FEC Records Indicate Hillary Campaign Illegally Laundered $84 Million - Media: Crickets

Media Ignore Lawsuit Claiming Hillary Campaign Laundered $84 Million https://t.co/I7pC5AOVFe

— NewsBusters (@newsbusters) April 26, 2018

$84 million.

EIGHTY FOUR MILLION.

Waiting for Hillary’s lawyers to be raided at home and office and hotel.

And then for the Media to cover this 24/7. https://t.co/aAyWqgDCnO

— Sebastian Gorka DrG (@SebGorka) April 26, 2018

FEC Records Indicate Hillary Campaign Illegally Laundered $84 Million https://t.co/YXyJzNn09G

— Kerry Picket (@KerryPicket) April 25, 2018

Did Bernie Sanders 2016 Campaign Violate Federal Election Law?

"Criminal Investigation Sought into Sanders Campaign for Collusion During a Federal Election With a Foreign Entity" #ForeignCollusion

Full Story: https://t.co/0vwOYk6c39 pic.twitter.com/t0lEmXCWoJ

— PVeritas Action (@PVeritas_Action) March 8, 2018

BOOM! Trump Files With FEC To Run in 2020; NonProfits Can't Campaign Against Him Until Then!

BOOM! Trump Files With FEC To Run in 2020; NonProfits Can't Campaign Against Him Until Then! https://t.co/1YpM7pRSs5

— 🎙Wayne Dupree (@WayneDupreeShow) February 1, 2017

I am laughing too much right now to even think straight. Trump outfoxed the Washington, DC foxes but beating them in their own game. According to the article via Zero Hedge, NonProfit organizations can’t engage in political speech without the possibility of them losing their status. That’s huge!

Tell me Trump doesn’t have his stuff together. This could hurt George Soros as he would have ramped up his efforts to go after Trump as it states in the article.

Trump Files Early With FEC For 2020 Candidacy, Outmaneuvers Nonprofits https://t.co/WKGto6mAzb

— Ƭαвιтнα Ɓℓιѕѕ ❤ (@BlissTabitha) January 31, 2017

A document from the Federal Elections Commission (FEC) indicates that Donald Trump took steps last week to outmaneuver nonprofit organizations, leaving them unable to officially campaign against him over the next few years of his Presidency.

Filed on January 20th, 2017, the letter states that, while not an official announcement for reelection, Donald Trump has filed an FEC Form 2 in order to “ensure compliance with the Federal Election Campaign Act.” This is an unprecedented, although legal, move for the President to make. Barack Obama did not file for his 2012 re-election bid until April 2011. Having filed (even if not formally announcing a bid) as a candidate, Trump would be able to coordinate with PACs and other similar organizations.

More importantly, 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations would no longer be able to engage in “political speech” which could theoretically affect the results of the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election without running the risk of losing their nonprofit status. The move effectively bars interest groups from creating nonprofits which they could funnel money into for the purposes of opposing Trump’s initiatives. This will likely create chaos for political opponents of Trump such as George Soros, who has sunk significant amounts of money into various nonprofit groups with the intent of opposing Trump’s government. How 501(c)(3) organizations will comply with the FEC’s regulations when participating an actions which qualify as political speech remains to be seen.

FEC commish: Dems to "amend" First Amendment and outlaw conservative speech

FEC commish: Dems to "amend" First Amendment and outlaw conservative speech https://t.co/Ns5uFXj3UC pic.twitter.com/KavyG5kM2l

— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) September 8, 2016

When they expire, it’s a chance to reconsider an agency’s mission, modernize it and impose some accountability on what could otherwise become multi-billion-dollar zombie government programs

Meet your unauthorized federal government https://t.co/bqOvmrCOWi from @POLITICOAgenda pic.twitter.com/6euUV3SFWr

— POLITICO (@politico) February 3, 2016

The Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Agency, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives have not been reauthorized by Congress since 2009. The State Department hasn’t been reauthorized since 2003. For the Federal Trade Commission and National Weather Service, it’s 1998 and 1993, respectively. The Federal Election Commission has been operating with an expired authorization since way back in 1981.

Meet your unauthorized government.

Dems on FEC move to regulate Internet campaigns, blogs, DRUDGE...

◼ In a surprise move late Friday, a key Democrat on the Federal Election Commission called for burdensome new rules on Internet-based campaigning, prompting the Republican chairman to warn that Democrats want to regulate online political sites and even news media like the Drudge Report. - Paul Bedard/Washington Examiner

Democratic FEC Vice Chair Ann M. Ravel announced plans to begin the process to win regulations on Internet-based campaigns and videos, currently free from most of the FEC’s rules. “A reexamination of the commission’s approach to the internet and other emerging technologies is long over due,” she said.

