Free Republic

NEW YORK — Taken aback by the size of Donald Trump’s July fundraising haul, Hillary Clinton’s campaign is quickly working to beef up its efforts to raise campaign cash before the fall — sending the candidate, running mate Tim Kaine, and former President Bill Clinton on an all-out financial sprint through August while explicitly warning top fundraisers this week that they need to pick up the pace. In an internal memo, first obtained by POLITICO, that will be circulated to high-level donors on Monday morning, campaign manager Robby Mook specifically writes that the Republican nominee’s July haul overshot the campaign’s...

Donald J. Trump all but erased his enormous fund-raising disadvantage against Hillary Clinton in the span of just two months, according to figures released by his campaign on Wednesday, converting the passion of his core followers into a flood of small donations on a scale rarely seen in national politics. Mr. Trump and the Republican National Committee raised $64 million through a joint digital and mail effort in July, according to his campaign, the bulk of it from small donations. All told, Mr. Trump and his party brought in $82 million last month, only slightly behind Mrs. Clinton’s $90 million,...

With the political conventions behind them, Donald Trump and the Republican National Committee are scrambling to close their ground game gap with Hillary Clinton – boosting fundraising and concentrating on vital battlegrounds, even as some sources suggest they have a long way to go. The campaign notoriously has lagged Clinton's in organizational strength, but faces the unavoidable reality that a ticket to the White House requires victory in key swing states like Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania and North Carolina.

Donald Trump gave a sneak preview of his July fundraising numbers on Monday, saying he raised at least $35.8 million from small donations. "We have raised, with the small donors, $35.8 million. I believe it's 517,000 [donations]. Think about that: that's in a month," he said Monday during a rally in Columbus, Ohio. "How incredible is that? It's not even to me the money; it's the concept." He added that the average donation he received was $69 and that the total doesn't include donations from those "putting up larger numbers." Presidential candidates have to report donations monthly. Trump, the Republican...

All the pomp and circumstance has passed. The balloons have fallen, and the conventions are over and through. Expect to see a bounce for Secretary Clinton that essentially wipes away the bump Donald Trump received in the hours and days following his Cleveland closeout. Yes, now is the time in the presidential election cycle for the proverbial pivot - the shift to full campaign mode in which each side bunkers down and prepares for the onslaught of war. The team that makes the fewest mistakes in this episode wins.I love these times. They test the political mettle of a candidate....

If you’re thinking about breaking the law and prefer not to spend any time in court, you may want to check into registering as a Democrat. The latest person in our hit parade of folks who appear to have broken the law but somehow fail to attract the interest of the authorities is none other than soon to be retired Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid. Before we get too carried away here, though, it’s worth noting that the law which Reid is accused of breaking isn’t exactly up there on the list with Grand Theft Auto. His office sent out...

The DNC was trying to hide the details of the fundraising deal they struck with Hillary Clinton; Clinton would do joint fundraising gigs with state democratic parties across the country and allow states to keep only a tiny fraction of the money raised. David Pakman discusses this.

PHILADELPHIA — Leaked emails show the Democratic National Committee scrambled this spring to conceal the details of a joint fundraising arrangement with Hillary Clinton that funneled money through state Democratic parties. During the three-month period when the DNC was working to spin the situation, state parties kept less than one half of one percent of the $82 million raised through the arrangement — validating concerns raised by campaign finance watchdogs, state party allies and Bernie Sanders supporters. The arrangement, called the Hillary Victory Fund, allowed the Clinton campaign to seek contributions of hundreds of thousands of dollars to attend extravagant...

A super PAC initially linked to Ted Cruz transformed itself Wednesday into a new big-money group backing Donald Trump, the latest twist in the confusing orbit of pro-Trump super PACs. The new group, Make America Number I, was until Wednesday known as Keep the Promise I, a group funded almost entirely by $13.5 million from Republican megadonor Robert Mercer. The super PAC will now focus primarily on advertising opposing HIllary Clinton as opposed to supporting Trump, according to spokeswoman Kristina Hernandez, a decision made to give Trump-skeptical donors more comfort in contributing. Make America Number I is at least the...

Washington (CNN)Donald Trump and his joint fundraising committee have raised at least $11 million since Tuesday morning, Republicans said Wednesday, a tremendously quick haul that comes amid concerns about his fundraising ability. Trump Victory, the joint fundraising account with the Republican National Committee, and Trump's official campaign raised $5 million online since Tuesday morning, when it sent one of its first fundraising pitches to its email list, according to Sean Spicer, an RNC spokesman.

