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2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumLetter from the Sanders Campaign to the DNC in regards to the Hillary Victory Fund
https://berniesanders.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Bernie-2016-Letter-to-DNC-1.pdfAccuses the Hillary Victory Fund and Hillary for America of violating campaign finance laws.
edit: and a press release for good measure: https://berniesanders.com/press-release/clinton-dnc-joint-fundraising-raises-serious-campaign-finance-concerns/
NEW YORK U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders presidential campaign on Monday questioned serious apparent violations of campaign finance laws under a joint fundraising deal between Hillary Clintons campaign and the Democratic National Committee.
The questionable dealings were detailed in a letter from Brad Deutsch, the attorney for Sanders campaign, to U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the chair of the DNC. The letter questioned whether the Clinton presidential campaign violated legal limits on donations by improperly subsidizing Clintons campaign bid by paying Clinton staffers with funds from the joint DNC-Clinton committee.
Unlike Clintons presidential campaign committee, Hillary for America, the joint committee may accept large donations of up to $356,100. The first $2,700 of this amount is eligible for transfer to the Clinton campaign, $33,400 can be transferred to the DNC, with any remaining amount, up to $10,000, to each participating state party. According to public disclosure reports, however, the joint Clinton-DNC fund, Hillary Victory Fund (HVF), appears to operate in a way that skirts legal limits on federal campaign donations and primarily benefits the Clinton presidential campaign.
The financial disclosure reports on file with the Federal Election Commission indicate that the joint committee invested millions in low-dollar, online fundraising and advertising that solely benefits the Clinton campaign. The Sanders campaign is particularly concerned that these extremely large-dollar individual contributions have been used by the Hillary Victory Fund to pay for more than $7.8 million in direct mail efforts and over $8.6 million in online advertising according to the letter to the DNC. Both outlays benefit the Clinton presidential campaign by generating low-dollar contributions that flow only to HFA [Hillary for America] rather than to the DNC or any of the participating state party committees.
The questionable outlays have grown to staggering magnitudes and can no longer be ignored, Deutsch added.
The expenditures on advertising and fundraising are at best an impermissible in-kind contribution from the DNC and the participating state party committees to Clintons presidential campaign, the letter said. At worst, using funds received from large-dollar donors who have already contributed the $2,700 maximum to HFA [Hillary for America] may represent an excessive contribution to HFA from these individuals.
In addition, the joint committee has paid the Clinton campaign committee $2.6 million ostensibly to reimburse the Clinton presidential campaign staff for time spent running the joint committee. The unusual arrangement, Deutsch said, raises equally serious concerns that joint committee funds, which are meant to be allocated proportionally among the participating committees, are being used to impermissibly subsidize HFA through an over-reimbursement for campaign staffers and resources.
While the use of joint fundraising agreements has existed for some time it is unprecedented for the DNC to allow a joint committee to be exploited to the benefit of one candidate in the midst of a contested nominating contest, said Jeff Weaver, Sanders campaign manager.
The questionable dealings were detailed in a letter from Brad Deutsch, the attorney for Sanders campaign, to U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the chair of the DNC. The letter questioned whether the Clinton presidential campaign violated legal limits on donations by improperly subsidizing Clintons campaign bid by paying Clinton staffers with funds from the joint DNC-Clinton committee.
Unlike Clintons presidential campaign committee, Hillary for America, the joint committee may accept large donations of up to $356,100. The first $2,700 of this amount is eligible for transfer to the Clinton campaign, $33,400 can be transferred to the DNC, with any remaining amount, up to $10,000, to each participating state party. According to public disclosure reports, however, the joint Clinton-DNC fund, Hillary Victory Fund (HVF), appears to operate in a way that skirts legal limits on federal campaign donations and primarily benefits the Clinton presidential campaign.
The financial disclosure reports on file with the Federal Election Commission indicate that the joint committee invested millions in low-dollar, online fundraising and advertising that solely benefits the Clinton campaign. The Sanders campaign is particularly concerned that these extremely large-dollar individual contributions have been used by the Hillary Victory Fund to pay for more than $7.8 million in direct mail efforts and over $8.6 million in online advertising according to the letter to the DNC. Both outlays benefit the Clinton presidential campaign by generating low-dollar contributions that flow only to HFA [Hillary for America] rather than to the DNC or any of the participating state party committees.
The questionable outlays have grown to staggering magnitudes and can no longer be ignored, Deutsch added.
The expenditures on advertising and fundraising are at best an impermissible in-kind contribution from the DNC and the participating state party committees to Clintons presidential campaign, the letter said. At worst, using funds received from large-dollar donors who have already contributed the $2,700 maximum to HFA [Hillary for America] may represent an excessive contribution to HFA from these individuals.
In addition, the joint committee has paid the Clinton campaign committee $2.6 million ostensibly to reimburse the Clinton presidential campaign staff for time spent running the joint committee. The unusual arrangement, Deutsch said, raises equally serious concerns that joint committee funds, which are meant to be allocated proportionally among the participating committees, are being used to impermissibly subsidize HFA through an over-reimbursement for campaign staffers and resources.
While the use of joint fundraising agreements has existed for some time it is unprecedented for the DNC to allow a joint committee to be exploited to the benefit of one candidate in the midst of a contested nominating contest, said Jeff Weaver, Sanders campaign manager.
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Letter from the Sanders Campaign to the DNC in regards to the Hillary Victory Fund (Original Post)
GeorgiaPeanuts
Apr 2016
OP
msongs
(67,417 posts)1. another PR stunt like chasing down the pope for a photo op nt
CoffeeCat
(24,411 posts)6. Only problem is
Bernie never chased down the Pope for a photo op.
If you need to make up crapola to make your point, then you have no point.
Punkingal
(9,522 posts)2. Crooked as a dog's hind leg!
That letter explains with extreme clarity what is going on, and it stinks.
GeorgiaPeanuts
(2,353 posts)3. Agree, it is even worse than the counterpunch article explained...
The Hillary Victory Fund is basically the small-donor fundraising operation for the Hillary for America Campaign.
jillan
(39,451 posts)4. Guess the DNC didn't believe Bernie when he said he wants to fix corruption.
Here's your sign.
ViseGrip
(3,133 posts)5. This must be stopped. I don't care which side, or who loses due to corruption.
grasswire
(50,130 posts)7. Crooked Hillary
ReallyIAmAnOptimist
(357 posts)8. Two words: Money Laundering