The $500K transfer to the Fiorina campaign was no secret, and was out as soon as it took place right here. The Cruz campaign had money, the Fiorina campaign didn’t, and there are a myriad of strategic reasons to keep an also ran who hurts your opponent in the running.
“there are a myriad of strategic reasons to keep an also ran who hurts your opponent in the running.’
I suspect those reasons are about to again be discussed, in public.
People were left scratching their heads in July when Keep the Promise 1, one of a conglomerate of super PACs funded by deep-pocketed Cruz supporters (the others are cleverly named Keep the Promise PAC, Keep the Promise II and Keep the Promise III; don’t strain yourself, guys), revealed in its financial disclosures a $500,000 donation to Fiorina’s campaign.
Keep the Promise 1 had a healthy $10 million on hand from a $11 million donation from hedge fund CEO Robert Mercer as of the end of June. But it only spent $536,169. A little for legal services. A little for surveys. And a whole lot for Fiorina.
Even the Federal Election Commission is perplexed. The super PAC was (purposely?) vague about the donation, describing it on its FEC filing as “other disbursement.”
So, the FEC, as it does, sent a letter Wednesday asking for “a brief statement or description of why each disbursement was made.”
Something like: Well, just in case…
The donation to Fiorina was made June 18, which shows tremendous foresight. Fiorina was barely registering then, not yet revealed as the scrappy underdog with killer debate skills. And Donald Trump had yet to steal most of Cruz’s disenchanted voters.
The super PAC’s treasurer Jacquelyn James did not respond to our request for comment. Maybe the FEC will have better luck.