The Supreme Court's 2014 McCutcheon v FEC ruling eliminated aggregate caps on individual campaign donations, and this paved the way for the DNC and the Hillary Victory Fund to collaborate with 33 state-level Democratic parties to accept $10,000 donations from the millionaires and billionaires who back Clinton, kicking them back up to Hillary, allowing each couple to donate up to $1.32M to the Clinton campaign.
$26 million was transferred from these state-level warchests to the Hillary Victory Fund. These funds were dispersed to the Hillary Clinton super PACs, like Hillary for America and Forward Hillary. The Hillary Victory Fund is administered by the Clinton Campaign's treasurer, Elizabeth Jones, who has the sole right to direct the funds.
In addition to laundering donations for the super-wealthy in service to the Clinton campaign, the state Democratic parties also appear to be peddling the loyalty of their super-delegates to the campaign, in a quid-pro-quo that directs a portion of Hillary's establishment backer's millions to the cash-strapped state organizations.
What do billionaires like Esprit Founder Susie Buell of California, and Sri Lankan lobbyist Imaad Zuberi of California, and media mogul Fred Eychaner of Chicago, and Donald Sussman hedgefund manager from New York and Chicago real estate mogul J.B Pritzker, and gay activist Jon Stryker of NY, and NRA and Viacom lobbyist Jeffrey Forbes and entertainment mogul Haim Saban all have in common?
They all appear to be brilliant business people who have all given millions to Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign and to her various PACS. And they all gave the Montana State Democratic Party $10,000 each in 2015. It is doubtful that many of them have any interest in Montana politics, or that they have even bothered to visit.
None of these are awful people; they are simply awfully rich. And they like their friend Hillary and want her to be the president. And if some of their millions will buy her way into the White House then so be it. None of this is illegal. But it makes a mockery of Ms. Clinton’s pledge to further the cause of campaign finance reform.
How Hillary Clinton Bought the Loyalty of 33 State Democratic Parties
[Margot Kidder/Counterpunch]
(via Naked Capitalism)
