Texas AG Ken Paxton Calls on FCC to ‘Immediately’ Tighten Campaign Finance Rules Following ActBlue Investigation

Ken Paxton

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) announced Monday that he has petitioned the Federal Election Commission (“FEC”) to take immediate action to “close fundraising loopholes that jeopardize American election integrity” following his investigation into the Democrat fundraising platform ActBlue.

In a press release, Paxton said that suspicious actors appear to be using ActBlue “to make a large number of straw political donations.”

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Coalition of 19 GOP AGs Launch Investigation into ActBlue over Money Laundering Allegations

ActBlue

A coalition of 19 Republican state attorneys general have launched a criminal investigation into the Democrat fundraising platform ActBlue over allegations of money laundering.

As American Greatness reported in April, multiple independent investigative journalists, including O’Keefe Media Group (OMG) and Election Watch have uncovered what appears to be illegal activity involving millions of dollars in campaign donations to Act Blue that have been laundered through unwitting small donors.

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House Investigating Whether Foreign Money Flowing into Democrat Coffers

Bryan Steil

The chairman of the powerful House Administration Committee says his investigation into one of the Democrats’ most successful political action committees has pivoted to whether foreigners may be laundering money into the 2024 election.

Rep. Bryan Steil, W-Wis., said his committee has identified individuals who claim they did not make the donations attributed to them in Federal Election Commission (FEC) reports filed by ActBlue. His committee, which oversees election integrity issues, has “activated a full investigation.”

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Alex Soros Continues His Father’s Political Operation, and Is Aiming to Shape the 2024 Election

Since The Wall Street Journal first reported that Alex Soros had taken over his father’s political operation on June 11, 2023, he has pumped tens of millions of dollars into an array of efforts to sway the 2024 election, financial disclosures show.

Democracy PAC, the primary conduit through which the Soros family shuffles its wealth into electoral politics, spent roughly $40 million after the WSJ reported that George Soros had passed the reins on to his son, campaign finance records show. The PAC’s spending under Alex Soros signals somewhat of a departure from how his father operated it, with less focus on criminal justice and a greater emphasis on helping Democrats keep the White House.

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Democrats Have Outspent Republicans on Ads in Almost Every Major Senate Race So Far

Sen. Sherrod Brown with Sen. Jon Tester in front of the U.S. Capitol (composite image)

Democrats had outspent Republicans on advertisements in every competitive Senate race except for Ohio as of Wednesday, Axios reported.

Republicans are losing the ad spending race in Pennsylvania, Montana, Wisconsin, Nevada, Arizona and Michigan, though have spent slightly more in Ohio, leading their Democratic rivals by a margin of $158.4 million to $152 million, according to Axios. The Republican spending advantage in Ohio may be slightly misleading as their roughly $6 million spending advantage in Ohio is the product of considerable ad spending during the state’s competitive Republican primary, as reflected in Federal Election Commission records.

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House Administration Committee Chairman Bryan Steil Expands Probe of Donations Through ActBlue

Bryan Steil

House Administration Committee Chairman Bryan Steil, R-Wis., expanded his investigation into online political donations through ActBlue on Monday.

“Illegal and malicious conduct have no place in our elections. Ensuring all parties are complying with federal election law as we approach a presidential election is of utmost importance. By launching a new phase of our investigation into ActBlue, the Committee on House Administration has begun robust oversight of ActBlue’s lenient donor verification standards,” he said in a statement. “I’m committed to ensuring Americans can have confidence in our elections and to preventing foreign or malicious actors from influencing American elections.”

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Commentary: The Democrats’ ActBlue Ghost Donor Scandal Gets Bigger Every Day

James O'Keefe interviewing ActBlue ghost donor

About 18 months ago Senator Marco Rubio sent a letter to the Federal Election Commission’s Chairwoman and Vice Chairman, Dara Lindenbaum and Sean J. Cooksey demanding answers on claims ActBlue, the billion-dollar Democrat fundraising platform, engaged in schemes to garner illegal campaign donations via “ghost donors.”

