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Marjorie Taylor Greene Appeared in a Super PAC Ad Asking for Money. That Might Break the Rules. — ProPublica

  
Via:  Devangelical  •  3 years ago  •  35 comments

By:   Isaac Arnsdorf (ProPublica)

Marjorie Taylor Greene Appeared in a Super PAC Ad Asking for Money. That Might Break the Rules. — ProPublica
Greene is working with a Republican ad maker who has a history of racist remarks and ties to extremist gun groups.

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Not long after her election to Congress, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., helped raise money for a super PAC by appearing in a video ad that tests the boundaries of rules limiting fundraising by elected officials.

The ad explicitly asks for money for the Stop Socialism Now PAC, an entity that can accept unlimited donations. But candidates and elected officials are not allowed to solicit contributions greater than $5,000, according to campaign finance experts.

Greene made the ad with Rick Shaftan, a North Carolina-based consultant whose company also handled ads for Greene's campaign and works with a gun activism group that has been closely aligned with the freshman lawmaker. Some Republicans have cut their ties to Shaftan over his history of racistremarks.

In December, Greene appeared in several ads for the super PAC leading up to Georgia's two Senate runoffs. "It's time to fight back now before it's too late," Greene said in one of the videos.

Immediately after she leaves the screen, a voice-over urges viewers to "make a contribution today."

Under federal law, candidates and elected officials cannot "solicit, receive, direct, transfer, or spend funds in connection with an election … unless the funds are subject to the limitations, prohibitions, and reporting requirements" of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971. Super PACs aren't subject to those requirements, as noted in the fine print on the donation webpage referenced in the Greene ad. The statute defines "solicit" as "to ask, request, or recommend, explicitly or implicitly," that a person give money or something of value. The law says messages should be considered in context, including "the conduct of persons involved in the communication."

Legal experts differed in their assessments of whether Greene's appearance follows the law, depending on their views of how strictly campaign finance rules should be interpreted. The Federal Election Commission, which enforces campaign finance rules, is notoriously weak. Although the commission staff looks into complaints about violations of fundraising rules, the six-member commission, which has equal numbers of Democrats and Republicans, routinely deadlocks.

Paul S. Ryan, a campaign finance expert with the good-government advocacy group Common Cause, said he believes the Greene ad clearly crosses the line.

"This communication constitutes an illegal solicitation by a member of Congress of unlimited funds," Ryan said. The ban on soliciting unlimited donations, he said, "becomes meaningless if a candidate can do this."

Ryan said he's never before seen a candidate reading a super PAC's script in an ad that explicitly asks for money. That goes further, he said, than other instances where super PACs have repurposed footage of a candidate or hosted candidates at fundraisers that people have already paid to attend.

Political operatives have steadily pushed to blur the lines between candidates and their allied super PACs, which are supposed to be independent. Candidates regularly started showing up at super PAC fundraisers with the FEC's blessing. Campaigns and super PACs are not supposed to share private information, so campaigns started publicly posting video that super PACs could use — in 2015, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz's campaign famously posted hours and hours of raw footage.

The Greene ad is different because her appearance was clearly recorded specifically for the super PAC.

"Even if a super PAC can accept, a federal candidate can't solicit — that is clear and indisputable," said Erin Chlopak of the nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center. "The whole basis for these organizations to exist is acting independently and not in coordination with federal candidates. The weaker we make that, or the lack of rules that really require such independence, then the entire premise of why they're allowed to accept unlimited contributions falls apart."

The Greene ad doesn't specify a $5,000 contribution limit, which experts say could have avoided the issue.

"My advice would be to be very clear that a candidate is not soliciting beyond those limits," said William Minor, a campaign finance lawyer at the firm DLA Piper. Minor said the FEC has given detailed guidance about what candidates can and can't do in relation to fundraising events, but the only rule that addresses asking for money in ads is the blanket ban on soliciting outsize donations.

Still, Jan Baran, a prominent Republican campaign finance lawyer, said he believes the ad complies with FEC rules because the solicitation for money flashes up while Greene is not on screen. She also doesn't appear on the super PAC's online donations page, he said.