The power play followed a deadlocked 3-3 vote on whether an Ohio anti-President Obama Internet campaign featuring two videos violated FEC rules when it did not report its finances or offer a disclosure on the ads. The ads were placed for free on YouTube and were not paid advertising.

Federal Election Commission looking into Harry Reid’s ‘holiday gifts’ UPDATES

◼ The Federal Election Commission has asked Sen. Harry Reid’s campaign for more information on more than $16,000 in “holiday gifts” given by the senator to donors and supporters in 2013. - TWITCHY

So the thousands of dollars @SenatorReid reported as "holiday gifts" to FEC were paid to his granddaughter in CA. FEC has sent a letter. 1/2

— Jon Ralston (@RalstonReports) March 25, 2014

◼ Reid paid granddaughter for "holiday gifts" to give donors, supporters - Ralston Reports

The Federal Election Committee has sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's campaign, asking for more information on why he listed an expenditure of more than $11,000 $16,000 in "holiday gifts."

The gifts, I have learned, were purchased from his granddaughter, Ryan Elisabeth Reid, who is a jewelry vendor in Berkeley, CA. The gifts were later passed on to donors and supporters, a Reid spokeswoman told me.

Reid's granddaughter is listed only as "Ryan Elisabeth" on the FEC report, which is attached here (see page 166). But her full name is Ryan Elisabeth Reid.

When I saw her name and did some resarch, I found the last name and asked Reid's office on Monday if she were a relation. I got nothing and later was told " it is a jewelry company/vendor."

Yes, one who happens to be named Reid.

After the Review-Journal's Steve Tetreault speculated publicly Tuesday that the vendor might be Reid's granddaughter, I asked again. This time, her identity was confirmed....

Update, 2:30PM: Reid will reimburse campaign: "I thought it would be nice to give supporters and staff thank-you gifts that had a personal connection and a Searchlight connection, but I have decided to reimburse the campaign for the amount of the expenditure.”

UPDATE: ◼ Harry Reid v. FEC Update: More Campaign Payments to Granddaughter Revealed, Total Rises to $31,000 - Washington Free Beacon

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) reacted swiftly to revelations that his campaign had purchased $16,786 worth of “holiday gifts” (for donors) from his own granddaughter, announcing that he would personally reimburse his campaign for the cost of the trinkets. Reid also angrily rebuffed a reporter’s question about the questionable campaign activity, chiding him for describing the amount as $17,000. “Sixteen [thousand dollars], but whatever,” Reid snarked.

Well, Reid looks awfully silly now that previous campaign documents have turned up almost $31,000 in payments to Ryan Elizabeth Reid for “gifts for supporters.” But whatever.

This matters because FEC staff didn't have permission from the Commission to conduct this inquiry. It matters because the IRS is prohibited from sharing confidential information, even with the FEC

◼ New Links Emerge in the IRS Scandal - Kimberley Strassel/Wall St. Journal

Congressional investigators this week released emails suggesting that staff at the Federal Election Commission have been engaged in their own conservative targeting, with help from the IRS's infamous Lois Lerner. This means more than just an expansion of the probe to the FEC. It's a new link to the Obama team.

In May this column noted that the targeting of conservatives started in 2008, when liberals began a coordinated campaign of siccing the federal government on political opponents. The Obama campaign helped pioneer this tactic.

In late summer of 2008, Obama lawyer Bob Bauer took issue with ads run against his boss by a 501(c)(4) conservative outfit called American Issues Project. Mr. Bauer filed a complaint with the FEC, called on the criminal division of the Justice Department to prosecute AIP, and demanded to see documents the group had filed with the IRS.

Thanks to Congress's newly released emails, we now know that FEC attorneys went to Ms. Lerner to pry out information about AIP—the organization the Obama campaign wanted targeted. An email from Feb. 3, 2009, shows an FEC attorney asking Ms. Lerner "whether the IRS had issued an exemption letter" to AIP, and requesting that she share "any information" on the group. Nine minutes after Ms. Lerner received this FEC email, she directed IRS attorneys to fulfill the request....

This matters because FEC staff didn't have permission from the Commission to conduct this inquiry. It matters because the IRS is prohibited from sharing confidential information, even with the FEC. What the IRS divulged is unclear. Congressional investigators are demanding to see all communications between the IRS and FEC since 2008, and given that Ms. Lerner came out of the FEC's office of the general counsel, that correspondence could prove illuminating.

It also matters because we now know FEC staff engaged in a multiyear effort to deliver to the Obama campaign its win against AIP. This past week, FEC Vice Chairman Don McGahn, joined by his two fellow Republican commissioners, wrote an extraordinary statement recounting the staff's behavior in the case.