LINCOLN — A second complaint will be lodged over campaign contributions from a Canadian pipeline company to Gov. Dave Heineman and Attorney General Jon Bruning.
A Lincoln-based environmental group, BOLD Nebraska, announced Wednesday it would file a complaint with the Federal Election Commission about the $2,500 donations given by TransCanada Inc. The company is seeking U.S. approval to build a second crude-oil pipeline across Nebraska.
Jane Kleeb of BOLD Nebraska, which opposes the pipeline, questioned comments by Heineman and Bruning campaign officials that they were unaware of the 40-year-old laws that ban contributions from foreign nationals.
Kleeb said she also was concerned about how the contributions were listed in campaign reports.
Heineman’s campaign statement, for instance, gave a Calgary, Alberta, street address for TransCanada but listed the city as Omaha, where the company established a U.S. headquarters this summer.
A Heineman campaign spokesman said a software program mistakenly entered Omaha as the city.
Officials from both campaigns said last week that they had returned the contributions after being informed that the donations violated federal law.
The Nebraska Sierra Club asked the U.S. Attorney’s Office last week to investigate. That office said the FEC was the proper place to file such complaints.
A TransCanada spokesman said the company didn’t think the gifts needed to be returned since the company has an Omaha office.
Contact the writer:
402-473-9584, paul.hammel@owh.com
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