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Michael Beckel Profile picture
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3 Jun, 8 tweets, 6 min read
A new #FEC doc shows @FEC has officially shut down one of the most memorable scam PACs of the 2016 election — a group called Americans Socially United, which bilked scores of donors, including actor Daniel Craig, while purporting to support @BernieSanders

docquery.fec.gov/pdf/019/202105…
Americans Socially United purported to support Bernie Sanders' 2016 presidential bid but did little to actually aid Sanders.

The Sanders campaign, in fact, tried in vain to get the PAC to cease its activities in 2015, as I reported for @publicintegrity

publicintegrity.org/politics/super…
The man behind the Americans Socially United super PAC — Cary Lee Peterson — was arrested in March 2016 and later went to prison after being convicted of securities fraud, as @lateshiabeachum reported for @publicintegrity in 2018

publicintegrity.org/politics/scam-…
Cary Lee Peterson has asserted he shut down this super PAC in March 2016 — the same month he was arrested by FBI in the securities fraud case he was later found guilty in.

Peterson is currently in a federal prison and scheduled to be released on December 25, 2021
In addition to time in prison, Cary Lee Peterson was sentenced to 3 years of supervised release and ordered to pay more than $250,000 in restitution in the securities fraud case

justice.gov/usao-nj/pr/mic…
It's unclear how much $$$ Cary Lee Peterson was able to collect through his purportedly pro-Bernie Sanders PAC while it was in operation.

Americans Socially United filed just one mandatory campaign finance report — which was riddled with inconsistencies

publicintegrity.org/politics/new-f…
In July 2015, the Americans Socially United super PAC received a $47,300 contribution from James Bond actor Daniel Craig that it **never reported** to the @FEC.

Now, nearly 6 years later, that contribution — and possibly others — will never officially be reported to the #FEC.
To date, @FEC has fined Cary Lee Peterson $25,406 for failing to file mandatory #campaignfinance reports for the Americans Socially United super PAC in the 2016 election cycle

The #FEC's administrative termination of the PAC does not relieve it of its obligation to pay this debt

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More from @mjbeckel

Michael Beckel Profile picture
21 Mar 20
New FEC docs show that 96% of the money the pro-Elizabeth Warren Persist PAC super PAC raised came from Democratic megadonor Karla Jurvetson of California, who gave $14.6 MILLION ow.ly/PNlL30qrsCL
Prior to bankrolling the pro-Warren Persist PAC super PAC, Karla Jurvetson's Women.Vote 501(c)(4) #darkmoney group had supported Warren in a newspaper ad in Iowa that drew condemnation from Warren's campaign ow.ly/nwRG30qrsEi cc @AlxThomp
Prior to that, the Warren campaign had also turned to megadonor Karla Jurvetson to help cover the cost of the DNC's voter database, per @rubycramer ow.ly/g6nU30qrsEQ
Read 5 tweets
Michael Beckel Profile picture
8 Apr 19
Fact: 84% of members of Congress have leadership PACs, including 99 out of 100 current senators and 348 out of the 432 sitting House members (including ~35% of House freshmen whose terms began in January)
Leadership PACs are concerning because they allow donors to legally contribute significantly more than they can to politicians’ campaign committees, presenting them with another avenue through which to gain even more access and influence with lawmakers bit.ly/2F0Kbp4
Moreover, some members of Congress use their leadership PACs to subsidize lavish lifestyles — meals at fancy restaurants, trips to luxury resorts, rounds of golf at elite clubs, etc., as @IssueOneReform & @CampaignLegal detailed last year bit.ly/2TqXgMn
Read 5 tweets
Michael Beckel Profile picture
12 Sep 18
More than $800M has been spent in elections by #darkmoney groups since #CitizensUnited per @OpenSecretsDC

Did you know that the top 15 groups account for 75% of this spending?

A new @IssueOneReform report examines these 15 major dark money groups

issueone.org/dark-money/
Fact: Most of the top #darkmoney groups are attack dogs. For 14 of the top 15 groups, more than 50% of their spending on ads overtly calling for the election or defeat of candidates from 2010 to 2016 was negative. For 6 groups, more than 90% was negative bit.ly/2QnsXFB
Top among these #darkmoney groups was the US Chamber of Commerce, which reported spending ~$130M on political ads to the #FEC between 2010 and 2016. That’s about $1 of every $6 spent on political ads by all dark money groups during this time. bit.ly/2QnsXFB
Read 8 tweets

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