Jill Stein Files FEC Complaint Against Trump, Clinton for Illegal Super PAC Coordination

To little to late, but I like it!


Today, Monday November 7th, Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein filed a complaint at the Federal Election Commission in Washington, DC, against both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton for illegal coordination with their Super PACs.

In her complaint, Stein referred to several instances, revealed through leaked emails and memos, that appeared to show coordination between Hillary Clinton and several Super PACs, including Correct the Record, a Super PAC headed by longtime Clinton ally and former GOP operative David Brock. One section of a July 2015 campaign memo addressed to Hillary Clinton instructed: “Work with CTR [Correct the Record] and DNC [Democratic National Committee] to publicize specific GOP candidate vulnerabilities.” Leaked emails also reveal meetings between the campaign and Priorities USA Action, and that campaign officials have helped with the group’s fundraising.

Regarding the Trump campaign, two of the candidate’s senior staffers formed the Rebuilding America Now Super PAC—almost immediately after leaving the campaign—in violation of FEC rules requiring a 120-day “cooling off” period, intended to keep former staffers from using their knowledge of a campaign’s strategy and needs to develop ads for an “independent” group. The complaint also detailed the Trump campaign’s dealings with the Mercer family, who has poured millions of dollars into the pro-Trump Super PAC Make America Number 1, and has evidently exerted undue influence in the hiring of senior campaign staffers and the use of data analytics.

source

I love Jill. Her accusations, and I fully believe her are like a grain of salt compared to Hillarys email etc. situations. If Hillary didn't get in trouble for THAT then she is immune to any punishment of any kind. On the other hand, Trump will catch hell about it.

I cant believe the women of the world that wanted a woman president chose Hillary over Jill, that's completely insane.

a reply to: AlaskanDad

I like Jill Stein but where is the out rage about about Clinton. But this is bizzare.

I have seen a post from her stating Trump was better than Hillary. Scared of the Hillary machine?

Anyone who's in the know want to explain to everyone a few things about this?

Like if successful, what is the most that can be accomplished here with this filing?

What kind of time frame are we looking at on developments?

I'm not currently a FEC expert so I'm a lil curious on the specifics and I'm extremely busy at the moment so don't have time to conduct in depth research on these matters.

Thanks!

a reply to: muzzleflash

I'm having a rough time finding out the exact penalties for coordinating with a Super PAC. The most I've found was a GOP guy named Tyler Harber who in 2015 was sentenced to 2yrs in prison for it (HERE). He pleaded guilty to one count of coordinated federal election contributions, and one count of making false statements to the FBI (HERE ). It's important to note that he was the founder and leader of the Super PAC in question, not a candidate himself.

The more I look, the more it's looking like his conviction may be the only one so far. This is probably because Super PACs are relatively new, gaining their notoriety and unlimited power to raise money after the 2010 Citizens United ruling. So the best case scenario is that the FEC investigates these claims, digs up a bunch of dirt, a lot of political insiders get arrested, and people abandon the usage of Super PACs. But most likely, this crap will get delayed until nothing happens.

For what it's worth, a separate group filed a similar complaint against Trump and Clinton last month.

A campaign finance watchdog group is calling on federal election regulators to investigate whether Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaigns have illegally coordinated with super PACs supporting them.

Two pro-Trump super PACs -- Make America Number 1 and Rebuilding America Now -- may have made prohibited in-kind contributions to the Trump campaign, the Campaign Legal Center said Thursday. The Washington-based organization said a pro-Clinton organization, Correct the Record, may be guilty of similar violations.

Because super PACs can accept unlimited contributions, federal law requires them to operate independently of campaigns. Super PACs are relatively new political entities, created in the wake of the Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United decision. Candidates and outside groups have tested the legal boundaries surrounding them, especially in the current election cycle. So far, super PACs have raised more than a half-billion dollars in support of the 2016 presidential nominees.

Watchdog Files Complaint Claiming Illegal Trump, Clinton Super PAC Coordination

Hope this helps, though I'm admittedly still a noob w/this.

a reply to: muzzleflash

I remain stunned and shocked that progressive voters did not get behind Jill Stein and could not see her integrity towering over the smoking questions that surround HRC.

Now with regard to this court action, I gather Dr. Stein and the Green party intend to obtain court rulings that will make sure these sort of violations do not happen in the next election cycle.

But what I really think is going on is that Dr. Stein is positioning the Green Party for the future as the only true anti-corruption progressive political party in the USA.

a reply to: Kapriti

The Green Party has virtually no candidates, elected officials, nor political infrastructure outside of California. So even if Stein miraculously won the Presidency, she'd have to choose from mostly Dems and Repubs to fill out her Cabinet, to appoint to federal positions, etc. And if she didn't, she'd simply get those appointees blocked by the Republican or Democratic controlled Senate.

She'd also have a hard time getting her policies implemented at the State level, since once again, she'd be relying on Republican and/or Democratic controlled State govts to implement her laws. Just think about how many States rejected Pres Obama's Medicaid expansion plan, his stimulus package, his plan to bring in Syrian refugees, his plan to send Gitmo prisoners to US prisons, etc. As of right now, Repubs control roughly 30 Governorships and 30+ State legislatures. Why would they implement Stein's policies when she & the Green's are even more left wing than the Democratic Party?

Not to mention, many people in the Democratic Party hate the Green Party with a fiery passion! They still blame Nader and the Greens for Gore's 2000 loss to Bush, since Nader got something like 200,000+ votes in Florida and Bush won Florida (and thus the presidency) by something like 1,600 or so votes (too bored to look up the exact numbers). So I have a really hard time believing that most of the Democratic controlled States would implement her policies either, even if simply out of spite for her "taking" the candidacy from their own nominee.

