Rich Democrats surge past GOP donors in political giving.
Wertheimer's Political Money Report
August 31, 2016
A NOTE FROM FRED
 
The relationship between Hillary Clinton and the Clinton Foundation became an issue when Hillary Clinton became secretary of state in 2009 and it has remained an issue ever since. Yesterday, The New York Times ran an editorial that said the Foundation should ban contributions from foreign and corporate entities now and concluded that, “If Mrs. Clinton wins, Bill and Chelsea Clinton should both end their operational involvement in the foundation and its affiliates for the duration of her presidency, relinquishing any control over spending, hiring and board appointments.” Democracy 21 strongly agrees. In a 2015 Washington Post article, I said that the Clinton Foundation “should cease accepting money from all foreign entities, including governments, individuals and corporations.” In a 2015 Vanity Fair article, I said, “If Hillary Clinton is elected president, all three Clintons should cut their ties with the foundation for as long as she’s president.” If Clinton is elected, the involvement of any of the Clintons in the Foundation, at a minimum, will create appearance problems and permanent public suspicions that Foundation donors are receiving favorable government treatment in return. The Clintons should announce now that Chelsea and Bill Clinton will cut all ties to the Foundation if Clinton is elected president.
"Rich Democrats surge past GOP donors in political giving." USA TODAY says that many wealthy Republicans have refused to give to Trump and instead have invested in down ballot races. Wealthy Democrats meanwhile have been giving record amounts, inspired by the possibility of a Clinton win and Democratic Senate takeover. Since April, big donor Democrats have donated $134 million to super PACs, compared to $51 million from top Republican donors. Read more

Democracy 21 op-ed describes efforts by House Freedom Caucus to push for impeachment of IRS Commissioner. Fred says that this effort is "A misuse of the impeachment process. The resolution alleges a meritless case for impeaching Commissioner Koskinen that is not supported by the facts and that has no constitutional or legal basis." The piece calls on House members to "exercise their constitutional impeachment power responsibly by voting to defeat any resolution to impeach Commissioner Koskinen." Read more

Trump's unorthodox campaign spending. The Wall St Journal found that half of the Trump campaign’s 10 highest-paid consultants had never previously worked for a presidential campaign. As well, "Trump’s spending has drawn note for the level of funds—$15 million, or about 17% of the roughly $90 million spent through July—paid to companies linked to himself or his children, or to reimburse their travel expenses." Read more

DSCC delays ad spending in Ohio for Democratic Senate candidate Ted Strickland. "The delay in unleashing ads from the committee’s more substantial independent expenditure arm comes amid rising doubts about Strickland’s viability against Portman," said the Washington Post. Read more

Bernie Sanders is returning to the campaign trail to fundraise for his Senate colleagues. Sanders sent emails to his supporters asking them to give money to support Democratic Senate candidates in PA, NH, OH and NV. In June, he attended events for House candidates, but is now focused on his email list and his new group, Our Revolution, said the Washington Post. Read more

 

2016 FACT OF THE DAY

Hillary Clinton has headlined 31 fundraising events so far in August that have raised over $58 million, according to CNN. Read more

IN THE STATES
NY: A de Blasio appointee to NYC's Water Board quit his job in May rather then have to step down as a sponsor of a fundraiser for de Blasio's re-election after he was told he violated conflict-of-interest rules. Read more

MD: The state's "normally underdog" Republican Party has raised almost as much as the state Democrats this year thanks to strong fundraising from Gov. Larry Hogan, "setting up what experts predict could be an unusually competitive 2018 election cycle." Read more

NV: The Koch brothers have at least four different groups working to defeat Catherine Cortez Masto. The Kochs "do not disguise the fact that they would sorely like to knock off Mr. Reid’s chosen successor to exact a bit of revenge and to help Republicans hold the Senate," said the New York Times. Read more


By: Fred Wertheimer (@FredWertheimer) & Kathryn Beard (@KathrynBeard)
 
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