comm to defend the pres

see backer, stop hillary, 2016 recount (infoscision bossie)DONNY F=mma 120Judd Legum <a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="http://click.e.mediamatters.org/?qs=9f45cb3dbc746a1437b24b02116f6be6cee333b1f82c0151836adafe31d7a5dda696400cafa5041179ef4a4b382d45555c8ca2bb6297c34e" title="reported" style="">reported</a> that Facebook is allowing a major pro-Trump Super PAC, the Committee to Defend the President, to “run ads with lies.”“Since Saturday, the Committee to Defend the President is running multiple ads that claim former Vice President Joe Biden is ‘a criminal who used his power as Vice President to make him and his son RICH,’” according to Legum’s report.According to Facebook's own fact-checking partners, this claim is false. PolitiFact and FactCheck.org, both fact-checking partners of Facebook, debunked Trump's suggestion previously.Facebook’s ad policy <a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="http://click.e.mediamatters.org/?qs=9f45cb3dbc746a14ca0ff05027e91893190cbe491067521e2a8d139dab7be0d1b08d7a248c3fd6255810d327558173d43e54ba3f7381822a" title="specifically" style="">specifically</a> bans ads that have been debunked by third-party fact-checkers.The social network has neglected to enforce the few rules that it has. Despite prohibiting attacks that target a group of people based on their immigration status, Facebook <a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="http://click.e.mediamatters.org/?qs=9f45cb3dbc746a1495538e60e58fe92732f184bae1e2e80d26c144da839b2e39602d9bd17ab1e3e73f178e1ac4275915a49a432292425ea5" title="let Trump run" style="">let Trump run</a> over 2,000 ads in early 2019 referring to immigration to the United States as an “invasion,” which has long been a white supremacist talking point. Facebook also let Trump run hundreds of ads in April of 2019 that <a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="http://click.e.mediamatters.org/?qs=9f45cb3dbc746a14723226b9c89e86b1aba22836e933fccf529eac52c2bbe6120308dfe7d819786a2fde2535f7015b636e15d2adbfab97b5" title="violated its policy" style="">violated its policy </a>about “personal attributes” of users. And just today, CNN <a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="http://click.e.mediamatters.org/?qs=49ee40bd03ffa37d81b6947198d0224b08a1261468ad8c6a3026059ef432571927d7367273b6952b8323939323ae067f257c9e941c069645" title="reported" style="">reported</a> that Trump is running ads blatantly lying about the Super Bowl.=factcheck.org<div class="entry-content" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Committee to Defend the President was <a href="http://docquery.fec.gov/pdf/917/13031070917/13031070917.pdf" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; background-color: transparent; touch-action: manipulation;">founded as the Stop Hillary PAC</a> in May 2013. The group’s mission changed after the 2016 election, and then it <a href="http://docquery.fec.gov/pdf/619/201701289041532619/201701289041532619.pdf" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; background-color: transparent; touch-action: manipulation;">officially changed its name</a> in late January 2017, after Donald Trump took office as president.The pro-Trump group is what’s known as a <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/lookup2.php?strID=C00544767" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; touch-action: manipulation;">hybrid PAC or “Carey committee</a>.” That means it “has the ability to operate both as a traditional PAC, contributing funds to a candidate’s committee, and as a super PAC, which makes independent expenditures,” <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/resources/learn/glossary.php#Carey+Committee" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; touch-action: manipulation;">according to</a> the Center for Responsive Politics. Carey committees must have separate bank accounts for those purposes.The committee can collect unlimited contributions from individuals, corporations, and labor unions for its independent expenditures, but those funds may not be used for contributions made by its traditional PAC. All receipts and disbursements for both accounts must be reported to the Federal Election Commission.<a href="https://www.campaignsolutions.com/team/short/" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; background-color: transparent; touch-action: manipulation;">Guy Short</a>, a political consultant, is the hybrid PAC’s founder, and <a href="https://www.political.law/dan" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; background-color: transparent; touch-action: manipulation;">Dan Backer</a>, a campaign finance lawyer, is its treasurer, <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/3438270-Stop-Hillary-PAC-FCC.