Some top Democratic National Committee officials are requesting that former Democratic Party nominee Hillary Clinton return $1.65 million the party paid for her campaign email list and other data.
Back in February 2017, the DNC agreed to give $1.65 million to Clinton’s political action organization, Onward Together, according to The Intercept. In return, the DNC would be given access to Clinton’s email list, analytics, donor information and other resources that were reportedly worth up to $5 million. As part of the deal, Clinton’s campaign provided an in-kind donation of $3.5 million in resources, and the DNC settled the remaining balance.
Former DNC Chairwoman Donna Brazile told The Intercept that the agreement was made after “tough negotiations between the Clinton campaign and the DNC.”
“I wanted to bring back our assets,” Brazile explained. “I wanted to get as much from them as they got from us. Under the terms I worked out, we had to pay quarterly for items that the DNC acquired. The final payment would have been in February of this year.”
But now top Democratic officials – including DNC members and state party chairmen and chairwomen – are asking Clinton to retroactively donate the resources and return the $1.65 million paid to Clinton’s Onward Together, which was launched in May 2017.
“She should return the money for the ‘love of the Democratic Party’ to the DNC for its use,” said Alabama Democratic Party chairwoman Nancy Worley, according to the Huffington Post.
Wisconsin Democratic Party Chairwoman Martha Laning and Missouri Democratic National Committeeman Curtis Wylde echoed Worley’s sentiments, calling for Clinton to return the cash and donate the resources. Nebraska Democratic Party chairwoman Jane Kleeb suggested that Clinton donate the funds to state Democratic parties.
Other DNC officials wouldn’t explicitly ask Clinton for the cash back, but they did indicate they would welcome an in-kind donation from her. Those individuals include at-large member Brian Wahby and Kansas Democratic National Committeeman Chris Reeves.
The DNC is in debt and struggling to attract new donors while it faces a fundraising disadvantage leading into the midterm elections. Since January 2017, it has received $1.7 million in loans, bringing the total amount of its debt to $6.6 million.
The DNC has raised about $88.1 million so far this cycle, compared with $171.5 million raised by the Republican National Committee, according to OpenSecrets.org.
Read the full story by Chelsea Schilling, WND
