Scoop: DNC ramps up crackdown on alleged "scam PACs"
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The Democratic National Committee on Wednesday sent a cease-and-desist letter alleging a super PAC is "exploiting the goodwill of Democratic voters for personal profit."
Why it matters: It's part of the DNC's larger campaign to root out PACs and super PACs that raise money in the name of the Democratic Party, but often don't invest a lot of their money in Democratic candidates.
Driving the news: The DNC sent the letter to the "National Democrats," a super PAC that has raised over $500,000 from last year through the end of June — mostly from small, grassroots donations — and spent less than $10,000 on just one candidate.
- The DNC argued that much of that money was "solicited primarily through misleading text message campaigns."
- National Democrats spent much of their cash on digital fundraising, including text messaging, according to their filings with the Federal Election Commission.
- National Democrats, which has a disclaimer at the bottom of their website that states it's not affiliated with any other committee, claims to be "working to elect progressive leaders of the future, who can restore the American dream for all."
The intrigue: National Democrats did not respond to the email listed on their FEC filings or a request through their "contact us" page on their website.
- Axios attempted to contact Ethan Jeske, who is listed as both custodian of records and treasurer of the super PAC.
- Jeske listed two different phone numbers on different forms. Both phone numbers were Google Voice numbers, according to the voicemail.
Between the lines: National Democrats list a small office space in Boston as its address. Its FEC forms note they bank with the Texas-based Frost Bank.
- The group also paid for "staff meals" and shared office space in Texas, according to the FEC filings.
- Of the more than $270,000 spent by the group this year, over $180,000 has gone to the firm "Impaction" for a variety of digital services.
- Impaction's website states it is still "under construction" and the company did not return a request for comment.
DNC chair Ken Martin told Axios: "The DNC is taking a strong stance against bad actors who seek to exploit grassroots donors and undermine Democratic candidates and organizations."
- He added: "Whether it's a small business owner in Ohio giving $5 or a young person donating for the first time, all donors deserve to know that their hard-earned dollars are going towards electing Democrats."
Zoom in: ActBlue, the dominant Democratic platform for collecting online donations, kicked the National Democrats super PAC from their platform last week.
- National Democrats now uses the company "Numero" to collect their contributions, according to their website's donation landing page.
- ActBlue said in a statement: "We have a dedicated team who investigate every complaint that we receive and then take action as appropriate against any entity that misleads donors or violates our standards."
- They added: "We are encouraged by the voices rising up across the ecosystem to protect donors, like the DNC."
