FEC fines Hillary Clinton campaign and DNC over Trump-Russia dossier research

[DashOneBravo]

Source: CNN

Washington(CNN) Federal election regulators fined Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign and the Democratic National Committee earlier this month for not properly disclosing the money they spent on controversial opposition research that led to the infamous Trump-Russia dossier.

The DNC was fined $105,000 and the Clinton campaign was fined $8,000, according to a letter sent by the Federal Election Commission to a conservative group that requested an inquiry.

Read more: https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2022/03/30/politics/clinton-dnc-steele-dossier-fusion-gps/index.html

[ColinC]

1. ...wut

[JohnnyRingo]

2. They just wrote Tucker's script for the week.

"He's just askin"

Avoid Dick Morris at all costs.

[ificandream]

38. Yup.

[bluestarone]

3. How about the lying fucking RETHUGLICONS??

Something really fucking wrong with this!

[Mr. Ected]

4. Now that we have the petty infractions out of the way, how about looking at

the SHIT WE'VE ALL BEEN WITNESSING SINCE 2016 AND LOWER THE BOOM ON EVERY SINGLE CRIMINAL CONSPIRATOR IN THE REPUBLICAN PARTY?

Begging for a friend.

[LymphocyteLover]

5. such bullshit

the FEC is a joke

[chowder66]

6. They screwed up and have to pay a fine. I'm okay with that as long as they look at TFG

and other Republican's campaign disclosures.

[Patterson]

7. I don't think they've ever done anything to Trump.

[gab13by13]

8. I would fucking challenge it, appeal it.

[FBaggins]

20. You couldn't... because the OP title is misleading

The FEC didn't "fine Hillary" or the DNC based on some finding of guilt. Hillary and the DNC both settled the matter to avoid further actions/expenses.

The wording was "Solely for the purpose of settling this matter expeditiously and to avoid further legal costs, Respondent does not concede, but will not further contest the Commission's finding of probable cause to believe."

IOW - there's nothing to appeal.

[CBHagman]

44. Thank you for pointing that out.

The framing has been a problem with this story, and as usual it shapes people's understanding (or misunderstanding).

[bucolic_frolic]

9. LOL That's a good one - FEC demands transparency in the Age of Dark Money politics

[DippyDem]

10. Huh? I thought it was the repug party that opened the dossier to investigate the dumpster way back

[wnylib]

22. They did. It was a group of antI Trump Rs who

got it started in the R primaries. When Trump became their candidate, they dropped it. Then Hillary picked it up.

[NullTuples]

23. And agreed to pay a fine because the funding of picking it up wasn't correctly filed?

[SunSeeker]

26. The error the campaign made was describing the money to law firm Perkins Coie as legal fees.

Perkins Coie used some of the money the Clinton Campaign gave it to pay Fusion GPS to do investigation on Trump, and so the FEC concluded the campaign shouldn't have called the purpose of the payment to Perkins Coie "legal fees" but rather "opposition research," even though it went to a law firm.

That is the FEC being pretty picky. So the money expenditure was reported as a campaign expense, it just wasn't described quite properly as to what kind of campaign expense it ultimately ended up being ("legal fees" versus "opposition research" ).


Why doesn't the FEC go after Trump for not reporting AT ALL the $130k campaign expense he incurred when he gave the $130k to Stormy Daniels right before the 2016 election to shut her up about their affair???

[wnylib]

31. Yes, That's the charge, I think

[yardwork]

11. I can't post what I want to post.

[yaesu]

12. So tRump can ask for russian help on live TV to help his election and the FEC is, cool, no prob. nt

[Baitball Blogger]

13. I hope this is in preparation for slamming the GOP, 'cuz I'm not believing that they didn't do

much worse.

[Ford_Prefect]

14. Who appointed the current FEC commissioners?

I understand that the FEC, its enforcement standards, and performance record represent something of a vexed question to begin with.

[summer_in_TX]

29. Here's the breakdown of the current members of the FCC

Allen Dickerson (Chair) - Republican
Steven T. Walther (Vice Chair) - Independent
Shana M. Broussard- Democrat
Sean J. Cooksey - Republican
Ellen L. Weintraub - Democrat

[Ford_Prefect]

30. Dickerson and Cooksey were Trump nominees. Walther used to work for Ted Cruz.

It isn't proof nor even a suggestion of bias as such, but you do have to wonder how this filing got investigated when so very many of Trump's and the GOP's egregious violations were not.

