The controversy-plagued super PAC Progress Kentucky is no more.
The Federal Election Commission has posted the termination letter acknowledging that Progress Kentucky founder and treasurer Shawn Reilly sought to close the PAC.
The PAC was founded in December 2012 with the goal of unseating Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. In February, the organization came under fire for tweets that discussed the ethnicity of McConnell's wife, Elaine Chao. Shortly afterward, Democratic donors began backing away from the organization. Reports filed with the FEC show Progress Kentucky raised about $17,000 in its lifetime, most of it before the controversy over the tweets.
A few months later, a volunteer with the PAC, Curtis Morrison, secretly recorded a McConnell campaign strategy session with Reilly present. (Morrison says the recording was not a Progress Kentucky action, and he was not acting in his capacity as a volunteer.)
On the day WFPL broke the story that Morrison was involved in the recording, Reilly was paid $3,000 by the PAC for "consulting services." He had been paid $700 for the same service weeks prior.
Since the incident, Progress Kentucky and its volunteers remained quiet on matters of politics. The PAC is required to keep its records for three years after the termination.
Copyright 2013 89.3 WFPL News Louisville