"The ad and Ms. Greene seem in compliance since there is no solicitation by Ms. Greene and no evidence direct or indirect that impermissible [federal election] funds are being solicited by using Ms. Greene's name or likeness," Baran said in an email.

The Greene campaign and its lawyer, former Trump White House deputy counsel Stefan C. Passantino, didn't respond to requests for comment. Reached by phone, Shaftan hung up. His Twitter bio says, "I no longer talk to the #FakeNewsMedia or care what you write."

Greene voted to overturn the presidential election by objecting to the Electoral College results on Jan. 6, when a violent mob of then-President Donald Trump's supporters attacked the Capitol. Georgia Democrats called for Greene to resign over her inflammatory rhetoric leading up to the insurrection.

In February, the House voted to remove Greene from her committee assignments for conduct such as accosting a school shooting survivor and showing support online for killing Democratic leaders. Greene said in a speech that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi could be executed for treason and liked a Facebook comment that suggested removing Pelosi with "a bullet to the head."

Those incidents predate Greene's election to Congress, but while in office she has provoked fresh altercations on Capitol Hill. Freshman Democrat Cori Bush of Missouri moved her office after she said Greene and her staff "berated" and "threatened" her in response to being asked to wear masks. Greene also put up an anti-transgender sign outside her office, across the hall from a lawmaker whose daughter is transgender. Last week, Greene aggressively pursued Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., outside the House chamber, falsely accusing her of supporting terrorists.

It is not clear exactly when and where the super PAC launched the ad featuring Greene. Stop Socialism Now PAC reported spending $12,000 on Dec. 4 for "digital and television advertising" against the Democratic candidates in the Senate runoffs, according to FEC disclosures. The group didn't show up in a search of broadcast airtime by the ad-tracking firm AdImpact.

The super PAC posted the Greene ad that asked for money on its Facebook page on Dec. 3, logging more than 3,500 views. That ad isn't one of the super PAC's paid posts that show up in the social network's voluntary disclosures of political ads.

FEC disclosures don't connect contributions to any particular ad or solicitation. But the super PAC has received several donations above the $5,000 limit that applies to regular (non-super) PACs.

Cynthia B. Howalt, whose family owns a chemical manufacturing company in Greene's district, gave $125,000 on Nov. 13. Her husband, Frederick "Chip" Howalt, told a local reporter in January that the couple wanted to increase support for Greene and oppose Republicans who didn't vote to overturn the 2020 election. The couple didn't respond to requests for comment.

Another large donor to the super PAC was William O. Cooley, a retired land developer in West Palm Beach, who gave $10,000 on Dec. 9. He declined to comment.

Greene's extensive television ads, financed in part with her $1 million loan to her campaign, were key to her victory in the Republican primary last year. Her campaign has paid Shaftan's firm, Neighborhood Research and Media, more than $665,000 for ads, polls, mailers, phone messages and calls, according to FEC disclosures. The super PAC paid the firm another $10,000.

Shaftan's ads for Greene's official campaign included one simulating an explosion at an enormous Confederate monument in Stone Mountain, Georgia, as Greene says, "The socialist left won't stop until America is destroyed." In another ad, Greene brandishes an assault rifle and appears to blow up targets labeled "gun control" and "socialism."

Shaftan also works with a network of pro-gun groups run by brothers in Ohio named Chris, Aaron and Ben Dorr. They are also prominent allies of Greene's. In an interview with Chris Dorr a week before the 2020 election, Greene said that if Trump lost, his supporters might resort to violence.

"Once it's gone, freedom doesn't come back by itself — the only way you get your freedoms back is it's earned with the price of blood," Greene said in a video of the interview, reported by Mother Jones. "This is it. Nov. 3, freedom is on the ballot."

Greene planned to speak at a May 1 rally in Columbus, Ohio, organized by Chris Dorr, who told followers they could openly carry guns there. On the eve of the rally, the organizers called it off. Greene released a statement claiming state authorities refused to provide security for her.

An Ohio State Highway Patrol spokesman disputed that account, saying the police "had every intention of providing security" and had "all necessary measures in place."

Chris Dorr didn't respond to requests for comment. In 2019, Ohio authorities investigated and decided against prosecuting him for threatening assassinations in response to the Republican governor's proposed gun regulations. "There could be political bodies lying all over the ground," Dorr said in an online video. "We gun owners will pull the trigger and leave the corpse for the buzzards."

