We knew Mark Schauer was a racist.  We knew he was a liar.  He's been padding his resume with those facts for the last year.  But low and behold, turns out he's a lawbreaker too.

When Mark Schauer announced his candidacy for Congress in Michigan's 7th District earlier this year it became awfully plain to see that honesty wasn't the State Senator's strong suit.  After all, he'd told the caucus and his constituents only a year earlier that if they sent him to the State Senate in Lansing he would serve his full four years and wouldn't run for higher office.

When Mark Schauer's Chief of Staff, Ken Brock, began traveling the 7th District a few months ago, telling anyone who would listen about how Schauer's primary opponent could never win because he was Jewish, Schauer proved that his personal ethics were far from the mainstream.  He stood by Brock, defending his "odious" anti-Semitic comments, making them his own.

No one likes a liar.  And even fewer people like a racist.  But that's Mark Schauer.  The worst part up until now was the fact that he wasn't even ashamed of himself.  Toss in the candidate's leadership in pushing the Democrats' $2.3 BILLION job killing tax hike through the legislature and his adamant opposition to the right to life and support of partial-birth-abortion on demand and you get a sense of Mark Schauer's personal convictions.  But none of that is illegal.  

Could Mark Schauer really be a criminal?  Only if you consider breaking the law criminal.  And when Mark Schauer breaks the law he does it in spades.

According to Schauer's hometown paper, the Battle Creek Enquirer:

Schauer chaired the Senate Democratic Campaign Committee and oversaw the Senate Democratic Fund, for which his bombastic chief of staff, Ken Brock, took over as treasurer.

The fund raked in $440,000 above the legal limit of $20,000 per person - which the Dems don't deny. Twelve senatorial candidate committees did, with Schauer's as the worst offender at $187,000.

The moolah was instantly pumped into the campaigns of four key candidates, three of whom were trounced anyway.

For state races, this is a staggering chunk of change. The grievance is pretty cut and dried (some might call it money laundering). When seven candidates got wind of the GOP's secretary of state complaint, they ostensibly demanded a refund. Marky-Mark did not.

Here's how it worked.  Schauer decided to go ahead and raise a bunch of illegal campaign cash.  He received illegal money from Democrats including Carl Williams, Alexander Lipsey, Bob Schockman, Gretchen Whitmer, Mickey Switalski, Buzz Thomas, Liz Brater, Mike Prusi, Gilda Jacobs, Glenn Anderson and Mark Slavens and then pitched in $187,000 himself.  Mind you, the limit is $20,000.  

Once the Democrats realized they'd been discovered each of the folks who currently serve in the legislature went ahead and asked for refunds.  Essentially they said "oops, our mistake, don't punish us for it!"  Prusi, Whitmer, Switalski, Brater, Thomas, Slavens and Jacobs all took their illegal cash back, essentially admitting they'd been caught with their hands in the cookie jar and trying to make things right (well after the fact).

But no such change of heart from Mark Schauer.  When he breaks the law he stands by his criminal activity!  And he stands by his man, too.  Ken Brock, the anti-Semite who's racist comments drew the ire of everyone in Michigan except Mark Schauer, was the Senator's treasurer on this particular money laundering operation and signed all of the papers.  

And there's no backing down from either of them.  They continue to site an example from 1995 to explain why they were allowed to raise the illegal cash.  Of course they conveniently overlook the fact that in 1996 the law was changed.  

Put that one in different terms... it'd be like having a school district in 2007 segregate black and white students, citing the long over-turned Plessy v Ferguson ("separate but equal").  Hey, it was a law once!  Although that may not be the best example since Schauer's tolerance of racism runs pretty deep these days...

Now MIRS says that "on the scale of state campaign finance complaints, it's a biggie."  But it's just a campaign finance violation, right?  That's hardly criminal, is it?  Yes.  It is.  And it carries with it some serious jail time.  Each violation of this particular statute brings along a penalty of as much as 90 days in jail and / or serious monetary fines.  Schauer is currently being investigated by the Bureau of Elections for twenty-two (22) violations.  

So what happens now?

The Secretary of State has the complaint and is gathering information.  Attorney General Mike Cox said during his appearance on "Off the Record" last Friday that he was just learning of the violations and would pursue the case if the SoS asked him to.  And she may.  The facts are pretty black and white.  An official decision is expected sometime in January at the latest.  

Twenty-two serious campaign finance violations.  Money laundering.  His fellow Democrats abandoning him.  Mark Schauer's criminal career is just getting warmed up... maybe it's all an effort to fit right in with the rest of the Democrats in Congress.  Assuming the Democrats in the 7th District continue to stand by a racist liar who's willing to throw away the law when it suits his purposes.