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Trump Campaign Files FEC Complaint to Stop Biden’s $91 Million War Chest from Going to Kamala Harris

Donald Trump and Kamala Harris in a courtroom (composite image)

Former President Donald Trump’s campaign filed a Federal Election Commission (FEC) complaint Tuesday alleging President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris’ are in violation of campaign finance laws after transferring $91.5 million to Harris’ campaign.

The complaint, which was first reported by The New York Times, was filed by Trump’s campaign’s general counsel, David Warrington and comes after Harris announced her confirmation of delegates to be the Democrat’s new presumptive presidential nominee.

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Bans on Foreign Funding for Ballot Measures Gain Momentum in Congress, States

Congress Spending

Opponents of foreign funding of U.S. ballot measures expect momentum at both the federal level and in states.

In May, the House Administration Committee advanced a bill to amend federal election law to prevent foreign nationals from contributing to ballot initiatives by closing a loophole, since federal law and most state laws prohibit foreign contributions to candidates. The bill, with bipartisan support, is headed to the House floor for a vote.

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Powerful Union Suddenly Courting Republicans Spent Millions on Liberal Advocacy, New Report Reveals

Sean O'Brien

A massive union that’s suddenly rubbing shoulders with Republicans — including former President Donald Trump — ahead of November’s election has spent millions on left-wing advocacy, a new report shows.

Of the more than $9 million the International Brotherhood of Teamsters spent on political advocacy between 2019 and 2022, 99 percent went to groups linked to the Democratic Party, liberal economic think tanks and anti-Trump media operations, according to a new report from the Center for Union Facts given exclusively to the Daily Caller News Foundation. Despite the union’s strong leftward lean, the Teamsters have donated to the Republican National Committee (RNC), petitioned to speak at the party’s convention in July and even met with Trump as part of a broader effort to ingratiate themselves with conservatives.

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Commentary: Republicans Vow to Scorch the Earth After Trump Conviction

Donald Trump

by Philip Wegmann   Spurred by the volcanic temper of their base, Republicans are now preparing to scorch the earth in the wake of former President Donald Trump’s conviction, potentially setting off a chain reaction that could fundamentally alter the American political system entirely. No one knows exactly how far…

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While Trump Faces Felony Charges, New York-Based Clinton Campaign Only Faced Fines for Its Records Issue

Hillary Clinton

Hillary Clinton’s New York-based presidential campaign was hit with an administrative fine by the Federal Election Commission following the 2016 election when the FEC found the campaign misrepresented campaign expenses by describing the opposition research that produced the discredited Steele Dossier as a “legal expense.” The Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee paid $113,000 to settle the charges, the Associated Press reported.

Yet, Donald Trump faces felony charges for allegedly falsifying business records to conceal campaign violations in the same state, echoing the alleged violations in the Clinton case and indicating a double standard in how the violations were handled by investigators.

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Commentary: Billionaires Funding Protests Donate Millions to House Dems

George Soros

For President Biden and congressional Democrats, the fierce party division over the campus protests and the war in Gaza is full of warning signs during the 2024 election year. The unrest is unlikely to stop when universities break for the summer; protesters are pledging to disrupt the August Democratic National Convention planned to be held in Chicago. 

Most House Democrats have been reticent on the antisemitic protests and encampments roiling college graduations this month, while a handful have vocally defended or even celebrated the student protests as displays of protected free speech. 

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Former Biden DOJ Official Prosecuting Trump Received Thousands of Dollars From DNC

Matthew Colangelo

The lead prosecutor for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s case against former President Donald Trump received thousands of dollars from the Democratic National Committee (DNC) in 2018, Federal Election Commission (FEC) records show.

Matthew Colangelo, who was President Joe Biden’s acting associate attorney general and spent two years in the current president’s Department of Justice (DOJ), joined the Manhattan District Attorney’s office as senior counsel in December 2022. The lawyer received $12,000 from the DNC in 2018 for “political consulting” in two payments of $6,000 on Jan. 31 of that year, FEC records show.

