Free Republic

I'm liking this... Donald Trump dramatically escalated his feud with rival Ted Cruz on Monday, threatening to sue the Texas senator over his eligibility for office if he does not retract alleged **lies** about Trumps positions – and calling on the Republican National Committee to intervene on two fronts. The billionaire businessman wants the RNC to pressure Cruz, and also stop allowing so many donors at the debates. If the RNC does not **get its act together,** Trump warned, they would be violating the **pledge** he signed to support the eventual GOP nominee. I think he should sue. Cruz either...

Jeb Bush has an event on Feb. 15 in Key Largo, while Florida rival Marco Rubio goes to Ocean Reef on March 11. The invitation for Rubio's has more than twice as many names, including Cynthia & Patrick Lee, Judy & Gary Ball, and Maggie & Steve Parker. Bush's host committee includes Jorge Arrizurieta, Nanci & Nick Lanni and Nancy & Bobby Schostak.

Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia died today and already the Democratic party is fundraising off his death. In an email sent out by the Democratic National Committee, supporters are asked to chipping in some money for the coming Supreme Court nomination fight.

Some of the biggest Republican donors, who collectively have contributed tens of millions of dollars to shape the presidential race, are tightening their purse strings out of frustration with their inability to boost their favored candidates, or to slow Donald Trump. Rather than continuing to write huge checks to support the cluster of establishment candidates jockeying to emerge as the leading alternative to Trump, a billionaire real estate showman roundly despised by the GOP elite, these donors have mostly retreated to the sidelines. They're watching anxiously, hoping that the field sorts itself out, according to interviews with a half dozen...

Rev up Air Force One, it's fundraising time again, along with symbolic moments and scenic views. In 48 hours President Obama departs the nation's capital for points west and an extended stay. Here's what's on the big travel agenda, beginning Wednesday: "Nine years after he announced his candidacy for president, the President will return to the place where his political career began by traveling to Springfield, Illinois. Now in the final year of his second term, the President looks forward to addressing the Illinois General Assembly about what we can do, together, to build better politics," the White House advises....

Republican presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) ’s campaign has announced that they have raised $3 million dollars since the Iowa caucus.

Reports filed with the Federal Election Commission on Sunday showed that wealthy donors who according to The New York Times have built a powerful shadow Republican Party of outside groups, are splitting into two mutually hostile and deep-pocketed factions in support of Sens. Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz. The report shows that many of the Wall Street financiers who have been the backbones of Republican super PACs in the last six years believe that Sen. Marco Rubio is the best GOP candidate to win a general election battle against front-runner Hillary Clinton and in the last six months has raised...

Sunday is the first time in six months that the public has learned the names of the biggest donors in presidential politics. These contributors give to super political action committees that can accept unlimited amounts of money and are aligned with specific candidates. The 15 major party candidates in the race also are due to file year-end fundraising reports on Sunday. They have until midnight. ...

CARSON AMERICA: DETAILS OF FILING #1046898 COVERS OCT. 1, 2015 THROUGH DEC. 31, 2015 TOTAL RECEIPTS: $22,627,101 TOTAL SPENDING: $27,331,988 ENDING CASH: $6,567,647 ORIGINALLY FILED JAN. 31, 2016, 6:28 P.M.

CRUZ FOR PRESIDENT: DETAILS OF FILING #1046977 COVERS OCT. 1, 2015 THROUGH DEC. 31, 2015 TOTAL RECEIPTS: $20,519,558 TOTAL SPENDING: $15,563,668 ENDING CASH: $18,734,794 OUTSTANDING DEBTS: $862,620 ORIGINALLY FILED JAN. 31, 2016, 7:13 P.M.

Money may be growing tight for four Republican presidential hopefuls clustered under Donald Trump and Ted Cruz - just when they're about to need it the most. Financial reports coming out Sunday will reveal those who began the year with enough cash to put their long-range campaign plans into motion. -snip- The financial health of the campaigns of Christie, Kasich, Bush and Rubio is critically important because they're competing not only with each other, but with Trump, a billionaire who has vowed to spend whatever it takes to win, and Cruz, who began the year with $19 million in the...

