Political fundraising is moving online and tech companies are profiting.
Wertheimer's Political Money Report
July 25, 2016
A NOTE FROM FRED
 
Last Friday, Democracy 21 and the Campaign Legal Center wrote to the Justice Department calling for an investigation into whether Donald Trump’s campaign committee has engaged in knowing and willful violations of campaign finance laws by soliciting foreign contributions. Such solicitations are prohibited by campaign finance law. A couple of weeks earlier, our groups filed an FEC complaint regarding the solicitations. Subsequent published reports documented that the campaign continued to send emails asking for contributions from foreign nationals, even after the campaign was made aware that it was illegal. This made the violations potential knowing and willful violations of the law and subject to the Justice Department’s criminal jurisdiction. It is impossible to understand why the Trump campaign continued to solicit foreign contributions in the face of a clear case that such solicitations are illegal. We brought this matter to the Justice Department with the hope that they will start to fill the enforcement vacuum created by the FEC’s failure to properly enforce the campaign laws.
Kaine provides "fundraising power" to Clinton campaign. Kaine has raised $60 million since his campaign for Virginia lieutenant governor in 2000 and has connections to a vast network of donors and corporations from Verizon to Anheuser-Busch, says Bloomberg. For his 2012 Senate campaign, Kaine raised 17% of his $18 million fundraising haul from small donors. Read more

Leaked DNC emails reveal fundraising efforts. "The DNC emails show how the party has tried to leverage its greatest weapon - the president - as it entices wealthy backers," says the Washington Post. The top package for donors at the convention this week required each donor to raise $1.25 million or have donated $467,500 since January 2015. In turn, the donor gets access to a VIP hotel and access to exclusive campaign briefings. Read more

"Wall Street is taking the Acela down to Philadelphia this week," says POLITICO. Many large hedge funds and investment firms from Goldman Sachs to Blackstone are sending top executives to the convention. Wall Street lobbyists were "anxious" over the inclusion of bank regulation into the Republican Party's platform, but many have shown support for Clinton's campaign. The investment industry is one of the top industries supporting Clinton, donating $40 million so far. Read more

"Presidential election will shape Supreme Court, and national policies, for years to come," says the Wall St Journal. A win by Hillary Clinton and a Democratic appointment to the Court could "doom the 2010 Citizens United decision. "A Clinton appointee almost certainly would join liberal justices" who have signaled their displeasure at the ruling. Meanwhile, Trump has indicated that he would appoint a justice who is skeptical of campaign finance restrictions. Read more

Top GOP donor slams Ted Cruz. Megadonor Robert Mercer said he is "profoundly disappointed that on Wednesday night [Cruz] chose to disregard this pledge." Mercer donated $13 million to a pro-Cruz super PAC to support Cruz's failed presidential run. Mercer is now funding an anti-Clinton PAC. Read more

Trump said he plans to fund super PACs to attack Cruz and Kasich. Trump told Bloomberg last week that he plans to create and fund the PACs about six months before the respective re-election days of Senator Cruz and Governor Kasich. If Trump loses in November, he is free to set up and fund the super PACs, according to FEC rules. Read more

Political fundraising is moving online and tech companies are profiting. Media experts think political campaigns will spend $1 billion on digital ads during the 2016 presidential election. Most of that money will be spent on digital display ads on Google and Facebook. Digital ad spending has grown nearly six-fold since 2012, says Fortune Magazine. However, traditional TV ads will still make up 60% of ad spending this cycle. Read more

"Pro-Trump super PACs leave Cleveland with fatter wallets." The Rebuilding America Now PAC received a $3 million donation from Home Depot co-founder Bernie Marcus during the convention, says Salon. This is on top of the $2 million the group had already received from real estate developer Geoffrey Palmer. The other major pro-Trump PAC, Great American PAC, courted major donors like Harold Hamm and Foster Friess at the convention. Read more
2016 FACT OF THE DAY

Just three out of the 68 RNC primetime speakers (excluding Trump) at last week's Republican Convention have donated to Donald Trump's campaign, joint fundraising committees or major super PACs as of the end of June. Read more 

IN THE STATES
GA: Outside groups have spent over $2 million in the GOP runoff for the 3rd District congressional seat being vacated by Lynn Westmoreland. Read more

MO: The leadership PAC of Sen. Roy Blunt spends most of its money on the salary of one staffer. So far in 2016, Keri Ann Hayes, the PAC's executive director, has received $160,000, nearly 70% of the PAC's spending. Read more

TX: In a decision, a U.S. District judge upheld Austin's $350 campaign contribution limits, but overturned the six-months-out limit on fundraising. Read more

TX: Allies of Bernie Sanders are launching a group called Revolution Texas to try to influence Democratic politics in Texas beyond 2016. The group is raising donations for $27, the amount Sanders said was the average size of his campaign contributions. Read more


By: Fred Wertheimer (@FredWertheimer) & Kathryn Beard (@KathrynBeard)
 
Subscribe
Twitter
Facebook
Archives
Copyright © 2016 Political Money Report, All rights reserved.


A Democracy 21 Project