The
full version of this story was originally published by The Center for Public Integrity, a
nonprofit, nonpartisan investigative news organization in Washington, D.C.
Pay attention to the fine print and you'll see that some of
the online messages touting Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton are
paid for by "Hillary for America," while others are sponsored by the
"Hillary Victory Fund."
How powerful is this two-word change? It means the
difference between ads funded by donors who may legally give Clinton up to
$2,700 — or by those who may give hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Joint fundraising committees, often called "victory
funds," are not new in federal politics. Candidates
routinely raise money
through these collaborative operations that, by design, split the funds they
collect among a number of beneficiaries, such as national and state party
committees, as well as the candidate's own campaign.
But instead of just transferring its cash to the signatories
of the joint fundraising agreement, the Clinton campaign is also using a
significant amount of the money the Hillary Victory Fund collects to finance
pro-Clinton advertising.
This is innovative, to say the least. But it's also
worrisome to campaign finance reformers who see it as a way to shift costs onto
groups funded by big donors, thereby evading campaign contribution limits.
And in that respect, critics see Clinton's big-money
operation as a way for well-heeled donors to better access and influence the
woman who may be the next president of the United States.
Larry Noble, general counsel at the nonpartisan Campaign
Legal Center, which advocates for stricter campaign finance regulations, told
the Center for Public Integrity that Clinton's team had taken the
interpretation of a joint fundraising committee "to another level."
Videos produced by the Hillary Victory Fund, and appearing
online on websites like YouTube and Twitter, "are basically campaign
ads," Noble said. "This is a problem."
Democratic operatives, however, argue that Clinton and her
party allies should use all available financial weapons to fight Republicans.
Josh Schwerin, a spokesman for the Clinton campaign, told
the Center for Public Integrity that online videos help "give people a
reason to donate" to the Hillary Victory Fund, which he called
"critical to funding the coordinated campaigns that are helping elect
Democrats up and down the ballot."
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