(JustPatriots.com)- During the first quarter of 2021, Nancy Pelosi’s reelection campaign has sent out over fifty emails containing a pledge from the Speaker that she would match contributions up to a certain amount from her own vast personal wealth.
Campaign donation emails with such wording as “This is so critical, I’m personally 4x-matching all gifts for these final 24-hours.” The “I” in these emails is, of course, Speaker Nancy Pelosi herself.
The problem is, except for matching her mask to her outfit, Pelosi hasn’t been matching a thing.
According to the Q1 report Pelosi’s campaign filed with the Federal Election Commission, Speaker Pelosi hasn’t followed through on matching campaign contributions as her emails promised. In fact, the report shows Mrs. Pelosi hasn’t donated a single penny of her own personal fortune to her campaign.
Federal law allows candidates to spend an unlimited amount of their own money on their political campaigns. Offering to match contributions from their own money has become a popular ploy candidates use to encourage small-money donors to pitch in.
And clearly Pelosi’s emails did the trick.
Her campaign raised just over $4 Million in the first quarter of 2021 – more than half of that haul came from small-money donors, namely those contributing less than $200.
Too bad she was lying to them.
Though, Pelosi isn’t the only one to pull this bait and switch to encourage small money donations.
According to Axios, donation matching has become an all-to-common gimmick to lure small money donors and is widely used. And in most cases, the candidate rarely if ever follows through on the pledge.
The 2020 election was the most expensive in history. Total spending on both presidential and congressional campaigns rang it at nearly $14 Billion.
With election spending like that, it is hardly surprising that candidates are resorting to tactics and gimmicks like this just to keep up. The problem is, the campaign-matching gimmick as well as attempts to lock donors in to recurring monthly donations could cross a legal line.
On May 18, it was reported that a complaint against the “Keep America Great Committee” regarding this same donation-matching gimmick caught the eye of the Department of Justice. The DOJ indicated in court filings on May 17 that these types of gimmicks may be legally questionable if the matching contribution is not made.
One political compliance attorney notes that the DOJ’s comment in this filing could have a significant impact on future campaigns. Failing to follow through on matching donations could open a candidate up to a possible violation of the mail and wire fraud statutes.
The Pelosi campaign has not responded to requests for comment. Nor will they say if she planned to follow through on the promised funds.