Plus, a lot of voters don't really follow politics and like things they way they are. So this is like asking why conservatives didn't push Ron Paul more. The simple answer is that many people aren't nearly as hardcore left or right as the rhetoric would have us believe.

a reply to: enlightenedservant

Thank you, that's a great start.

Now I have some leads to work with.

I'm a bit disappointed at the very limited possibilities this offers in terms of seeking Justice in the overall scheme of things.

I really appreciate your post.
I owe ya one!

This is awesome, and I hope this is successful. I'm voting for her. Thank you for sharing.

a reply to: muzzleflash

No problem. I'm actually a bit frustrated because I can't find any specific penalties for it. It seems like the "rules" on this have been patched together from a mix of legislation, FEC rules, and decades worth of Supreme Court cases.

a reply to: enlightenedservant

Researching case law can prove rather challenging. There are a lot of issues to contend with there.
Also, since it's really "new", that means that new decisions can come that will change the playing field as we progress forward. Creativity and convention play a lot into it, and various legal concepts can come into play in surprising ways...

Not only that but digging through the Codes on this, reviewing the FEC rules, etc, is a hell of a lot of work.

It's really a full time job just to make sense out of things like this when you are starting from scratch.
Our government is very complex and akin to crossing the 'Himalayas of paperwork'.

This is really how 'they' nail us down, because I personally have enough on my plate as it is and am overloaded with projects and work. I don't have the 2 weeks + necessary to just study the hell outta this topic to begin mastering it. Sigh...

Plus it'd likely be necessary to develop contacts in the system so you could create correspondence to ask questions because there are inevitably a lot of questions that will arise that are best resolved by someone in the know.

originally posted by: AlaskanDad
To little to late, but I like it!


Today, Monday November 7th, Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein filed a complaint at the Federal Election Commission in Washington, DC, against both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton for illegal coordination with their Super PACs.

In her complaint, Stein referred to several instances, revealed through leaked emails and memos, that appeared to show coordination between Hillary Clinton and several Super PACs, including Correct the Record, a Super PAC headed by longtime Clinton ally and former GOP operative David Brock. One section of a July 2015 campaign memo addressed to Hillary Clinton instructed: “Work with CTR [Correct the Record] and DNC [Democratic National Committee] to publicize specific GOP candidate vulnerabilities.” Leaked emails also reveal meetings between the campaign and Priorities USA Action, and that campaign officials have helped with the group’s fundraising.

Regarding the Trump campaign, two of the candidate’s senior staffers formed the Rebuilding America Now Super PAC—almost immediately after leaving the campaign—in violation of FEC rules requiring a 120-day “cooling off” period, intended to keep former staffers from using their knowledge of a campaign’s strategy and needs to develop ads for an “independent” group. The complaint also detailed the Trump campaign’s dealings with the Mercer family, who has poured millions of dollars into the pro-Trump Super PAC Make America Number 1, and has evidently exerted undue influence in the hiring of senior campaign staffers and the use of data analytics.

source

Couldn't be they're both corrupt! AD, good job man. I seriously hope ATS returns to its former state after the election. What is going on right now is sad.

originally posted by: IsntLifeFunny

originally posted by: AlaskanDad
To little to late, but I like it!


Today, Monday November 7th, Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein filed a complaint at the Federal Election Commission in Washington, DC, against both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton for illegal coordination with their Super PACs.

In her complaint, Stein referred to several instances, revealed through leaked emails and memos, that appeared to show coordination between Hillary Clinton and several Super PACs, including Correct the Record, a Super PAC headed by longtime Clinton ally and former GOP operative David Brock. One section of a July 2015 campaign memo addressed to Hillary Clinton instructed: “Work with CTR [Correct the Record] and DNC [Democratic National Committee] to publicize specific GOP candidate vulnerabilities.” Leaked emails also reveal meetings between the campaign and Priorities USA Action, and that campaign officials have helped with the group’s fundraising.

Regarding the Trump campaign, two of the candidate’s senior staffers formed the Rebuilding America Now Super PAC—almost immediately after leaving the campaign—in violation of FEC rules requiring a 120-day “cooling off” period, intended to keep former staffers from using their knowledge of a campaign’s strategy and needs to develop ads for an “independent” group. The complaint also detailed the Trump campaign’s dealings with the Mercer family, who has poured millions of dollars into the pro-Trump Super PAC Make America Number 1, and has evidently exerted undue influence in the hiring of senior campaign staffers and the use of data analytics.

source

Couldn't be they're both corrupt! AD, good job man. I seriously hope ATS returns to its former state after the election. What is going on right now is sad.

I'm actually waiting till after the election to start posting some of my thread topics I've been wanting to cover and promote discussion for.

Unless I've got something to say about Hillary or Donald, it's probably best not to even bring it up right now. Those are the two prime areas of focus for the website at the moment.

I'm hoping within a week or so there will be more opportunity to talk about something "not the election"...

a reply to: muzzleflash

I've got a few threads I've been itching to make, as well. But the current political climate is making it hard to even start talking seriously about policies, religion, and the such. Before Bernie conceded, we could at least talk about democratic socialism, even if people passionately disagreed on it. But now. it's devolved into the most immature and least thought out mudslinging I've ever seen by actual adults.

a reply to: AlaskanDad

I'm all for calling out people for doing the wrong thing.

Hopefully this works out better than that whole email thing has so far...

originally posted by: enlightenedservant
a reply to: muzzleflash

I've got a few threads I've been itching to make, as well. But the current political climate is making it hard to even start talking seriously about policies, religion, and the such. Before Bernie conceded, we could at least talk about democratic socialism, even if people passionately disagreed on it. But now. it's devolved into the most immature and least thought out mudslinging I've ever seen by actual adults.

There are adults?
Where???