Spano, who was running for state attorney general before he launched his bid for Congress, argued last month that he’d misunderstood this law. Spano also insisted his congressional campaign had disclosed the loan “before it became public knowledge” in the financial disclosure forms all federal candidates are obligated to file.

That, however, is flat out false: As the Tampa Bay Times’ Steve Contorno explained, Spano has failed to file those disclosures by the July 2018 deadline, only submitting them just before Election Day—after the paper had asked about them. Only once those reports were public did the paper learn that the money for Spano’s questionable loans came from his friends.

Florida’s 15th District, which includes Lakeland and the exurbs of Tampa and Orlando, went from 52-47 Romney to 53-43 Trump. Spano, though, won the seat by a modest 53-47 before his scandal came out, and the GOP could have trouble again especially if Spano wins after a bruising primary.

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