U.S. Authorities Unlikely to Stop 2016 Election Fundraising Free-For-All

White House hopefuls raking in record amounts of money in the 2016 U.S. presidential race are already being accused by watchdog groups of breaking campaign fundraising laws.

But the U.S. Department of Justice is unlikely to prosecute possible violations and halt the funding free-for-all, say current and former department officials.

With deadlock in the campaign finance regulator, the Federal Election Commission, watchdog groups are calling on the Justice Department to investigate contenders such as Republican Jeb Bush, who they say has conducted a charade of "non candidacy" to skirt federal election fundraising laws. Bush's campaign said on Thursday he would announce his White House bid on June 15.