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; background-color: transparent; touch-action: manipulation;">according to paperwork</a> filed with the FEC last year. The group’s chairman is <a href="https://www.pri.org/stories/2017-05-05/pro-trump-super-pacs-have-already-spent-1-million-election-2020" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; background-color: transparent; touch-action: manipulation;">Ted Harvey</a>, a former Republican state senator from Colorado.Short actually campaigned for Sen. Ted Cruz to be the GOP presidential nominee. He told <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election/trump-blasts-rigged-rules-on-picking-republican-delegates-idUSKCN0X81HE" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; background-color: transparent; touch-action: manipulation;">Reuters in April 2016</a> that he “spent thousands of dollars of my own money campaigning to become a delegate because it’s that important to make sure Donald Trump is NOT our nominee.”The Stop Hillary PAC <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/lookup2.php?cycle=2016&strID=C00544767" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; touch-action: manipulation;">spent almost $6.1 million of the $6.9 million it raised</a> during the 2016 cycle. The majority of its spending, <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/indexpend.php?cycle=2016&cmte=C00544767" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; touch-action: manipulation;">about $3.4 million</a>, was devoted to independent expenditures targeting Clinton, the Democratic presidential nominee.The PAC’s <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/contrib.php?cycle=2016&cmte=C00544767" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; touch-action: manipulation;">top donors in 2016</a> were Tatnall Hillman, who gave multiple donations totaling over $60,000; George Etheridge, who gave $25,000; and Robert Allison, who contributed $20,000. <a href="http://www.aspentimes.com/news/colorados-top-political-contributors/" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; touch-action: manipulation;">Hillman</a> is the son of the late John Hartwell Hillman Jr., who made billions in the steel and energy industry. <a href="http://www.sptimes.com/2005/08/06/Northpinellas/For_their_alma_mater.shtml" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; touch-action: manipulation;">Etheridge and his wife</a> own orthopedic supplies company Precision Orthopedics, and <a href="http://investors.anadarko.com/2005-11-17-Anadarko-President-CEO-James-T-Hackett-Named-Chairman-of-the-Board-Robert-J-Allison-Jr-Named-Chairman-Emeritus" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; touch-action: manipulation;">Allison</a> is the former president and CEO of Anadarko Petroleum Corporation.As of April 19, the Committee to Defend the President has spent more than $3.5 million on independent expenditures in the 2018 campaign cycle, mostly in support of Trump’s agenda, <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/indexpend.php?cycle=2018&cmte=C00544767" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; touch-action: manipulation;">according to the Center for Responsive Politics </a>and based on the group’s <a href="https://www.fec.gov/data/committee/C00544767/" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; touch-action: manipulation;">FEC reports</a>. One of <a href="http://time.com/4654698/donald-trump-defend-ad/" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; touch-action: manipulation;">its earliest TV ads</a> went viral. The 30-second spot urged viewers to call a toll free number and “pledge your support to defend Donald Trump” from attacks by “liberals in the Democratic party and the crooked media.”<div class="at-below-post addthis_tool" data-url="https://www.factcheck.org/2018/04/committee-to-defend-the-president/" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><footer class="entry-footer" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="term-listing-footer" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 3rem 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"><ul style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1rem; padding: 0px; list-style: none;"><li class="categories" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0.25rem 0.25rem; padding: 0px; text-transform: capitalize; font-weight: 600; position: relative;">Categories<ul style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0px 0.25rem; padding: 0px; list-style: none; display: inline-block;"><li class="cat-item cat-item-4835" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0.25rem 0.25rem; padding: 0.125rem 0.25rem; font-weight: 500; position: relative; list-style: none; display: inline-block; background-color: rgb(244, 244, 244);"><a href="https://www.factcheck.org/players-guide/2018/" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; background-color: transparent; touch-action: manipulation;">Players Guide 2018</a></li></ul></li><li class="post_tag" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0.25rem 0.25rem; padding: 0px; text-transform: capitalize; font-weight: 600; position: relative;">Tags<ul style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0px 0.25rem; padding: 0px; list-style: none; display: inline-block;"><li class="cat-item cat-item-4951" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0.25rem 0.25rem; padding: 0.125rem 0.25rem; font-weight: 500; position: relative; list-style: none; display: inline-block; background-color: rgb(244, 244, 244);"><a href="https://www.factcheck.org/tag/committee-to-defend-the-president/" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; background-color: transparent; touch-action: manipulation;">Committee To Defend The President</a></li></ul></li><li