Greene also touted the Dorr brothers' American Firearms Association's endorsement of a bill she introduced in Congress to block federal funding for any gun regulations. An article on the far-right website Breitbart said Greene's bill was a response to an abandoned effort late last year by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to restrict equipment that makes it possible to use pistols like assault weapons. This type of weapon was later used in the Boulder, Colorado, mass shooting in March.

In April, Greene's campaign said it would raffle off a version of the weapon. "I'm giving away the gun that triggers the Fake News Media," Greene said in an email to supporters.

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Update, May 21, 2021: The good-government advocacy group Common Cause filed a formal complaint with the Federal Election Commission citing ProPublica's reporting and alleging that the super PAC ad featuring Greene violated the ban on candidates soliciting unlimited donations. "The United States Supreme Court has been very clear in upholding candidate contribution limits and prohibitions on candidates soliciting funds outside those limits because such contributions lead to corruption and undermine the faith of Americans in the political process," the group's president, Karen Hobert Flynn, said in a statement.

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Article is LOCKED by author/seeder
 

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devangelical
Professor Principal
1  seeder  devangelical    3 years ago

right wing campaign fundraising scams are trending,... in certain white supremacist circles.

 
 
 
Tessylo
Professor Principal
1.1  Tessylo  replied to  devangelical @1    3 years ago

All this money will go right into this skank ho bitch's pocket.  

 
 
 
Ender
Professor Principal
1.1.1  Ender  replied to  Tessylo @1.1    3 years ago

She is emulating her idol.

 
 
 
devangelical
Professor Principal
1.1.2  seeder  devangelical  replied to  Ender @1.1.1    3 years ago

her >gush< hero!

 
 
 
Ender
Professor Principal
1.1.3  Ender  replied to  devangelical @1.1.2    3 years ago

Must...be...a...troll.

Make the troll master proud.

The trolling grifters.

 
 
 
Ender
Professor Principal
2  Ender    3 years ago

Eh, citizens united screwed us all.

 
 
 
Paula Bartholomew
Professor Participates
3  Paula Bartholomew    3 years ago

Those cowards who controlled the senate at the time didn't do shit when Miss Lindsay begged for money at the capitol so nothing will be done to her either.

 
 
 
Ender
Professor Principal
3.1  Ender  replied to  Paula Bartholomew @3    3 years ago

They are still silent on the pervert Gaetz.  After they threw a fit over an old picture with Franken and he resigned. And what Gaetz did is a hell of a lot worse.

 
 
 
Sister Mary Agnes Ample Bottom
Professor Guide
3.1.1  Sister Mary Agnes Ample Bottom  replied to  Ender @3.1    3 years ago

The list of pervs that have been exposed prior to Matt Gaetz is never-ending. 

Just for the record, I hated that Al Franken resigned.  What he did was clearly a joke.  The gal that raised a years-later fuss was in financial straights and her radio show had been cancelled.  Her looks had faded and her prospects were few.  So what was left?  Victimhood.   

 
 
 
Tessylo
Professor Principal
3.1.2  Tessylo  replied to  Sister Mary Agnes Ample Bottom @3.1.1    3 years ago

Yes, it was clearly a joke, his hands were never on her boobs.  You're right about the victimhood.  Nasty bitch.  You're right - Al Franken should have never resigned because of that bitch.  

 
 
 
Ender
Professor Principal
3.1.3  Ender  replied to  Sister Mary Agnes Ample Bottom @3.1.1    3 years ago

I agree. I really liked him.

It is a shame that he would resign for something so stupid, meanwhile we have idiots that are under investigation and now even some jackass republican running that got a 14 year old girl pregnant when he was 18.

 
 
 
Just Jim NC TttH
Professor Principal
3.1.4  Just Jim NC TttH  replied to  Tessylo @3.1.2    3 years ago
Al Franken should have never resigned because of that bitch.  

Which bitch(es)?

Within the next 90 minutes, 16 Democrats – 10 of them women – and one Republican senator – Susan Collins of Maine – had publicly urged their colleague to vacate his seat. Capitol Hill had been on edge for weeks as more accusations were made public and as an ethics investigation was looming, yet no one had publicly called for Franken’s resignation.