At the very least it is a case of selective enforcement

[summer_in_TX]

32. If I recall correctly,

the FEC open slots weren't filled for a very long time during the Trump administration and there was no quorum to take up any matters. My guess is that Trump filled those positions just so Biden has to deal with the current tilt.

[zuul]

15. The FEC has been asleep at the wheel for several years

and NOW they decide to go after the Clinton’s? WTF?

The fucking Russians funneled a shit ton of money to the RNC in 2016 via the NRA and the FEC did jack shit about it. No doubt Russia sent money to the pubes in 2020.

This is some next-level bullsit.

[summer_in_TX]

33. Remember, Trump wouldn't fill vacancies.

The FEC had no quorum for a long time. I call that hamstrung, not asleep.

[Raven123]

16. Interesting timing as we head into the midterms. Hard to believe they just came to that conclusion

[Steve Canuck]

17. 6 years later?

I mean, I get the need for transparency, but by the time the FEC clamps down on Trump, he'll be dead from old age or cholesterol.

[global1]

18. There's Something Rotten In Denmark.....

All this current attack on Hunter Biden and now Hillary and the DNC?

Coincidence? I think not.

Who's the puppetmaster in this caper?

[IcyPeas]

19. remember a few weeks ago it was found that trump took boxes of documents home to Maralago?

these huge stories fall out of the news cycle and are forgotten. Are there consequences for this? for anything?

Is he getting away with all this?

If it was a democrat who did this .............

[Chainfire]

21. By now, "That never happened."

[NullTuples]

24. Ask AG Garland. Who, btw, let the statute of limitations run out on the first of Trump's crimes.

[milestogo]

25. the golden showers tape that we never got to see?

[aggiesal]

27. I thought the Steele-Dossier was paid for by the (R) pResidential Candidates ...

that wanted to get dirt on Pendejo45.

All the Clinton Campaign did was purchase an already investigated dossier.

I could be wrong though.

[ZellyCabMem]

28. BULL SHIT

The commission, that cannot ever punish an R with 3-3 votes, can do this, now?

[SleeplessinSoCal]

34. Bet it's payback for this...

https://www.courthousenews.com/watchdog-fec-ignored-claim-that-trump-campaign-laundered-millions/

FEC sued for ignored claims that TFG campaign laundered millions.

[elleng]

35. *according to a letter sent by the Federal Election Commission

'The DNC was fined $105,000 and the Clinton campaign was fined $8,000, according to a letter sent by the Federal Election Commission to a conservative group that requested an inquiry.


Political candidates and groups are required to publicly disclose their spending to the FEC, and they must explain the purpose of any specific expenditure more than $200. The FEC concluded that the Clinton campaign and DNC misreported the money that funded the dossier, masking it as "legal services" and "legal and compliance consulting" instead of opposition research. . .

In the letter announcing the fines, the FEC also revealed that it dismissed related complaints against Steele, Perkins Coie and Fusion GPS, which have all previously denied wrongdoing.

The Clinton campaign and the DNC never conceded that they violated campaign finance laws, but they agreed to drop their pushback and accept the civil fines, according to the FEC letter.'>>>

A DNC spokesman told CNN Wednesday that it has "settled aging and silly" FEC complaints about 2016.


The Federal Election Commission hardly breathes in public, so this is likely due to a careful analysis, imo.

[UnderThisLaw]

36. Good news for you?

[DashOneBravo]

40. No

I thought she was the most qualified person we had ever nominated.

[SYFROYH]

37. Great. Just great.

Between this and CNN reporting that the Hunter Biden investigation is heating up, the Republican conspiracies will take off.

[lagomorph777]

39. Trump outsourced his oppo research to Russia for free.

FEC is perfectly happy with that, because it was free.

[SuperCoder]

41. So they are fining somebody who did nothing...

Except out the truth?

Good luck with that.

[Celerity]

42. wtf

[rockfordfile]

43. FEC corrupt pos. 6 years ago? It doesn't change that trump is a un-American pos.