![]() ![]() “How much money do we need every month to fund the party?” We sent the party nearly $20 million from September until the convention, and more to prepare for the election.” “That was the deal that Robby struck with Debbie,” he explained, referring to campaign manager Robby Mook. Gary said the campaign had to do it or the party would collapse. You’re telling me that Hillary has been controlling it since before she got the nomination?” “That victory fund was supposed to be for whoever was the nominee, and the state party races. Money in the battleground states usually stayed in that state, but all the other states funneled that money directly to the DNC, which quickly transferred the money to Brooklyn. The money would be deposited in the states first, and transferred to the DNC shortly after that. Individuals who had maxed out their $2,700 contribution limit to the campaign could write an additional check for $353,400 to the Hillary Victory Fund-that figure represented $10,000 to each of the 32 states’ parties who were part of the Victory Fund agreement-$320,000-and $33,400 to the DNC. But the limits are much higher for contributions to state parties and a party’s national committee. Under FEC law, an individual can contribute a maximum of $2,700 directly to a presidential campaign. The campaign had the DNC on life support, giving it money every month to meet its basic expenses, while the campaign was using the party as a fund-raising clearinghouse. He described the party as fully under the control of Hillary’s campaign, which seemed to confirm the suspicions of the Bernie camp. “I don’t know how Debbie relates to the officers,” Gary said. “Gary, how did they do this without me knowing?” I asked. “The party cannot take out a loan without the unanimous agreement of all of the officers.” On the phone Gary told me the DNC had needed a $2 million loan, which the campaign had arranged. This sign-up form is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. You can unsubscribe at any time and you can contact us here. She seemed to make decisions on her own and let us know at the last minute what she had decided, as she had done when she told us about the hacking only minutes before the Washington Post broke the news.īy signing up you agree to receive email newsletters or updates from POLITICO and you agree to our privacy policy and terms of service. In my experience she didn’t come to the officers of the DNC for advice and counsel. If I didn’t know about this, I assumed that none of the other officers knew about it, either. Hillary for America (the campaign) and the Hillary Victory Fund (its joint fundraising vehicle with the DNC) had taken care of 80 percent of the remaining debt in 2016, about $10 million, and had placed the party on an allowance. Obama’s campaign was not scheduled to pay it off until 2016. Obama left the party $24 million in debt-$15 million in bank debt and more than $8 million owed to vendors after the 2012 campaign-and had been paying that off very slowly. Officials from Hillary’s campaign had taken a look at the DNC’s books. “I am an officer of the party and they’ve been telling us everything is fine and they were raising money with no problems.” ![]() ![]() He told me the Democratic Party was broke and $2 million in debt. The Saturday morning after the convention in July, I called Gary Gensler, the chief financial officer of Hillary’s campaign. How much control Brooklyn had and for how long was still something I had been trying to uncover for the last few weeks.īy September 7, the day I called Bernie, I had found my proof and it broke my heart. ![]() She hadn’t been very interested in controlling the party-she let Clinton’s headquarters in Brooklyn do as it desired so she didn’t have to inform the party officers how bad the situation was. It had become dependent on her campaign for survival, for which she expected to wield control of its operations.ĭebbie was not a good manager. As Hillary’s campaign gained momentum, she resolved the party’s debt and put it on a starvation diet. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, had not been the most active chair in fundraising at a time when President Barack Obama’s neglect had left the party in significant debt. ![]()
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