Grass-roots Democratic group actually funded by 13 people

Joe Schoffstall of the Washington Free Beacon explains why a Democratic election group is poorly named.

A grassroots committee launched by national Democrats as part of a joint fundraising venture is hauling in all of its funds from just 13 deep-pocketed liberal donors, Federal Election Commission filings show.

The Democratic Grassroots Victory Fund, established in October 2017, is a joint fundraising committee between the Democratic National Committee, all 50 state Democratic parties, and the District of Columbia Democratic Committee.

The arrangement between all of the entities allows the victory fund to collect massive six-figure checks from donors. An individual can contribute a maximum of $10,000 to each state party every year (the joint committee contains all 50 state parties and D.C., which comes to $510,000 total per individual donor that can go to the fund); $35,500 to the DNC; and another $106,500 to the DNC’s convention, legal proceedings, and building funds, which amounts to an additional $319,500 per donor.

Ultimately, one individual donor can give a total of $865,000 to the Democratic Grassroots Victory Fund every year. The money from the fund is then transferred to the DNC and the state and local Democratic parties. The structure of the joint fundraising venture could also act as a loophole to allow donors to legally circumvent contribution limits.

So far this year, just 13 wealthy Democrats are fueling the Democratic Grassroots Victory Fund. Three donors have already given maxed out $865,000 contributions. The donors have together pushed $4.3 million into the joint venture.