Teena Hostovich at a Hollywood, California, event in 2015. (Getty Images)
"According to her plea agreement, from May 2020 through 2023, Hostovich knowingly and willfully made a total of $75,700 in contributions to federal candidates’ principal campaign committees and federal joint fundraising committees in the names of other people," the DOJ said in a press release. "For the calendar years 2021 through 2023, Hostovich’s conduit contributions aggregated to more than $10,000 during each of those years."
Hostovich agreed in a court filing Wednesday to plead guilty to the federal criminal charge and pay a $43,500 fine.
Her scheme included contacting co-workers, their family members and other people "who performed personal services for Hostovich and her family" to ask them to make a donation to a political campaign or fundraising committee, according to the press release. She would then use PayPal to reimburse the individual for the contribution or pay them up front before the contribution was made, the Justice Department explained.
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"To execute these conduit contributions, Hostovich sometimes explicitly stated that she would advance the money for the contribution or pay the person back for that contribution," the press release outlined. "Other times, the person had an implicit understanding that Hostovich would advance the money or reimburse them based on her history of advancements and reimbursements of political contributions. Hostovich generally advanced or reimbursed these individuals in amounts that exceeded the exact contribution amount but often the amounts were very close to the contribution amount."
A spokesperson said that Teena Hostovich's "mistakes are out of character," arguing that her "career, accomplishments, and numerous charitable deeds reflect a lifetime of hard work and generosity." (iStock)
The DOJ did not identify in its press release which political party Hostovich favored, though Federal Election Commission (FEC) records reviewed by Fox News show Hostovich made hundreds of donations across the years to Democrat politicians, the Democratic Party and left-wing political action committees.
Hostovich has nearly 1,000 entries on the FEC's database regarding donations she made under her own name stretching back to 2008 through the 2024 election cycle.
The FEC data shows she donated to campaigns and groups such as the Obama Victory Fund, Democratic Party of Virginia, Pasadena, California, area United Democratic Headquarters and Chris Coons for Delaware during the 2008–2012 period.
More recent data from the 2024 election cycle shows she donated to groups such as the North Carolina Democratic Party – Federal, the Wyoming Democratic State Central Committee, the Pennsylvania Democratic Party and the Democratic State Committee (Delaware). Searching for donations made to groups or campaigns containing the name "Republican" or "GOP" yielded zero results, Fox News Digital found.
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The FBI carried out an investigation into Hostovich before she was charged and reached a plea agreement, the DOJ said. The DOJ told Fox Digital on Tuesday that Hostovich is scheduled to appear in court on June 13 in Los Angeles.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/doj-reaches-plea-deal-dem-donor-who-sought-bribe-her-way-kennedy-center-seat