Frankly if he didn't do anything wrong, which I have no doubt of, he didn't, then the only other reason I can see for him to do so was that because of the above [ articles  deleted ]

 
 
 
Tessylo
Professor Principal
3.1.5  Tessylo  replied to  Ender @3.1.3    3 years ago

So this typical republican essentially raped a girl at 14 and it's being brought to light because of 'dirty politics'  I bet it was his cousin.  INBRED SCUM!

Wyoming senator discloses impregnating 14-year-old at 18

Wyoming state Sen. Anthony Bouchard has disclosed that he impregnated a 14-year-old girl when he was 18

By The Associated Press
May 21, 2021, 1:26 PM
3 min read
WireAP_12caed586d9242aeb8025c1ac3c94379_16x9_384.jpg
On Location: May 20, 2021
The Associated Press

CHEYENNE, Wyo. -- Wyoming state Sen. Anthony Bouchard, a Republican trying to unseat U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney next year, disclosed that he impregnated a 14-year-old girl when he was 18, describing the relationship as “like the Romeo and Juliet” story and saying it was coming to light because of "dirty politics."

Bouchard initially disclosed what he described as a typical teenage relationship in a   Facebook   Live video to supporters Thursday. He later confirmed the girl's age to the Casper Star-Tribune.

“So, bottom line, it’s a story when I was young, two teenagers, girl gets pregnant,” he said in the video. “You’ve heard those stories before. She was a little younger than me, so it’s like the Romeo and Juliet story.”

Bouchard married the girl when she was 15 and he was 19, when both were living in   Florida . They divorced three years later, he told the newspaper.

Bouchard’s ex-wife killed herself when she was 20, he said. Online records list a woman with her name as being buried at a Jacksonville, Florida, cemetery in 1990.

The newspaper chose not to identify the woman.

Bouchard is among at least eight Republicans running against Cheney in 2022 after her vote to impeach former President   Donald Trump   for the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

Bouchard said he decided to post the video to get ahead of a story about his previous marriage. In the video, Bouchard claims an unnamed reporter and a “political opposition research company” were driving the effort together.

Bouchard said he didn't think Cheney was involved in the disclosure and Cheney spokesman Jeremy Adler denied any involvement.

Bouchard and the girl were able to legally marry because Florida at the time allowed marriage at any age with a judge's approval if a pregnancy was involved and a parent consented.

“A lot of pressure. Pressure to abort a baby. I got to tell you. I wasn’t going to do it, and neither was she,” Bouchard said. “And there was pressure to have her banished from their family. Just pressure. Pressure to go hide somewhere. And the only thing I could see as the right thing to do was to get married and take care of him.”

His son has become “almost” estranged from him after making “some wrong choices in his life,” Bouchard said.

Bouchard, a gun rights activist who co-owns a septic system servicing business with his wife, said the disclosure wouldn’t stop him from seeking higher office.

“Bring it on. I’m going to stay in this race,” he said. “We’re going to continue to raise money because my record stands on its own.”

 
 
 
Tessylo
Professor Principal
3.1.7  Tessylo  replied to  Just Jim NC TttH @3.1.4    3 years ago

The bitch who lied and falsely accused Mr. Franken, that bitch!

 
 
 
devangelical
Professor Principal
3.1.8  seeder  devangelical  replied to  Tessylo @3.1.5    3 years ago
"it’s a story when I was young, two teenagers, girl gets pregnant,” he said in the video. “You’ve heard those stories before. She was a little younger than me, so it’s like the Romeo and Juliet story"

er,... maybe more like pedophile romeo and underage juliet. I'm familiar with wyoming in the 70's and this shit was commonplace.

 
 
 
Ender
Professor Principal
3.1.9  Ender  replied to  devangelical @3.1.8    3 years ago

I was thinking, what a stupid comparison. Romeo and Juliet were the same age, only being held apart by their families.

I take it he never read or watched the tale.

 
 
 
Tessylo
Professor Principal
3.1.10  Tessylo  replied to  Just Jim NC TttH @3.1.4    3 years ago

P.S. I don't give a shit what that doddering old bitch Collins has to say.  She's another trumpturd ass kissing bitch republican.  Worthless.  

