Bank has a branch in Las Vegas, but is headquartered in, you guessed it! – Plano, Texas. The Beal Bank is where Save America From It’s Government deposits all their money. So, Mr. Beal the billionaire is making money off of Donald Trump. Best part – it was meant to be a stealth PAC.
Thanks to my big time investigative journalism skills, I have discovered that it’s an 18 minute drive from the Save America From Its Government private mailbox in Plano to The Beal Bank in Plano.
That’s handy, ain’t it?
Bottom line: If Andy Beal hadn’t used his own bank for the PAC’s campaign depository no one would be able to find out that he was behind it until the Super PAC files it’s first FEC report on October 15th – three weeks before the election.
And what can we learn from this? Just because his breath smells like bananas don’t mean he’s Tarzan. Sometimes he’s just bananas.