Tag: Campaign Finance

Does Tea Party Extremist Joe Heck Carry His Koch Cash In A Wallet Or A Money Clip?

Joe Heck is trying to buy a Nevada Senate seat with the help of millions in outside spending from the Koch brothers’ political network. The only hiccup in this scheme is that Heck has to take the debate stage tonight and actually defend his congressional record . Unfortunately for Heck, money can’t change the fact that he’s been an unmitigated disaster in Congress for the Silver State.

Heck will try to portray himself as a “thousand points of light” moderate tonight, but Heck rode into Congress on the Tea Party wave and hasn’t strayed from the extremism that got him elected in 2010.

Heck’s anti-choice extremism cannot be overstated. In 2012, Heck voted for a 20-week abortion ban that didn’t include exceptions for rape or incest. Heck also voted to deny women access to emergency reproductive care–even if an abortion were necessary to save their life–if hospitals objected on moral grounds. Heck […]

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Joe Heck’s Big Oil Koch Cash

Joe Heck’s Senate campaign has received an unprecedented level of support from the Koch brothers’ political machine, including over $7 million in negative advertising from Freedom Partners Action Fund and the first instance of the Kochs’ LIBRE Initiative “explicitly backing” a candidate. In return, Heck has been a loyal puppet, consistently supporting the Kochs’ interests at the expense of environmental protections and the development of clean energy jobs in Nevada. While preaching steadfast opposition to “crony capitalism,” the Kochs have an interest in preserving tax breaks for big oil, an interest unsurprisingly protected by Heck.

Joe Heck, fearing backlash from his wealthy patrons, has taken every available opportunity to undermine clean energy in Nevada–arguing that the government should “get out of the business” of investing in renewables–while protecting government subsidies for fossil fuels. There’s no question that Heck would continue his fight against renewable energy in the United States Senate.

Background:

Koch Spending […]

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Now Trump is promoting his hotel with campaign donor money

Donald Trump’s campaign just launched a new TV ad. And as with Trump’s travesty of a press conference last Friday, there’s no mistaking that Trump is using the ad advertise Hotel Washington, DC.

It’s been in the news for months that Trump’s used campaign donor money to pay himself and his businesses — to-date upwards of a million dollars. And then we learned that Trump upped Trump Tower rent on his campaign offices as soon as he started hauling in donor money instead of “self-funding.”

Now Trump’s using campaign ads to promote his business interests. His new ad somehow manages to feature the hotel twice…

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Ron Johnson’s Shady Campaign Finance History Under Scrutiny, Again

For months, Ron Johnson has faced questions about his shady 2010 campaign finance scheme where, after self-funding his campaign to the tune of $9 million, Johnson was paid $10 million in “deferred compensation” from his company following the election.

Johnson has refused to provide answers about how he seemingly reimbursed himself for money spent on his campaign, and has gotten defensive when asked about the sketchy scenario. Now, it’s even more clear why: the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports today that the “deferred compensation” package was agreed upon AFTER the election. Read more below:

Read more here.

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Trump’s Bondi Allegations Part Of A Pattern Of Lawlessness

Donald Trump’s habit of paying off politicians is making waves for the Trump campaign again. Trump’s illegal $25,000 donation to Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi is just the latest in his pattern of bribery.

The New York Times reports that Trump has been in trouble for similar actions dating back to the ’80s:

In the 1990s, the Federal Election Commission fined Mr. Trump for exceeding the annual limit on campaign contributions by $47,050, the largest violation in a single year. And in 2000, the New York State lobbying commission imposed a $250,000 fine for Mr. Trump’s failing to disclose the full extent of his lobbying of state legislators.

For the most part, Mr. Trump has seemed unrepentant. Testifying in 1988 about a $50,000 bank loan he had first guaranteed, and then repaid, on behalf of Andrew J. Stein’s successful campaign for New York City Council president, Mr. Trump made no bones […]

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Trump Warms To Woody “Will Totally Control What Happens” Johnson

Donald Trump wants GOP megadonors to know he’s ready to capitulate to their self-interested policy agenda in exchange for their financial backing.

Three months ago, Donald Trump lied and said he was self-funding his campaign. Flash-forward to today, and Trump’s still lying about the self-funding, but now Donald’s started sucking up to the Republican donor class — the types that manipulate weak and needy candidates like him in exchange for “tremendous amounts of money.”

Trump, in February:

“I’m the only politician that’s not getting money.  All these guys, like Cruz, is getting tremendous amounts of money from oil and all these different. Jeb Bush — Woody Johnson, from Johnson & Johnson is his campaign finance chair. Woody will totally control what happens.” 

[Donald Trump, Press Conference, Hanahan, SC, 2/15/16]

 

Trump, yesterday:

“Donald J. Trump met privately on Monday with Woody Johnson, the New York Jets owner and a top Republican fund-raiser”
…
“Woody’s a […]

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Non-Self Funder Trump Brings On Top Bundler To Raise “Historic” Money

Despite his persistent claims to the contrary, Donald Trump still isn’t self-funding his campaign. (Trump yet again lied about not taking any donations as recently as last Friday; it’s one of several unsubstantiated claims that’s guaranteed play during any given stump speech of his.)

Last week, Trump named hedge fund manager Steve Mnuchin his national finance chairman, and today Trump’s bringing on another Wall Street investor, Anthony Scaramucci, to further bolster his national finance team.

Scaramucci, who was a national finance chair for Mitt Romney in 2012, according to the Washington Post, was similarly involved in Scott Walker and Jeb Bush’s campaigns this cycle.

Now, Scaramucci’s promising to “raise a ‘historic’ sum of money” for Donald Trump.

Again: Donald Trump is not self-funding his campaign.

Read more from the Washington Post.

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Non-Self Funder Donald Trump To End “Self-Funding,” Keep Raising Money

For months, Donald Trump’s been making the (very) iffy claim that he isn’t taking any campaign contributions:

– “I’m self-funding my campaign“

– “I’m not raising any money”

– “You know, I’m self-funding my campaign”

– “I’m not taking their money — I don’t want their money”

 

Now, there’ll be even less legitimacy to Trump’s “I’m self-funding” claim:

 
Read more here.

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VIDEO: Chris Sununu’s K Street Lobbyist Cash Grab

Chris Sununu went to Washington today to pick up that sweet DC lobbyist cash at mega-lobbying group BGR.

​Sununu was hosted by former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour and his father’s former aide Ed Rogers, two of the most powerful lobbyists in Washington with a client list a mile long, including big oil stalwarts like Chevron and foreign governments like Kazakhstan.

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Rubio Took Hedge Fund Cash From PR Bondholders Before Endorsing Their Position

Marco Rubio may be young, but he already has more than his share of skeletons in his political closet. Recently, Rubio’s campaign has been dogged by his credit card problems and friendship with the sketchy figure David Rivera. Now, Rubio may face questions about his donors’ ties to Puerto Rico’s debt.

 

Take a look at the latest from Fusion:

 

When presidential hopeful Marco Rubio announced last month that he opposed letting Puerto Rican government entities declare bankruptcy, he said he that didn’t believe in a “silver bullet solution,” and Puerto Ricans should tighten their belts.

 

The junior senator for Florida didn’t mention that his campaign had received thousands of dollars from hedge fund executives who would lose big if the commonwealth is allowed to declare bankruptcy.

 

According to public campaign-finance documents, at least six executives of hedge funds that hold Puerto Rican debt have donated to Rubio’s presidential campaign. Rubio appears to […]

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