Free Republic

Former Florida Jeb Bush on Sunday night was the "special guest" at an event hosted by Right to Rise, the super PAC supporting Bush's 2016 campaign. Bush's appearance at the event illustrated just how closely a candidate can work alongside a super PAC campaigning on his behalf, even though any official "coordination" between a super PAC and an electoral candidate is illegal. The Right to Rise event, a retreat for its top donors, was incidentally held in the same Houston hotel where the Bush campaign was hunkered down for the weekend. "We have our own invitations, they're in different spots,"...

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- There was an ice storm in South Carolina this morning, but it was even colder inside a Staples store where a Mitt Romney press conference suddenly went sour. Romney was in the middle of answering a routine question when he said something that caused Associated Press reporter Glen Johnson to lose his temper. “I don’t have lobbyists running my campaign,” Romney said. “I don’t have lobbyists that are tied to my … ” “That’s not true, governor!” Johnson suddenly interjected. “That is not true. Ron Kaufman is a lobbyist.” Kaufman is a well-known lobbyist, former adviser to...

2014 Democrat candidates are facing a daunting challenge--- the White House’s handling of the border crisis has endangered Democrats. Disgruntled Dummycrats themselves are backing off reform---reaffirming America's view that reform was a crack-brained idea to begin with. POLITICO.COM REPORTS--as midterms loom three "reform-minded" groups launched by business titans are all but silent on the campaign trail. No ads on immigration reform are airing. Even more illustrative of reform's toxicity---Senate Republican candidates in battleground states are launching attack ads against Democrats accusing them of supporting “amnesty,” leaving pro-immigration reform candidates even more vulnerable and immigration reform even less likely to happen....

While millions descend on Washington for the historic Inauguration of Barack Obama on Jan. 20, some Republicans see it as an occasion to get out of town. Out of power on both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue and mostly out of favor on K Street, many emasculated elephants in the GOP herd will begin the Age of Obama with what amounts to an extended holiday vacation. Instead of fighting the quadrennial cold and what are expected to be record-setting crowds, they're heading out to greener pastures, with better temperatures, less hassle and more agreeable company. “What better way to mark the...

Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and her chief of staff Saikat Chakrabarti obtained majority control of Justice Democrats PAC in December 2017, according to archived copies of the group’s website, and the two appear to retain their control of the group, according to corporate filings obtained by The Daily Caller News Foundation. If the Federal Election Commission (FEC) finds that the New York Democrat’s campaign operated in affiliation with the PAC, which had raised more than $1.8 million before her June 2018 primary, it would open them up to “massive reporting violations, probably at least some illegal contribution violations exceeding the...

Alaska as Democratic Opportunity?: The soon-to-be official resignation of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) could hand Democrats a legitimate pickup opportunity, according to a recent poll in the Last Frontier obtained by the Fix. The survey, which was conducted by Global Strategy Group, showed Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell (R) at 41 percent to former state Sen. Ethan Berkowitz's (D) 40 percent -- a statistical dead heat. Democrats held the Alaska governorship from 1994 until 2002 as Gov. Tony Knowles (D) benefited from a fractured Republican party and serious independent candidates. As for those who argued that Palin decided to leave...

Full Title JUST IN: Jeb Bush Super PAC Hit with Massive FEC Fine For Accepting $1.3 Million in Illegal Donations From Chinese Corporation The Intercept has determined that a corporation owned by a Chinese couple made a major donation to Jeb Bush’s Super PAC Right to Rise USA — and it did so after receiving detailed advice from Charlie Spies, arguably the most important Republican campaign finance lawyer in American politics. The Spies memo was dated February 19, 2015. One month later, American Pacific International Capital Inc., a California corporation owned by Gordon Tang and Huaidan Chen, a married couple...

A prominent super PAC of key allies of President George W. Bush and failed presidential candidate Mitt Romney, formed to give Republicans who support amnesty legislation air cover, failed to raise any money during the first quarter of this year. Carlos Gutierrez, the former Bush Commerce Secretary, and Charlie Spies, the co-founder of Restore Our Future, which was the biggest pro-Romney super PAC, formed the Republicans For Immigration Reform super PAC "to provide political support for Republican candidates" backing comprehensive immigration reform. According to its Federal Election Commission report, which was filed on April 15 and covers the period from...

Republican operatives want to help establishment candidates fend off tea party challenges with a new weapon: unlimited cash. Consultants and attorneys — including the co-founder of the pro-Mitt Romney super PAC — are laying the groundwork or have already filed paperwork for dozens of super PACs organized to support individual candidates running next year. -spies- Single-candidate super PACs also is a sign party leaders believe donors are unhappy with the results of big money groups in recent years — and are willing to take their checkbooks elsewhere. Rove’s Crossroads groups budgeted more than $300 million on a plan to defeat...