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PROGRESSIVE GROUP FILES FEC COMPLAINT AGAINST PHILLIPS CAMPAIGN

Jared Gans and The Hill
3 hours ago

Democratic presidential candidate, U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minn., addresses
guests during a campaign stop, Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2023, in Manchester, N.H.

A progressive watchdog organization has filed a Federal Election Commission
(FEC) complaint against Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.), alleging his presidential
campaign improperly coordinated with a super PAC. 

Campaign for Accountability said in a release Wednesday that it filed the
complaint this week requesting the FEC investigate Phillips’s campaign
committee, the super PAC Pass the Torch USA and strategist Steve Schmidt for
alleged violations of federal election regulations. 



Schmidt helped launch Pass the Torch USA to support Phillips’s campaign after
previously having worked for the campaign itself. 

The complaint alleges that because Schmidt was involved in developing Phillips’s
campaign strategy weeks before starting the super PAC, evidence “strongly
suggests” that he and Pass the Torch made $450,000 in coordinated communications
with the campaign. 

The organization alleged the PAC falsely reported this as independent
expenditures, and the campaign did not disclose as an in-kind contribution. 



“Candidates and their committees cannot coordinate strategy with super PACs.
When the architect of the Phillip’s campaign suddenly moves over to lead a super
PAC supporting Phillip’s candidacy the moment the ink on the blueprint is dry,
the coordination is clear,” said Michelle Kuppersmith, Campaign for
Accountability executive director.

Axios was the first to report on the complaint. 

The Hill has reached out to the Phillips campaign for comment. 

The campaign told Axios the complaint is “baseless” and does not allege a
“single specific example” of coordination. It said the campaign has complied
with the law and has not coordinated with Pass the Torch, Schmidt or “any other
party.” 



The release states Pass the Torch started running ads echoing the Phillips
campaign’s message of “It’s time to pass the torch to a new generation of
American leaders” shortly after Schmidt left the campaign to start the super
PAC. 

“If the communications by Pass the Torch had been created, produced or
distributed after substantial discussions between Schmidt and Phillips, it would
constitute a prohibited coordinated communication,” the release states. 

Phillips is mounting a long-shot bid against President Biden for the Democratic
presidential nomination. He has so far not gained much traction in polls, mostly
staying in the low single digits.

Categories: Politics from The Hill



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