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Julie Kelly Commentary: Ties Between Judge Merchan’s ‘Child’ and Adam Schiff Represent Major Conflict in Hush Money Trial

At the end of 2019, Representative Adam Schiff, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, was leading the first impeachment effort against President Donald Trump.

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Eric Swalwell’s Campaign Keeps Living the High Life Despite His Mountain of Personal Debt

Eric Swalwell

Democratic California Rep. Eric Swalwell’s reelection campaign continues to spend big on luxury goods and services despite the congressman himself being in significant debt, public records show.

Swalwell’s campaign spent more than $100,000 total on yacht services, luxury hotel stays, gourmet restaurants, tickets to sporting events and air travel in just the final three months of 2023, Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings show. Swalwell himself had between $30,002 and $100,000 in credit card debt and more than $50,000 in student loans at the end of 2022, according to the most recent available congressional financial disclosures.

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‘There’ll Probably Be Some Changes’: Trump Hints at RNC Shake-Up When Asked About McDaniel

Former President Donald Trump suggested in an interview Sunday that “some changes” could be coming to the Republican National Committee when asked about Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel’s performance.

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Billionaire Bill Ackman Boosts Democrat Dean Phillips’ Presidential Campaign with $1 Million

Dean Phillips

Billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman is giving Rep. Dean Phillips a $1 million donation to boost the Minnesota Democratic congressman’s 2024 presidential primary bid against President Joe Biden. 

Ackman, who has already made the maximum individual campaign donation of $3,300 to Phillips, said he plans on donating $1 million to We Deserve Better, a political action committee supporting Phillips, on Tuesday, according to a post the financier made over the weekend on X, formerly Twitter.

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Federal Employees’ Political Donations Largely Went to Biden, Other Dems in 2023

Government Workers

Over 60% of political donations to prominent political committees made by employees of the federal government’s 15 cabinet-level departments flowed to President Joe Biden and other Democrats in 2023, according to a Daily Caller News Foundation analysis of Federal Election Commission records.

The DCNF filtered donations in calendar year 2023 by individuals who listed their employer as one of 15 cabinet agencies, and who donated to the Biden campaign, the Biden Victory Fund, the Trump campaign, Save America PAC, and the respective congressional and senatorial fundraising committees for each party.

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Commentary: Tax-Exempt Nonprofits Skirt U.S. Law to Turn Out the Democrat Base in Elections

Even as Democrats such as Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse warn of “right-wing dark-money network seeking to undermine the future of democratic elections in the United States,” progressives have far-outstripped Republicans in harnessing the power of putatively non-partisan, nonprofit organizations that push the boundaries to win elections.

More than 150 progressive nonprofits spent $1.35 billion on political activities in 2021 and 2022, according to data compiled by Restoration of America, a conservative political action committee. Although there are no readily available estimates of comparable conservative efforts, observers say they are overmatched.

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Professor Raises Concerns over the Effect AI Could Have on 2024 Elections

A University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy professor is waving a red flag on the impact that artificial intelligence could have on next year’s elections.  

Ethan Bueno de Mesquita has written a white paper which he said provides an overview of the potential impact of generative AI on the electoral process. The paper offers specific recommendations for voters, journalists, civil society, tech leaders and other stakeholders to help manage the risks and capitalize on the promise of AI for electoral democracy in the hope of fostering a more productive public discussion of these issues.  

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Senate and House Campaign Security Spending Increases over 500 Percent in Two Years

House and Senate campaign security budgets were more than 500% higher in the 2022 midterms than they were during the 2020 election season, according to a new analysis.

The House and Senate spent $1.3 million on security for their 2020 campaigns but spent nearly $8 million in 2022, “The Washington Post” reported Monday, citing Federal Election Commission records. 

