The Center for Responsive Politics is reporting that Sarah Palin’s PAC, SarahPAC, spent more than $4.8 million on consultants while doling out $298,500 to candidates for the 2012 election cycle.
Serious question are being raised, not only concerning the distribution of funds, but also over the fact that more money is being spent than is being raised.
The Daily Beast reports that SarahPAC is “doling out nearly $97 to Palin’s inner circle for every $1 that went to elect Republicans.”
“Over the first half of 2013, SarahPAC took in $460,000, but spent more than $495,000. Despite its stated purpose of supporting like-minded candidates, it donated to only one—giving $5,000 to Jason Smith, a conservative Republican backed by the NRA and pro-life groups who won a special election in Missouri’s Eighth Congressional District in June by a margin of 67–27.”
As reported by the Center for Responsive Politics, SarahPAC has raised a total of $1,177,802 for the 2013-2014 campaign cycle, with the only money going towards a candidate being that $5,000 noted above to Jason Smith.
Raw Story elaborates, notes that during this cycle “SarahPac collected 0ver $5.1 million dollars and dispensed a whopping $235,000 on candidates, with over $4.1 million going towards ‘fundraising, administrative, strategy and research, and media.’”
Center for Responsive Politics reports that many of the largest beneficiaries of SarahPAC’s financial disbursements are longtime Palin friends and associates.
- SarahPAC’s treasurer, Timothy Crawford, is one of the biggest beneficiaries of SarahPAC’s expenditures taking in $321,500 in 2012 and $149,500 in 2014 (so far) in consulting fees regarding fundraising.
- Sarah Palin crony, Rebecca Mansour, the individual behind the website Conservatives4Palin, was another large beneficiary. An aspiring screenwriter, her firm, Aries Petra Consulting, took in $162,000 in 2012 and $76,000 in 2014 (so far) in speech writing fees.
- Longtime Republican political operative and current Palin adviser Andrew Davis took in $166,875 in 2012 and $69,500 so far in 2013 for research.
- There were even two women from Wasilla, Alaska, Carol Ryan and Marilyn Lane, who have received $27,500 each so far in 2014 for part-time clerical work.
The Center for Responsive Politics has posted the following charts detailing SarahPAC’s expenditures for the 2012 and 2014 campaign cycles.
SarahPAC 2012 Expenditures
https://www.opensecrets.org/
SarahPAC 2014 Expenditures
https://www.opensecrets.org/
2012 Top Vendors/Recipients
https://www.opensecrets.org/
2014 Top Vendors/Recipients
https://www.opensecrets.org/
For those unfamiliar with the Center for Responsive Politics, their website, OpenSecrets.Org, offers the following information:
Our Mission: Inform, Empower & Advocate
The Center for Responsive Politics is the nation’s premier research group tracking money in U.S. politics and its effect on elections and public policy. Nonpartisan, independent and nonprofit, the organization aims to create a more educated voter, an involved citizenry and a more transparent and responsive government.
In short, the Center’s mission is to:
- Inform citizens about how money in politics affects their lives
- Empower voters and activists by providing unbiased information
- Advocate for a transparent and responsive government
We pursue our mission largely through our award-winning website, OpenSecrets.org, which is the most comprehensive resource for federal campaign contributions, lobbying data and analysis available anywhere. And for other organizations and news media, the Center’s exclusive data powers their online features tracking money in politics – counting cash to make change.
The Center relies on financial support from a combination of foundation grants, individual contributions and income earned from custom research and licensing data for commercial use. The Center accepts no contributions from businesses, labor unions or trade associations. You can support the work of the Center directly by making a tax-deductible contribution through OpenSecrets.org.
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