Thursday, May 31, 2018

Millions were donated for a recount of the 2016 election – where did it go?

Millions were donated for a recount of the 2016 election – where did it go?

Millions were donated for a recount of the 2016 election – where did it go?
Former Green Party candidate Jill Stein responded to a report that millions of dollars of donations to a recount effort for the 2016 presidential election were misused or unaccounted for. (Image Source: YouTube screenshot) 

Green Party candidate Jill Stein is coming under renewed scrutiny after a Daily Beast report details that millions donated to a 2016 presidential election recount have been squandered in the years since.

Here’s what the report said

The Daily Beast reported that the campaign had last filed an official monthly account of the money spent in the recount campaign in November 2017. The report says that “ongoing litigation, travel costs, and staff salaries” are whittling down what is left of the donations.
“It is strange that they would just stop filing reports given they were a legitimate, professional campaign, and despite still having more than a million dollars in cash on hand,” said Andrew Mayersohn at the Center for Responsive Politics.
The FEC has also warned the campaign that it was violating campaign finance laws by not accounting for the spending since November.
“The failure to timely file this report may result in civil money penalties, suspension of matching funds, an audit or legal enforcement action,” said a letter from the FEC to the Stein campaign finance director.

Stein tweets a response

Stein responded to the report with a link to an informal accounting that indicated only $932,178 was left of millions donated to the effort.
She claimed that the money was being spent “fighting for a voting system we can trust.”

Here’s an interview with Jill Stein from 2016:


Tweets for donations

After the 2016 election, Stein appealed to those on the left who were stunned by the results to donate to a campaign fund meant to pay for the fight to recount the votes that led to President Donald Trump’s shocking victory.
“The Stein campaign will fight for a statewide recount in PA,” she tweeted at the time. “We are committed to protecting the civil and voting rights of all Americans.”
https://twitter.com/DrJillStein/status/805273369411207168

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