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U.S. Senator JD Vance Endorses Bernie Moreno for U.S. Senate

On Monday, U.S. Senator JD Vance announced his endorsement for Republican businessman Bernie Moreno in his run for U.S. Senate against Ohio Democratic U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) in 2024.

Moreno previously filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission to run for Senate in 2024 and to challenge Democratic incumbent Brown. He officially announced his campaign last month, saying that it’s time for a new generation of political outsiders to come in and get the job done to put America First.

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Donald Trump’s Former Ambassador to Morocco David Fischer Endorses Bernie Moreno for U.S. Senate

Donald Trump’s former ambassador to Morocco, David Fischer, announced his endorsement for Republican businessman Bernie Moreno in his run for U.S. Senate against Ohio Democratic U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) in 2024.

Moreno previously filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission to run for Senate in 2024 and to challenge Democratic incumbent Brown. He officially announced his campaign last month, saying that it’s time for a new generation of political outsiders to come in and get the job done to put America First.

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Columbus Venture Capitalist Mark Kvamme Endorses Bernie Moreno for U.S. Senate

Columbus venture capitalist Mark Kvamme, who many Republicans thought to be a potential GOP contender to run for U.S. Senate against Ohio Democratic U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) in 2024, announced that he would not be running for Senate and instead endorsed Republican businessman Bernie Moreno.

Moreno previously filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission to run for Senate in 2024 and to challenge Democratic incumbent Brown. He officially announced his campaign last week, saying that it’s time for a new generation of political outsiders to come in and get the job done to put America First.

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Manhattan DA Has No Authority ‘To Enforce Federal Campaign Finance Crimes’: Ex-FEC Commissioner

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s case against former President Donald Trump is legally “dubious” and motivated by political ambition, alleges legal expert Hans von Spakovsky. 

“It’s an extremely dubious prosecution, and I say that as a former commissioner on the Federal Election Commission,” he told Just The News.

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Commentary: Will the Sketchy Donor Scheme Uncovered by O’Keefe be Allowed to Stand?

The Federal Election Commission owes Americans an explanation.

In late March, muckraking journalist James O’Keefe of O’Keefe Media Group (OMG) knocked on the doors of a few older and unemployed Americans, to ask them about their campaign donations, which were nothing less than extraordinary: Some were donating thousands of times, adding up to hundreds of thousands of dollars.

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Haley’s Campaign Haul Considerably Less than the $11 Million Originally Reported

Earlier this month, Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley’s campaign boasted the former South Carolina governor had outraised former President Donald Trump, that Haley was a fundraising “force to be reckoned with.”

Turns out the $11 million Haley was said to have raised didn’t quite pan out. 

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AOC Concealed Thousands in Campaign Spending, Ethics Complaint Alleges

Democratic New York U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez concealed thousands of dollars in campaign spending, an ethics complaint exclusively obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation alleges. The Federal Election Commission (FEC) complaint cites more than $9,600 in reported campaign credit card expenditures that lacked information on the purpose of the charges. Dan Backer filed the complaint on behalf of the Coolidge Reagan Foundation, a nonprofit organization that’s levied similar complaints.

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Commentary: Careful, The RESTRICT Act Could be Used to Censor Any Website in America, Not Just TikTok

S.686, the Restricting the Emergence of Security Threats that Risk Information and Communications Technology Act or the appropriately titled “RESTRICT Act” could be used to censor any website in America, not just TikTok.

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Republican Ohio Lawmakers Challenge FEC Expenditure Law, Allege It’s Unconstitutional

Two Republican lawmakers from Ohio filed a lawsuit against the Federal Election Commission (FEC), alleging it violates candidates First amendment rights by limiting their ability to coordinate with political parties, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The lawsuit, filed on Nov. 4 by Senator-elect JD Vance and Representative Steve Chabot, as well as the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) and the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) in an Ohio district court, claims that FEC guidelines which “limits… coordinated party expenditures” violates the First Amendment “by strictly limiting how much of [a party committee’s] own money they can spend to influence federal elections in cooperation- or ‘coordination’- with their candidates.”

