SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Federal Election Commission chair Sean Cooksey and Commissioner James E. Trainor III testified during a hearing on September 20, 2023.
(Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images)
FEC Accused of Sleeping at the Wheel as Crypto Giant Pumps Tens of Millions Into 2024 Race
"The time to hold campaign finance violators accountable is now—not after illegal election spending has corrupted our democracy," said the research director of Public Citizen.
Oct 31, 2024
The progressive watchdog group Public Citizen accused the U.S. Federal Election Commission of abdicating its responsibility by failing to act in the face of "illegal" election spending by the cryptocurrency exchange giant Coinbase, a federal contractor.
Public Citizen noted in a statement Thursday that "federal law bars campaign contributions to political parties, committees, or candidates from federal contractors."
The group's statement came a day after Brian Armstrong, the CEO of Coinbase, pledged that his company would pump another $25 million into Fairshake PAC, a super PAC dedicated to electing candidates supportive of the crypto industry, which has spent big to influence the outcome of the 2024 elections. Fairshake has spent roughly the same amount of money supporting Democratic and Republican candidates, reflecting the extent to which both parties have sought to court the still-nascent crypto industry.
According to Public Citizen, Armstrong's pledge brought Coinbase's total 2024 election spending above $76 million. In August, Public Citizen filed a complaint with the FEC arguing that a portion of Coinbase's spending appears to be unlawful due to the company's multimillion-dollar contract with the U.S. Marshals Service.
"Coinbase has spent more than $50 million in what appears to be illegal campaign contributions from a federal contractor to attack candidates who might stand up to Big Crypto; meanwhile, the FEC is snoozing through the election," Rick Claypool, Public Citizen's research director, said Thursday.
"The time to hold campaign finance violators accountable is now—not after illegal election spending has corrupted our democracy," Claypool added.
The FEC is currently chaired by Sean Cooksey, a Republican appointed by former president and GOP nominee Donald Trump. Evenly divided between three Democrats and three Republicans, the agency has faced backlash for refusing to take action to stem the proliferation of AI-generated deepfakes and illegal campaign spending.
What's more, as The New York Times reported earlier this year, the agency has moved aggressively in recent months to weaken already-inadequate constraints on political spending.
"One decision this spring that is already reshaping the 2024 presidential race allowed super PACs and campaigns for the first time to work together to plan and execute costly door-to-door canvassing operations," the Times noted.
Additionally, the commission "decided that a wealthy donor could put money into a trust that then could distribute donations to campaigns—while keeping the original source anonymous," the Times reported.
This year's federal election cycle is on pace to be the most expensive in U.S. history, according to OpenSecrets. An analysis released earlier this week by Americans for Tax Fairness found that billionaire families have pumped nearly $2 billion into federal elections so far—likely a significant underestimate, given that the sum excludes untraceable dark money.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
The progressive watchdog group Public Citizen accused the U.S. Federal Election Commission of abdicating its responsibility by failing to act in the face of "illegal" election spending by the cryptocurrency exchange giant Coinbase, a federal contractor.
Public Citizen noted in a statement Thursday that "federal law bars campaign contributions to political parties, committees, or candidates from federal contractors."
The group's statement came a day after Brian Armstrong, the CEO of Coinbase, pledged that his company would pump another $25 million into Fairshake PAC, a super PAC dedicated to electing candidates supportive of the crypto industry, which has spent big to influence the outcome of the 2024 elections. Fairshake has spent roughly the same amount of money supporting Democratic and Republican candidates, reflecting the extent to which both parties have sought to court the still-nascent crypto industry.
According to Public Citizen, Armstrong's pledge brought Coinbase's total 2024 election spending above $76 million. In August, Public Citizen filed a complaint with the FEC arguing that a portion of Coinbase's spending appears to be unlawful due to the company's multimillion-dollar contract with the U.S. Marshals Service.
"Coinbase has spent more than $50 million in what appears to be illegal campaign contributions from a federal contractor to attack candidates who might stand up to Big Crypto; meanwhile, the FEC is snoozing through the election," Rick Claypool, Public Citizen's research director, said Thursday.
"The time to hold campaign finance violators accountable is now—not after illegal election spending has corrupted our democracy," Claypool added.
The FEC is currently chaired by Sean Cooksey, a Republican appointed by former president and GOP nominee Donald Trump. Evenly divided between three Democrats and three Republicans, the agency has faced backlash for refusing to take action to stem the proliferation of AI-generated deepfakes and illegal campaign spending.
What's more, as The New York Times reported earlier this year, the agency has moved aggressively in recent months to weaken already-inadequate constraints on political spending.
"One decision this spring that is already reshaping the 2024 presidential race allowed super PACs and campaigns for the first time to work together to plan and execute costly door-to-door canvassing operations," the Times noted.
Additionally, the commission "decided that a wealthy donor could put money into a trust that then could distribute donations to campaigns—while keeping the original source anonymous," the Times reported.
This year's federal election cycle is on pace to be the most expensive in U.S. history, according to OpenSecrets. An analysis released earlier this week by Americans for Tax Fairness found that billionaire families have pumped nearly $2 billion into federal elections so far—likely a significant underestimate, given that the sum excludes untraceable dark money.
The progressive watchdog group Public Citizen accused the U.S. Federal Election Commission of abdicating its responsibility by failing to act in the face of "illegal" election spending by the cryptocurrency exchange giant Coinbase, a federal contractor.
Public Citizen noted in a statement Thursday that "federal law bars campaign contributions to political parties, committees, or candidates from federal contractors."
The group's statement came a day after Brian Armstrong, the CEO of Coinbase, pledged that his company would pump another $25 million into Fairshake PAC, a super PAC dedicated to electing candidates supportive of the crypto industry, which has spent big to influence the outcome of the 2024 elections. Fairshake has spent roughly the same amount of money supporting Democratic and Republican candidates, reflecting the extent to which both parties have sought to court the still-nascent crypto industry.
According to Public Citizen, Armstrong's pledge brought Coinbase's total 2024 election spending above $76 million. In August, Public Citizen filed a complaint with the FEC arguing that a portion of Coinbase's spending appears to be unlawful due to the company's multimillion-dollar contract with the U.S. Marshals Service.
"Coinbase has spent more than $50 million in what appears to be illegal campaign contributions from a federal contractor to attack candidates who might stand up to Big Crypto; meanwhile, the FEC is snoozing through the election," Rick Claypool, Public Citizen's research director, said Thursday.
"The time to hold campaign finance violators accountable is now—not after illegal election spending has corrupted our democracy," Claypool added.
The FEC is currently chaired by Sean Cooksey, a Republican appointed by former president and GOP nominee Donald Trump. Evenly divided between three Democrats and three Republicans, the agency has faced backlash for refusing to take action to stem the proliferation of AI-generated deepfakes and illegal campaign spending.
What's more, as The New York Times reported earlier this year, the agency has moved aggressively in recent months to weaken already-inadequate constraints on political spending.
"One decision this spring that is already reshaping the 2024 presidential race allowed super PACs and campaigns for the first time to work together to plan and execute costly door-to-door canvassing operations," the Times noted.
Additionally, the commission "decided that a wealthy donor could put money into a trust that then could distribute donations to campaigns—while keeping the original source anonymous," the Times reported.
This year's federal election cycle is on pace to be the most expensive in U.S. history, according to OpenSecrets. An analysis released earlier this week by Americans for Tax Fairness found that billionaire families have pumped nearly $2 billion into federal elections so far—likely a significant underestimate, given that the sum excludes untraceable dark money.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.