class="location" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0.25rem 0.25rem; padding: 0px; text-transform: capitalize; font-weight: 600; position: relative;">Location<ul style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0px 0.25rem; padding: 0px; list-style: none; display: inline-block;"><li class="cat-item cat-item-2464" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0.25rem 0.25rem; padding: 0.125rem 0.25rem; font-weight: 500; position: relative; list-style: none; display: inline-block; background-color: rgb(244, 244, 244);"><a href="https://www.factcheck.org/location/national/" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; background-color: transparent; touch-action: manipulation;">National</a></li></ul></li><li class="person" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0.25rem 0.25rem; padding: 0px; text-transform: capitalize; font-weight: 600; position: relative;">People<ul style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0px 0.25rem; padding: 0px; list-style: none; display: inline-block;"><li class="cat-item cat-item-1854" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0.25rem 0.25rem; padding: 0.125rem 0.25rem; font-weight: 500; position: relative; list-style: none; display: inline-block; background-color: rgb(244, 244, 244);"><a href="https://www.factcheck.org/person/donald-trump/" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; background-color: transparent; touch-action: manipulation;">Donald Trump</a></li></ul></li></ul></div></footer>=<a href="https://www.publicintegrity.org/2017/01/31/20642/meet-true-source-those-viral-donald-trump-tv-ads">https://www.publicintegrity.org/2017/01/31/20642/meet-true-source-those-viral-donald-trump-tv-ads</a>
<div class="container" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; border: 0px; width: 1280px;"><div class="field-item even first" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;"><div class="body-copy-inner" itemprop="articleBody" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 410px 0px 250px; border: 0px; line-height: 28px; width: 1280px;">Twitter is abuzz over <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkoRH60R0zo" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;">a pro-President Donald Trump television advertisement</a> that urges viewers to call a toll-free number and “pledge your support to defend Donald Trump.”“We need every Trump supporter to pick up the phone now!” the ad’s <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkoRH60R0zo" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;">fast-talking narrator says</a> as he also slams “liberals in the Democratic Party” and the “crooked media” for attacking the newly inaugurated president.The narrator continues: “They think they are going to destroy Trump’s presidency, but they are wrong! … Make your voice heard and help drain the swamp!”The ad became too much for “<a href="https://twitter.com/jess4_RK" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;">@Jess4_RK</a>,” an unverified Twitter user, then with a few hundred followers.On Saturday, she <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/3439256-trumptweet2.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;">tweeted a video</a> of herself watching the ad on CNN and included this all-caps commentary: “WHAT IN THE HELL DID I JUST WATCH???????????????????????????WHEN HAS A PRESIDENT EVER DONE THIS???! IM SCREAMING!!!!!!!!!!!!”Legions of people — including celebrities — began retweeting @Jess4_RK and commenting on her post, which garnered more than 30,000 retweets before she <a href="https://twitter.com/Jess4_RK/status/825358392575266816" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;">blocked public access</a> to her account.“WTF?!?!?” <a href="https://twitter.com/DebraMessing/status/825561679215857668" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;">tweeted</a> actress Debra Messing.“This is just pathetic. Sounds like a commercial for aluminum siding you see on AMC in the middle of a Gunsmoke marathon,” <a href="https://twitter.com/Mikel_Jollett/status/825567746666553344" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;">snarked</a> musician Mikel Jollett.Many outraged commenters believe that Trump himself — or those within Trump’s inner circle — were responsible for the ad.They are mistaken. Not only is there no connection to Trump, the ad is made possible by a group that employs a one-time Trump hater who is making a pretty penny.Who’s behind it?As noted in the fine print displayed in the ad’s final few seconds, the ad is sponsored by the “Committee to Defend the President.”As it <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/3438088-committeetodefendthepresident.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;">described itself in its own fine print</a>, the Committee to Defend the President is a “project of Stop Hillary PAC” and “not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.” (On Saturday, Stop Hillary PAC officially <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/3438089-NameChange.