U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Huntsville) called out former President Donald Trump on Monday, accusing him of scamming donors in a fundraising scheme all too common in politics.
“Donald Trump symbolic of common fundraising scam,” Brooks said in a tweet. “Emails inundate citizens - begging for $ to help candidates win. Yet, too often, only 9 cents of their sacrifice benefits cause. 91% skimmed by fundraisers. My advice: NEVER give $ to campaign emails.”
Brooks referred to a Yahoo! Finance article breaking down Trump’s recent campaign spending.
According to Yahoo, a filing with the Federal Election Commission showed Trump spent $22 million in this year’s third quarter after raising $24 million in contributions. That equates to 91 cents for every dollar raised going toward fundraising overhead instead of supporting the campaign. The filing showed Trump spent $7.3 million on SMS text notifications and just under $7.3 million on online ads. Roughly $2.8 million went to cover the cost of rentals of donor lists, his third biggest expense, Yahoo reported.
“This problem is common — the rule, not the exception — throughout America, in presidential, congressional, senatorial, governor, etc., races, “ Brooks told 1819 News.
Brooks said he’d support a law requiring campaigns to show up front how donation dollars will be spent.
“In my humble opinion, there ought to be state ‘truth in campaign soliciting’ laws that require campaigns to disclose in the solicitation how much of the money raised actually goes to the campaign, and how much goes to consultants and solicitors,” Brooks said. “I bet the vast majority of contributors would not contribute if they knew only 9% of what they give helps a candidate win.”
Brooks said the “general rule” is that roughly 20% of campaign contributions should go to the candidate.
“The range is 10%-50% going to the candidate, depending on a variety of factors,” he said.
To connect with the author of this story, or to comment, email daniel.taylor@1819news.com.
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