This Sunday is the deadline for campaigns and PACs to file their next FEC report, with fundraising and spending numbers covering July 1 through Dec. 31, 2015. This is the first time we've seen numbers from super PACs since June, and a lot has happened since then. We'll be using our Real-Time Influence Explorer to keep track of the filings as they come in, tweeting out interesting and noteworthy insights on Twitter -follow along! Here's a quick rundown of what we can expect from the filing deadline, and some of the things we'll be looking out for: 1. How much...

And it’s good news for more than one reason, although the current temperature of the electorate may not appreciate the nuances at the moment. The RNC set a record for off-year fundraising in 2015, chair Reince Priebus announced on Twitter earlier today, with a total haul of $105 million. The party entered 2016 with nearly $19 million in cash, too: BREAKING: Historic year for @GOP. Raised off-year record $105.6M in 2015, $18.7M COH. We're the only org focused/ready for general election— Reince Priebus (@Reince) January 27, 2016 Much of that came from smaller donors, according to The Hill’s sources:...

HI-larious. Sen. Ted Cruz, responding to a barrage of attacks from a sitting GOP governor and businessman Donald Trump, Wednesday said his campaign raised $700,000 in the hours after he was pointedly criticized by Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad. Mr. Cruz, speaking to reporters in New Hampshire, said party leaders in Washington are so fearful of his candidacy that he believes they are rallying behind Mr. Trump rather than Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida – a rival of Mr. Cruz’s who has been considered an establishment favorite. With enemies like those, who needs friends, right? Cruz continues to have plenty of...

GOP elites have blown $65 million on Jeb Bush so far this campaign cycle and have another $30 million to blow on his failed campaign. Roll Call reported: The spectacular bust of Jeb Bush's campaign for president so far is as much a story about Bush himself as it is about the failure of Right to Rise, the shock-and-awe super PAC that was supposed to launch him into the lead and keep him there. Right to Rise raised $103 million in 2015 and has spent more than $65 million so far. But nine months after he got into the race,...

Rep. Steve Israel (D-N.Y.) says the demands of fundraising helped drive him to retirement, and he is pushing for campaign finance reform. Israel, a prominent House Democrat who once headed up the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, announced earlier this month that he will not run for reelection. ...

Dean Parker was under fire for big spending, including paying himself $20,000 a month. Ben Carson's national finance chairman resigned Thursday amid questions about his use of campaign funds and criticism from Carson allies and donors. Carson, a retired neurosurgeon, appointed Parker, a tech industry entrepreneur from Mobile, Alabama, in May to spearhead the campaign’s fundraising efforts. Parker’s been a relatively little-noticed campaign power, having Carson’s ear despite friction with other leaders. Since he joined, some campaign insiders told POLITICO, his operation has piled up unnecessary expenses and paid hefty consulting fees to an inexperienced staff. Parker recently began earning...

The pro-Jeb Bush super PAC Vamos for Jeb 2016 is shuttering its doors. The group, which was formed by political website Elephant News founder Claire Hardwick, sent a letter to the Federal Election Commission Tuesday announcing its decision to disband. "The committee has not raised nor dispersed any funds and would like to accordingly terminate and be discontinued," wrote Andrea Wong, the treasurer for the super PAC. "Up to this point the only activity done were social media pages on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook which have been deactivated." Hardwick said that she launched the group in March with Wong, who...

Via BuzzFeed, I'm trying to think of another case where a member of a movement as prominent as Huckabee is among politically active evangelicals has turned around and basically accused the rest of the movement of being money-grubbing frauds. Because that's what he's doing here, no? Listen to the clip and tell me I'm wrong. Six weeks ago, this guy was desperately seeking the support of many of the same Christian conservative leaders, most notably Bob Vander Plaats, who endorsed him in 2008. But it hasn't gone his way; a coalition of influential evangelicals decided at a meeting in early...

Dick Uilhlein, one of the top Republican megadonors nationwide, has decided to back Ted Cruz's presidential campaign and has donated $1 million to his super PAC. Uilhlein committed on Wednesday evening, according to Drew Ryun, a super PAC official with Keep The Promise PAC. "He is one of the top five courted GOP donors," Ryun told CNN. "For us to land him is a good shot in the arm for Ted, and it really sets the stage going into Iowa." Uilhlein previously backed Scott Walker's campaign and gave $2.5 million to his super PAC. Uilhlein, of Illinois, started the shipping...