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;">changed its name</a> to “The Committee to Defend the President,” <a href="http://docquery.fec.gov/pdf/619/201701289041532619/201701289041532619.pdf" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;">according to federal records</a>.)Stop Hillary PAC, for its part, is a <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2012/01/meet-the-super-super-pac-071763" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;">hybrid super PAC</a> that <a href="http://docquery.fec.gov/pdf/917/13031070917/13031070917.pdf" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;">formed on May 16, 2013</a> — more than two years before Trump announced his presidential run.</div></div></div><div class="container" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; border: 0px; width: 1280px;"><div class="field-item odd" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;"><publici-ad-unit name="Article-In-Text-Pushdown-Top" class="ng-isolate-scope" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="unit Article-In-Text-Pushdown-Top" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;"><div class="creative Email-Subscribe-Article-In-Text" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;"><publici-ad-creative class="ng-isolate-scope" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div ng-class="{'container':creative.opts.container}" class="ng-scope" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;"><nav class="email-signup-form-wrapper ng-scope" ng-controller="EmailSubscribeController" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;"><div class="email-signup-form clearfix collapsed" ng-class="{collapsed:collapsed}" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 14px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; background-image: url(" sites="sites" publici="publici" themes="themes" publici_theme="publici_theme" images="images" sprites="sprites" newsletter-sprites-low.png="newsletter-sprites-low.png" background-size="background-size" px="px" background-position-x="background-position-x" background-repeat="background-repeat" no-repeat="no-repeat"></div></nav></div></publici-ad-creative></div></div></publici-ad-unit><div class="body-copy-inner" itemprop="articleBody" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 410px 0px 250px; border: 0px; line-height: 28px; width: 1280px;">[pix]<a href="http://www.campaignsolutions.com/team/short/" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;">Guy Short</a>, vice president of fundraising for political consulting firm Campaign Solutions, is a Stop Hillary PAC consultant and, according to an advertising disclosure <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/3438270-Stop-Hillary-PAC-FCC.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;">document</a> filed on January 16 with the Federal Communications Commission, “founder.” Campaign Solutions, it so happens, is also Stop Hillary PAC’s top vendor, according to federal records.Short, who <a href="https://www.minnpost.com/dc-dispatches/2013/04/bachmanns-leadership-pac-could-be-key-ethics-investigation" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;">made</a> <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/03/25/exclusive-congressional-ethics-probe-adds-to-bachmann-s-political-woes.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;">headlines</a> earlier this decade for his political work with ex-Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., is never mentioned in Stop Hillary PAC’s public communications to supporters and potential donors. And he’s no unabashed supporter of Trump.For example, Short last year <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2016/04/23/politics/colorado-gop-republican-national-convention-delegate/" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;">served</a> as a delegate to the Republican National Convention — and pledged to back Sen. Ted Cruz, the Republican U.S. senator who ran against Trump. Short last year also called Trump a “liar,” <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-idUSKCN0X81HE" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;">telling Reuters</a> in April that he “spent thousands of dollars of my own money campaigning to become a delegate because it's that important to make sure Donald Trump is NOT our nominee."In an <a href="https://www.coloradostatesman.com/short-trumps-cynical-assault-colorado-national-delegates/" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;">opinion piece published last year</a> in the Colorado Statesman, Short further accused Trump of “spewing his usual fiction” and trafficking in “insults, lies, distortion and vulgarity.” He also lamented: “It’s very worrisome to wonder how a man like Trump would exercise the powers of the presidency.”In an email Monday, Short noted that he and many other Republicans, including Trump’s general election campaign manager Kellyanne Conway, didn’t support Trump during the party’s primary.“After the primary was over and my preferred candidate lost the nomination, I worked hard to defeat Hillary Clinton and elect Donald Trump — just like I have in the past five presidential cycles when my preferred candidate didn’t win,” Short said, adding that he contributed $5,000 to Trump’s transition committee. “The President has my full support. This is about as common in politics as its gets. I fail to see how this is newsworthy.”