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Soros Family Continues to Support ‘Defund the Police’ Candidates

George Soros

Far-left billionaire George Soros, along with his daughter Andrea Soros Colombel, is continuing to donate to organizations that bankroll radical candidates who support defunding the police in the United States.

As reported by Fox News, the Soros family has still been donating to a joint fundraising committee that oversees multiple other PACs. The committee, called Lead The Way 2022, includes the Way to Lead PAC, the campaign committee of radical Congresswoman Cori Bush (D-Mo.), and the campaigns of up to 12 other far-left political candidates running for the U.S. Congress.

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Ohio Political Consultant Sentenced to Prison for Embezzlement of Congressional Campaign Funds

Steve Chabot

James Schwartz, a Cincinnati-based political consultant, was sentenced to two years in prison for embezzling roughly $1.4 million from the campaign of U.S. Representative Steve Chabot (R-OH-01).

According to a release from the Department of Justice (DOJ), Schwartz utilized his companies Fountain Square Group LLC and Prime Media LLC to conceal the improper payments from 2011 to 2019. Furthermore, he served as the “de facto treasurer” for the campaign.

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National Political Parties Have Raised $716 Million in 2021, Republicans Hold Slight Edge

Six party committees have raised a combined $716 million over the first ten months of the 2022 election cycle. In November, the committees raised $54 million, according to recent filings with the Federal Election Commission. This was the lowest cumulative fundraising month of the 2022 election cycle.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) raised $12.6 million and spent $6.4 million in November, while the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) raised $7.3 million and spent $7.9 million. So far in the 2022 election cycle, the DCCC has raised 6.8% more than the NRCC ($130.8 million to $122.1 million). November was the fifth consecutive month where the DCCC outraised the NRCC.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) raised $8.4 million and spent $8.0 million, while the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) raised $6.8 million and spent $4.5 million. So far in the 2022 election cycle, the NRSC has raised 14.3% more than the DSCC ($93.6 million to $81.1 million). This was the 10th consecutive month where the NRSC outraised the DSCC.

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George Soros Teams Up with Billionaire Who Backed Liberal Disinformation Efforts to Fund Anti-Disinformation Media Venture

Liberal tech billionaire Reid Hoffman, a funder of numerous disinformation projects, is backing a new media venture launched Tuesday that seeks to combat disinformation, according to a report.

Hoffman, the founder of LinkedIn, joined ranks with financier George Soros to fund Good Information Inc., which will “fund and scale businesses that cut through eco chambers with fact-based information,” Axios reported.

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New York Times Quietly Updates Report After Calling Hunter Biden Laptop Story ‘Unsubstantiated’

Hunter Biden

The New York Times quietly removed its assertion that the New York Post’s reporting on Hunter Biden’s laptop prior to the 2020 election was “unsubstantiated” from a story published Monday about a Federal Election Commission complaint related to the matter.

The Times reported Monday that the FEC ruled in August that Twitter did not violate any laws by temporarily blocking users from sharing the Post’s Oct. 14 story on a “smoking gun” email from Hunter Biden’s laptop showing that an executive of a Ukrainian gas company had thanked him for an introduction to then-Vice President Joe Biden. The Times called the story “unsubstantiated” when its article on the FEC’s decision was first published early Monday afternoon.

“The Federal Election Commission has dismissed Republican accusations that Twitter violated election laws in October by blocking people from posting links to an unsubstantiated New York Post article about Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s son Hunter Biden, in a decision that is likely to set a precedent for future cases involving social media sites and federal campaigns,” Times reporter Shane Goldmacher stated in its original version of his report Monday.