I bet she was against the bi-partisan January 6, 2021 commission to investigate trumpturd and his insurrectionist mob.  

 
 
 
Tessylo
Professor Principal
3.1.11  Tessylo  replied to  devangelical @3.1.8    3 years ago

So any female will do - like sheep?

 
 
 
Just Jim NC TttH
Professor Principal
3.1.12  Just Jim NC TttH  replied to  Ender @3.1.9    3 years ago

I take it you may not have either..................

 
 
 
Tessylo
Professor Principal
3.1.13  Tessylo  replied to  devangelical @3.1.8    3 years ago

So God, Guns, and Sheep are very popular there (plus underaged females)?

 
 
 
Ender
Professor Principal
3.1.14  Ender  replied to  Just Jim NC TttH @3.1.12    3 years ago

You take wrong and show articles that don't prove a thing.

 
 
 
Tessylo
Professor Principal
3.1.15  Tessylo  replied to  Ender @3.1.14    3 years ago
"You take wrong and show articles that don't prove a thing."

Yup, every single time!

 
 
 
Krishna
Professor Expert
3.1.16  Krishna  replied to  Ender @3.1    3 years ago
They are still silent on the pervert Gaetz.  After they threw a fit over an old picture with Franken and he resigned. And what Gaetz did is a hell of a lot worse.

As more facts begin to emerge, its starting to look like Gaetz as well as Greens will end up doing hard time.

(Ditto Giuliani and several of the other MAGA-idiots... and eventually even the Trump-Turd himself! jrSmiley_4_smiley_image.png )

 
 
 
Trout Giggles
Professor Principal
3.1.17  Trout Giggles  replied to  Just Jim NC TttH @3.1.12    3 years ago

We read Romeo and Juliet in 9th grade. She was almost 14 and he was about 15. No comparison  between this WY jackass and them.

Besides...ROMEO AND JULIET ARE FICTIONAL CHARACTERS!!!!!!!!!

 
 
 
Ender
Professor Principal
3.1.18  Ender  replied to  Trout Giggles @3.1.17    3 years ago

I was thinking both around 14.

We actually watched the movie in class.

 
 
 
Trout Giggles
Professor Principal
3.1.19  Trout Giggles  replied to  Ender @3.1.18    3 years ago

Yeah, generally. We went to town and saw the movie...after we read the play

 
 
 
JBB
Professor Principal
4  JBB    3 years ago

Green is about two Gohmerts short of a full Bobert!

 
 
 
Sister Mary Agnes Ample Bottom
Professor Guide
4.1  Sister Mary Agnes Ample Bottom  replied to  JBB @4    3 years ago
Green is about two Gohmerts short of a full Bobert!

I don't care who says what, that's just damn funny.

 
 
 
JohnRussell
Professor Principal
4.1.1  JohnRussell  replied to  Sister Mary Agnes Ample Bottom @4.1    3 years ago
Green is about two Gohmerts short of a full Bobert!

.... and three Rudy's short of a full Johnson.

 
 
 
Ender
Professor Principal
4.1.2  Ender  replied to  JohnRussell @4.1.1    3 years ago

Hey, I always meet with people and lay on the bed with my hand down my pants...

 
 
 
JBB
Professor Principal
4.1.3  JBB  replied to  Sister Mary Agnes Ample Bottom @4.1    3 years ago

original

 
 
 
Ender
Professor Principal
4.2  Ender  replied to  JBB @4    3 years ago

They are Cruzing into the conspiracy lane while munching on Graham crackers.

 
 
 
Tessylo
Professor Principal
5  Tessylo    3 years ago

187051092_2941340859471562_765668099701969284_n.jpg?_nc_cat=111&ccb=1-3&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_ohc=pjutTbVF6VMAX_k71X4&_nc_ht=scontent-iad3-2.xx&oh=e391e381b461ca8b59335ad3a577f174&oe=60CF5DF5

 
 
 
Krishna
Professor Expert
5.1  Krishna  replied to  Tessylo @5    3 years ago

jrSmiley_10_smiley_image.gif

 
 
 
Kavika
Professor Principal
6  Kavika     3 years ago

More ''family values''.

 
 

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