<a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2014/03/10/dan-backer-campaign-finance-mccutcheon-supreme-court/6259863/" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;">Dan Backer</a> — a Virginia-based lawyer and political consultant who serves as Stop Hillary PAC’s treasurer — confirmed Short has worked with Stop Hillary PAC since its inception in 2013.“Guy regularly talks to media vendors on behalf of [the Committee to Defend the President] to ensure digital and non-digital communications are in sync,” Backer said. “He was tasked with point on this particular project.”Initially, Stop Hillary PAC made its most notable mark on politics by <a href="https://www.publicintegrity.org/2015/06/01/17430/anti-hillary-groups-fec-take-hike" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;">feuding with the Federal Election Commission</a> over whether it could even use its own name.Federal law <a href="https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CFR-2013-title11-vol1/pdf/CFR-2013-title11-vol1-sec102-14.pdf" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;">stipulates</a>: “No unauthorized committee shall include the name of any candidate in its name." And while the FEC <a href="http://docquery.fec.gov/pdf/454/15330081454/15330081454.pdf" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;">prodded</a> Stop Hillary PAC to comply, it refused, even after Hillary Clinton in April 2013 announced she’d seek the Democratic presidential nomination.Then, last year, Stop Hillary PAC raised eyebrows when it <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/2806354-Stophillarypac-Centerforpublicintegrityemail.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;">emailed fundraising pleas</a> — signed by “Donald and Ted,” sans last names — at a time when Trump and Cruz were still battling to win the Republican presidential nomination.The PAC <a href="https://www.publicintegrity.org/2016/04/21/19580/1-billion-spent-2016-presidential-race-and-other-numbers-know" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;">later explained to the Center for Public Integrity</a> that “Donald” is Donald Ferguson, the PAC’s political director, and “Ted” is <a href="http://kdvr.com/2013/07/22/colo-sen-ted-harvey-leading-new-stop-hillary-super-pac/" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;">Ted Harvey</a>, its chairman.Indeed, when someone calls the phone number provided in the Committee to Defend the President’s TV ad, Harvey — a former Colorado state senator — delivers a message to anyone who presses “1” to that reiterates the TV ads’ themes of Democrats and journalists attacking Trump. But then, Harvey gets to the underlying point of the ad campaign: money.“Can we count on you to make a contribution to help us support Donald Trump?” asks Harvey, who in a <a href="http://www.breitbart.com/radio/2016/05/31/ted-harvey-stop-hillary-pac/" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;">radio interview last year</a> with Stephen K. Bannon — the Breitbart honcho who’s now one of Trump’s top aides — asserted that Stop Hillary PAC is “the largest right-of-center organization in the country.”Those who press “1” are forwarded to a call center to make a donation. Those who press “2” get another message from Harvey.“I understand a donation is a lot to ask for,” he says. “But now is our time to stand up and support President Trump. Your support is critical in this effort … If you can make even a modest donation, please say ‘yes’ or press ‘1’.”Backer declined to discuss the Stop Hillary PAC ad campaign’s scope or cost, explaining that “my client isn’t interested in sharing the details or results of its strategy at this time.”But the ad run appears limited. Kantar Media/CMAG, a firm that tracks TV advertising, had no record of Stop Hillary PAC’s pro-Trump ad appearing on broadcast or national cable TV. That means the ads likely ran on local cable and/or satellite TV systems.(Update, 5:52 p.m., Feb. 1, 2017: A <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/3441039-Order.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;">new purchase order document</a> filed with the FCC indicate the Committee to Defend the President purchased at least $16,830 worth of TV ads through <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/3441040-Fcc.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;">satellite system DirecTV</a>.The purchase order asks that the ads run six times on DirecTV's "news cluster," which according to DirecTV's <a href="http://cdn.directv.com/cms3/special_projects/ad_sales_microsite/DIRECTV_Ad_Sales_Media_Kit.pdf" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;">ad sales listing</a> includes CNN, Fox News, Fox Business, Bloomberg Television, CNBC, HLN and the Weather Channel. The "news cluster" also includes MSNBC, but the purchase order specifically asks that the ads not run on MSNBC.)Money inWhen it comes to fundraising, Stop Hillary PAC is nothing if not aggressive.Since October, a Center for Public Integrity reporter who signed up to receive updates from Stop Hillary PAC received 126 emails from the group. Almost all of them asked for money, or featured gimmicks — polls, surveys, online “focus groups” — that led supporters to a donation page.In the weeks before Election Day, Stop Hillary PAC <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/3438455-stophillarypacsign.