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Commentary: Trump and Trump-Backed Candidates Are Major Threats to Democrats

One of the residual effects of last year’s chaotic election is the palpable fear of former President Trump that still haunts the Democrats. Their congressional antics, from the absurd post-election impeachment to the parodic House investigation into the Jan. 6 “insurrection,” confirm that they are still very much afraid of the man they ostensibly defeated last November. This has nothing to do with any threat that Trump or his supporters pose to the republic, as media alarmists insist. The actual source of Democratic trepidation can be found in their lackluster performance in the 2020 presidential and congressional elections combined with Trump’s clear intention to become very much involved in boosting Republicans in next year’s midterms.

First, a reality check concerning the 2020 election: Biden didn’t win a popular vote landslide as the Democrats still claim. According to Federal Election Commission (FEC) totals, he won 81,268,924 of 158,383,403 ballots cast. In other words, 77,114,479 people voted for Trump or one of the third-party candidates. That nearly 49 percent of the voters cast ballots against Biden, despite the unprecedented support he received from the media and Big Tech cannot fail to worry rational Democrats. Nor can they help being unnerved by a poll conducted by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) that strongly suggests their anemic 2020 congressional showing portends worse results in 2022.

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Congressman Eric Swalwell Spends Thousands in Campaign Funds on Limousine, Hotel, Other Luxury Services

Congressman and former presidential candidate Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) has been discovered as having spent tens of thousands of dollars from campaign funds on luxury goods and services in the second quarter of the year, Breitbart reports.

According to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) report, reviewed by Fox News, the Swalwell re-election campaign spent over $30,000 on luxuries such as limousines, high-class restaurants, hotels, and alcohol delivery services. The Democrat’s campaign funds paid for at least 26 different rides in limousines, amounting to well over $10,000.

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Pro-Trump Super PAC Files FEC Complaint Alleging Bloomberg’s $18 Million DNC Donation Was Illegal

A political action committee  supporting President Donald Trump filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission saying former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s donation to the Democratic Party was illegal.

Bloomberg’s $18 million donation to the Democratic National Committee is an attempt to circumvent contribution limits and violate campaign finance laws, Great America PAC said in the March 26 complaint. The FEC is reviewing the complaint and will determine later if it will investigate.

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Ocasio-Cortez Hit with Another FEC Complaint Over Affiliation with Justice Democrats

by Andrew Kerr   A conservative group filed a 21-count Federal Election Commission (FEC) complaint against Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Wednesday alleging that her unreported affiliation with Justice Democrats PAC during her 2018 primary campaign violated campaign finance laws. The New York Democrat and her chief of staff, Saikat Chakrabarti, held…

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Ocasio-Cortez Has Racked Up Three Major Ethics Complaints During Her First Months in Congress

by Chris White   Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has racked up several ethics complaints since she began her first congressional term. She has yet to address one of the most damning reports about her campaign team’s actions during the election. Two watchdog groups have filed ethics complaints against…

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Commentary: Socialist Democrat Star AOC Headed For Jail?

by CHQ Staff   Andrew Kerr, investigative reporter for the Daily Caller News Foundation posted a blockbuster report suggesting that a “serious investigation” of Socialist Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and her Chief of Staff, Silicon Valley millionaire Saikat Chakrabarti, could result in jail time if a campaign finance complaint were filed.…

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RNC Breaks Yet Another Fundraising Record In July

Rhonna McDaniel

by Hanna Bogorowski   The Republican National Committee (RNC) raised a record-breaking $14.2 million in July, the most the organization has ever raised for that month in a non-presidential year, bringing its cycle total to $227.2 million. The RNC reports having $41.9 million cash on-hand and zero dollars in debt.…

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Republican Rep. Gaetz Threatens Twitter with FEC Complaint Over Twitter Suppression, Claims Twitter May Be Giving Opponent Illegal Advantage

Matt Gaetz

by Peter Hasson and Joe Simonson    – Twitter’s recent algorithm change suppressed, or “shadow-banned,” prominent conservatives, including Republican Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, a new report found.  – Gaetz is considering filing a Federal Election Commission (FEC) complaint against Twitter, he told The Daily Caller News Foundation.  – Gaetz said…

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