Crossing the Line?

Sources tell FTVLive that Baltimore City State’s Attorney candidate Thiru Vignarajah had gotten some very good face time of the air at Sinclair’s WBFF in Baltimore.

Word is that orders have come down from high in the ranks to make sure that Vignarajah is seen on the station.

Vignarajah appearances at the station didn’t seem to work as his bid for office was unsuccessful.

But, you might be interested as to where is campaign got hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The Baltimore Banner reports that records filed during the campaign showed the A Safer, Stronger Baltimore PAC spent $220,000 in support of Vignarajah’s second unsuccessful state’s attorney bid. But while the political action committee listed expenditures, it did not report receiving any money.

Now the PAC is disclosing that its funds came from and interestingly enough the money came from just 7 donors. The largest came from four Smith siblings — Blake, Devon, Jacqueline and Matt, who are grandchildren of the founder of Sinclair Broadcast Group and children of the current chairman, David Smith. Each gave $50,000 to the PAC, for a total of $200,000.

So, Sinclair’s Chairman David Smith and his kids were able to exceed individual contribution limits, which are set at $6,000 per candidate, per campaign cycle, by giving the money to a political action committee. The PAC then was able to give Vignarajah a boatload of cash.

Other members of the Smith family also maxed out as individual contributors to Vignarajah’s campaign. Alexander Smith, of the Atlas Restaurant Group, gave $6,000 in June; Jason and Duncan Smith, of Sinclair Broadcast Group, each gave $6,000.

The funny thing is, we don’t remember seeing anything about these large contributions on the WBFF newscasts.

Hmmmmm?