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;">peddled yard signs</a> that were nearly indistinguishable from those marketed by <a href="http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/newjerseyhills.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/6/1f/61f3c5f4-bff6-5f6a-b1b1-abeadb9edbfb/57d01c372621e.image.jpg?resize=1200%2C900" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;">Trump’s own campaign committee</a>. The difference: Stop Hillary PAC’s signs earned money for Stop Hillary PAC, not Trump.The incessant fundraising has worked: After raising about $1.1 million during 2013 and 2014, Stop Hillary PAC’s fundraising exploded during 2015 and 2016, generating more than $6.3 million from donors, <a href="http://docquery.fec.gov/cgi-bin/fecimg/?C00544767" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;">according to federal filings</a>.Nearly four-fifths of that amount came from people contributing $200 or less, a Center for Public Integrity analysis of FEC data indicates.Of those who contributed more than $200, the most common occupation listed for such donors is “retired.”Money outStop Hillary PAC spent more than $6 million during 2015 and 2016 combined, according to FEC records.But federal records likewise indicate that only about one-fourth of this amount went toward advertisements or other communications, such as robocalls, that overtly supported or opposed a political candidate.</div></div></div><div class="container" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; border: 0px; width: 1280px;"><div class="field-item even" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;"><div class="body-copy-inner" itemprop="articleBody" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 410px 0px 250px; border: 0px; line-height: 28px; width: 1280px;">The rest of the money went toward a variety of other expenditures, most notably fees paid to political consultants in Northern Virginia and Ohio.Among them: Infocision, an Akron, Ohio-based telemarketing company that consumer advocates have <a href="https://www.publicintegrity.org/2015/12/14/19002/inside-ben-carsons-small-dollar-fundraising-machine" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;">criticized</a> for using <a href="https://www.publicintegrity.org/2015/12/14/19002/inside-ben-carsons-small-dollar-fundraising-machine" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;">misleading tactics</a> that target the elderly. (Infocision officials <a href="http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2012/10/infocision_new_ceo_son_of_tele.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;">have</a> <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/10/31/right-wing-group-citizens-united-again-may-have-tried-to-trick-the-elderly-into-giving-it-cash.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;">defended</a> company practices as lawful.) Stop Hillary PAC’s single largest vendor is Campaign Solutions, for which Stop Hillary PAC vendor Short serves as a vice president. Stop Hillary PAC paid Campaign Solutions about $1.5 million during the 2015-2016 election cycle, according to federal disclosures. That includes about $800,000 to obtain the personal information of potential donors and another $400,000 in fundraising fees.The PAC also directly donated about $52,000 to a handful of Republican candidates, including $5,000 to Trump’s presidential campaign.Why it mattersStop Hillary PAC’s pro-Trump ad is a prime example of how political ads aren’t always what they seem.What some lay viewers may interpret as a straightforward call to arms from Trump himself is really a fundraising effort for an unaffiliated political group that’s in part operated by a man who’s openly questioned Trump’s fitness for the presidency.But Backer, who says he’s received several harassing phone calls about the ad in recent days, makes no apologies to those who feel misled or assume Trump is behind the ads.“The ad is fully compliant with applicable law as to disclaimers, and my client can’t control the unreasonable inferences drawn by unreasonable people,” Backer said.Chris Zubak-Skees and Michael Beckel contributed to this report.This article was co-published by <a href="http://time.com/4654698/donald-trump-defend-ad/?xid=homepage" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;">TIME</a> and <a href="https://www.pri.org/stories/2017-01-31/meet-true-source-those-viral-donald-trump-tv-ads" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;">Public Radio International</a>.</div></div></div>
McConnell surely knew as a participant in high level intelligence briefings in 2016 that our electoral process was under attack by the Russians. Two weeks after the Department of Homeland Security and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence issued a joint statement in October 2016 that the Russian government had directed the effort to interfere in our electoral process, McConnell's PAC accepted a $1 million donation from Blavatnik's AI-Altep Holdings. The PAC took another $1 million from Blavatnik's AI-Altep Holdings on March 30, 2017, just 10 days after former FBI Director James Comey publicly testified before the House Intelligence Committee about Russia's interference in the election.