It's all about wedge-issues and fundraising. Before we start talking about the left-wing hissy fit unfolding in the House of Representatives, you need to keep something in mind. This is an election year. Democrats need four things: 1. They need to further their 100 year old agenda of banning guns. 2. They need to blame guns for their failure to deal with radical Islam. 3. They need a 2016 wedge issue. 4. They need - desperately - a massive pile of the political cash they claim to hate.

The Mainstream Media and spineless Republican critics were out in force earlier this week bemoaning Donald Trump’s lack of a political fundraising operation. Team Trump shrugged off the criticism and then proceeded to initiate a fundraising effort that saw a groundswell of support from backers both great and small who quickly amassed a remarkable $11 million dollars into the coffers of Team Trump and the RNC. Much to the chagrin of the Clinton Machine and Trump’s critics, it doesn’t appear the New York billionaire will have any trouble raising campaign cash. The astonishing 48-hour $11 million mark was reported on...

2 million in 12 hours, Trump is doing matching funds, so it's 4 million.

Donald Trump's campaign started the month with a paltry $1.3 million in cash — a mere fraction of Hillary Clinton's $42.5 million war chest — putting the GOP frontrunner at a sharp disadvantage heading into the general election against Clinton's money machine. … And it's not just money — the filings revealed a campaign staff of less than 70, a number was dwarfed by Clinton's nearly 700 paid employees, and few of the campaign's expenses suggested work had begun to build out a more robust operation. All together, it's the most lopsided fundraising start to a presidential election in the...

Kif LeswingJune 22, 2016 Apple CEO Tim Cook will host a private breakfast for Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan next week, Politico reports. The breakfast is being hosted by Cook, according to the report, and not Apple itself. The event is expected to raise funds that will help elect House Republicans as well as Ryan. The move is a sign that Apple remains a bipartisan tech company, even as it has withdrawn its support for the Republican National Convention because of presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump's controversial views and campaign. Previously, Apple donated support to both the Republican and Democratic...

How many of you Donald Trump supporters are starting to worry about what you hear in the media? Their job is to turn your candidate into in an unelectable commodity. They are not supportive of Trump nor do they want him in the White House. If there's one thing that is constant truth it is that Trump is not a politician so the way he campaigns is not like what you're used to seeing, so I wouldn't worry that much about what the media runs on TV. This morning on NBC's Today, it seemed that the hosts work concern how...

LAS VEGAS — Donald Trump on Saturday claimed most of the money he's been collecting at his recent fundraisers is going to the Republican Party, but also threatened to cut the GOP off if support from the party wavers. "Right now I'm raising a lot of money for the Republican Party, and a lot of beneficiaries to that, and I like doing it," Trump said. "Life is like a two-way street, right?" Trump said. "They have to [help], otherwise I'll just keep doing what I'm doing, I'll just keep funding my own campaign…for me, that's the easy way," he said....

The Donald Trump campaign on Saturday released its first "emergency" fund-raising email, in response to an ad blitz from the Hillary Clinton campaign. "Right now we're facing an emergency goal of $100,000 to help get our ads on the air. We need your contribution by 11:59 P.M. Tonight," the email from Team Trump said. "Crooked Hillary is about to invade your TV with ads attacking Mr. Trump. But we're preparing to fight back," it reads. The email promises to release ads attacking Clinton on her role in Benghazi, the integrity of her donors and reported FBI probing of her private...

The Donald Trump campaign has sent its first "emergency" fundraising email to supporters Saturday, seeking to raise at least $100,000 by the end of the day. That request follows a multimillion dollar ad blitz launched by likely general election rival Hillary Clinton this week. "Right now we're facing an emergency goal of $100,000 to help get our ads on the air," the email said. "We need your contribution by 11:59 P.M. Tonight." "Crooked Hillary is about to invade your TV with ads attacking Mr. Trump. But we're preparing to fight back," it reads, adding that the campaign plans to attack...

Newly released State Department emails help reveal how a major Clinton Foundation donor was placed on a sensitive government intelligence advisory board even though he had no obvious experience in the field, a decision that appeared to baffle the department’s professional staff. The emails further reveal how, after inquiries from ABC News, the Clinton staff sought to “protect the name” of the Secretary, “stall” the ABC News reporter and ultimately accept the resignation of the donor just two days later. Copies of dozens of internal emails were provided to ABC News by the conservative political group Citizens United, which obtained...