Thursday, July 17, 2014

Contrary to earlier statements Barbour "Mississippi Conservatives" PAC was sole source of revenue for GOP runoff PAC "All Citizens for Mississippi." Former Mayor Bloomberg was top donor to Barbour PAC

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Former NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg was #1 individual donor to Barbour PAC "Mississippi Conservatives" which funded GOP runoff PAC All Citizens for Mississippi:

7/15/14, "How GOP Donors Funded Sen. Thad Cochran's Winning Appeal To African-Americans," Huffington Post, Paul Blumenthal

"According to a report filed with the Federal Election Commission on Tuesday, a super PAC called All Citizens for Mississippi received all $144,685 of its funds from the Mississippi Conservatives super PAC run by Henry Barbour, a lobbyist and nephew to former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour (R)
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Bishop Ronnie Crudup of New Horizon Church in Jackson, Mississippi, runs All Citizens for Mississippi. He said previously that he had raised the super PAC's money from other sources....

The pro-Cochran super PAC (Mississippi Conservatives) ran advertisements on radio and in newspapers touting the senator's support for the African-American community. The radio ads calling for Cochran's election weren't reported to the FEC as required, nor are payments to radio stations or ad-buying firms....

Campaign finance laws require independent expenditures -- the legal term for efforts calling for the election or defeat of a federal candidate-- to be reported to the FEC within 24 hours. The super PAC has not filed any of these 24-hour reports.

All Citizens for Mississippi did report on Tuesday that it had paid for advertisements to be placed in three newspapers: Jackson Free Press, Jackson Advocate and Mississippi Link. These advertisements also featured calls to vote for Cochran, but have not been reported to FEC.

The majority of the funds raised by the super PAC did not go for advertising, but to door-to-door, get-out-the-vote efforts. The group paid a handful of individuals, including operatives and politicians, in the heavily African-American area of Jackson to get voters to the polls.

Previous reports have noted that James "Scooby Doo" Warren, a top Democratic operative, ran the pro-Cochran get-out-the-vote effort. Warren told the Clarion-Ledger he was "putting it in place across the whole state." All Citizens for Mississippi paid Warren $35,000. Also receiving funds to get out the vote were Bill Washington, who was paid $34,000, and Roosevelt Daniels, paid $20,000. Both are from Jackson.

Jackson Democratic state Rep. Credell Calhoun was paid $5,000 by the super PAC. According to the Clarion-Ledger, Calhoun drove around in a vehicle on Election Day plastered with "Thad" signs and calling, "Let's go vote," over a megaphone."...


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#1 individual donor to Mississippi Conservatives PAC was former NY City Mayor Michael Bloomberg:

"City of New York/Bloomberg" donation was made between May 15 and June 4, 2014. Bloomberg and another billionaire, Sean Parker, each made $250,000 donations to "Mississippi Conservatives" between May 15-June 4, 2014:

 6/13/14, "Two New York Billionaires Each Give $250K to Pro-Cochran Super PAC," RollCall.com, Kent Cooper

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"All Citizens for Mississippi" "was funded entirely by a super PAC run by Henry Barbour a lobbyist and nephew to former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour (R). Bishop Ronnie Crudup...said previously that he had raised the super PAC's money from" "several sources including prominent black residents and Republicans:"

7/9/14, "Bishop Ronnie Crudup says his PAC did everything legal," Clarion-Ledger, Jimmie E. Gates

""Bishop Ronnie Crudup says he started the political action committee All Citizens for Mississippi and raised about $200,000 from several sources, including prominent black residents and Republicans, to pay for ads urging black voters to oppose Chris McDaniel in the GOP primary and runoff for U.S. Senate.

"I raised money for our PAC; that's what PACs do," Crudup said Wednesday via a phone interview while he was in Chicago attending a conference. "And there is no doubt as part of that I raised some money from the Republicans, I raised money from African-Americans. I raised money from a number of sources."

"Everything we did was legal, and none of it was unethical," said Crudup, senior pastor of New Horizon Church International in Jackson....

Crudup said neither he nor anyone associated with the PAC was paid by outside groups.

He said All Citizens for Mississippi raised the approximately $200,000 and all of it was spent, mostly on ads related to the Cochran and McDaniel race....

Crudup said money was raised from people who were friendly to the effort. Crudup said he and attorney Bob Owens hosted a fundraiser in Terry to which prominent black people were invited, but he said some white people also attended. Owens confirmed the fundraiser."...








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