And consider Steve Mnuchin, Trump's campaign finance chairman. Could he have known that the Trump Victory Fund, jointly managed by the Republican National Committe and Trump's campaign, took contributions from Intrater and Kukes? Mnuchin owned Hollywood financing company RatPac-Dune with Blavatnik until he sold his stake to accept Trump's appointment as the Treasury secretary.
Which PAC officials are making the decisions to accept these donations?
The Supreme CourtThe contributions are legal because the Supreme Court's 2010 ruling, Citizens United, and several subsequent decisions, allowed American corporations and citizens to give unlimited amounts of money to PACs and non-profit 501c4 organizations, regardless of how they make their money, where they make their money, or with whom they make their money. The only caveat is that PACs and non-profits cannot coordinate their activities with the political candidates they support.
The man who led the winning fight for Citizens United was David Bossie, president of the conservative non-profit since 2001. In 1996, Bossie was hired by Republican Rep. Dan Burton to lead an investigation into President Bill Clinton's campaign fundraising. Burton fired him 18 months later for manipulating recordings of conversations among law officials and Webb Hubbell, a Clinton confidant who resigned as associate attorney general and pleaded guilty to tax fraud during the Whitewater investigation. CNN reported at the time that Newt Gingrich, who was speaker of the House, called Bossie's tampering with the Hubbell recordings an embarrassment to the Republicans.
Bossie served as Trump's deputy campaign chairman.
The Super PAC, Make America Number 1, is primarily funded by Trump's largest donor, Robert Mercer. His Renaissance Technologies hedge fund donated $15.5 million to the PAC.
Mercer's daughter, Rebekah, assumed control of Make America Number 1 in September 2016 and is now tainted by her role in the communications between Wikileaks and Cambridge Analytica, the firm that Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, hired for $5.9 million to handle the digital portion of the Trump campaign.
Robert and Rebekah Mercer are major investors in Cambridge Analytica. According to The Wall Street Journal, Rebekah Mercer asked Cambridge chief executive Alexander Nix if the firm could compile stolen emails related to Hillary Clinton so that they could be more easily searched. (This suggestion came from someone she met at an event supporting Sen. Ted Cruz, according to The Hill. Cambridge Analytica had worked on digital marketing for Cruz before he dropped out of the Republican primary.)
Nix confirmed that he had asked Wikileaks founder Julian Assange to forward the Clinton-related emails. Assange said he declined the request.
Rebekah Mercer also heads the non-profit Making America Great, formed in March 2017. The non-profit ran a seven-figure ad campaign highlighting Trump's achievements. Bossie is the group's chief strategist.[russia in brezit w/ c anal?]
Erik Prince, brother of Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, contributed $150,000 to Mercer's Make America Number 1 PAC and another $100,000 to the Trump Victory Fund. Prince has recently testified to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence about his trip to the remote Seychelles for a secret meeting in December 2016 with a close ally of Putin, Kirill Dmitriev, head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund. The purpose of the meeting was allegedly to setup a back channel of communication between then president-elect Donald Trump and the Russians, though Prince has denied this allegation. Before the 2015-16 elections, Prince's political contributions totaled a mere $31,800 as far back as 2007, according to FEC records.
The hybrid super-PAC, The Committee to Defend the President, was formed in 2013 under the name Stop Hillary PAC. It is managed by Dan Backer, the lead attorney who won the McCutcheon vs. Federal Election Commission case in 2014. The Supreme Court decision eliminated the cap on how much wealthy individuals can donate to federal candidates, parties and PACs in a single, two-year election cycle.
Like Bossie, Dan Backer helped to open the floodgates to millions of dollars of influence brought to bear on incumbents and their political challengers who are now pressured to kowtow to their donors with the biggest bank accounts, even if their billions are earned in Russian rubles.
Backer was born in Russia and emigrated with his family to the U.S. in 1978.
The changes to our campaign finance laws created an avenue for Russia to try to influence our elections. There are holes in our firewall and they aren't on the internet.
Cyprus is at the center of a circle of corruption surrounding TrumpTouch chart to see info:

Ruth May is a business professor at the University of Dallas and an expert on the economies of Russia and Ukraine. She wrote this column for The Dallas Morning News. Twitter: @ruthcmay=</div></div>