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campaign finance
Progressives Sound Alarm as Harris Courts Crypto Industry
"Harris' promise to balance the industry's interests with those of consumers is an obvious contradiction," said the executive director of the Revolving Door Project. "Crypto is a haven for businesspeople with nefarious or criminal intent."
Sep 26, 2024
Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris' increasingly open embrace of cryptocurrency during her 2024 bid for the White House has sparked alarm among progressives, who have pointed to the still-nascent industry's pervasive fraud and opposition to regulatory guardrails as all the evidence the vice president should need to end her courtship of the sector.
Semaforreported Thursday that in addition to speaking publicly about "a friendlier approach to cryptocurrency than President Joe Biden," Harris is "dispatching aides to court well-heeled crypto investors and their Democratic allies in Congress."
"Harris debuted her newly crypto-coded message in remarks to Wall Street donors this past weekend," the outlet added, "and her campaign's quiet work with crypto allies indicates that she sees a space to compete on that turf with former President Donald Trump—who this month endorsed a still-unclear crypto platform launched by his sons."
Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, said earlier this week that he believes cryptocurrencies have "a great future" and suggested the U.S. could pay off the national debt with digital assets. Venture capital billionaires Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz have donated to Trump's campaign—contributions "motivated by areas like crypto and AI regulation," Axiosreported.
Trump's running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), is friendly with the crypto industry and personally owns hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of bitcoin.
Harris, for her part, gave a nod to the cryptocurrency industry during a major economic policy speech in Pittsburgh on Wednesday, saying she wants the U.S. to "remain dominant" in "emerging technologies" such as the blockchain.
"Acceding would not only set the dangerous precedent that motivated industries can purchase the regulatory framework that best suits their interest, but also open Americans to fraud."
Harris' economic policy platform states that, if elected in November, she would "encourage innovative technologies like AI and digital assets while protecting our consumers and investors."
Billionaire investor and outspoken Harris supporter Mark Cuban told Semafor that he intends to visit Capitol Hill to "personally lobby lawmakers on any major crypto bill that gets a vote in the future, whether it’s industry-favorable or not."
In a statement earlier this week, the Revolving Door Project (RDP) warned that the Harris campaign's "acquiescence" to crypto would "lead to disaster."
"The cryptocurrency industry has doggedly pursued its mission to flout longstanding securities laws and robust SEC oversight," said Jeff Hauser, RDP's executive director. "Weak regulation is crucial to the industry's continued business strategy of serving as a conduit for money laundering, assisting ransomware rings, terrorist organizations, and those importing fentanyl."
"The industry has defiantly moved past the stench of Sam Bankman-Fried's fraud-backed influence campaign to flood key congressional races with cash in a transparent attempt to strongarm Democrats into acquiescing to their demands," he continued. "Acceding would not only set the dangerous precedent that motivated industries can purchase the regulatory framework that best suits their interest, but also open Americans to fraud, increased ransomware, and other illicit behavior pervasive across the cryptocurrency industry."
Dean Baker, senior economist at the Center for Economic and Policy Research, toldThe Washington Post on Thursday that while he gets that Harris "doesn't want to alienate the crypto folks," the federal government "should not be encouraging speculation in this stuff."
"This is just gambling," said Baker. "I don't think we need to make it easier to do illegal transactions—blackmailing, drug dealing, whatever."
Crypto industry spending on federal lobbying surged to an all-time high of $24.7 million in 2023, according to OpenSecrets, and the cash blitz has continued this year as major digital currency asset players and their congressional allies in both parties fight off regulatory efforts.
The industry has also spent big on the 2024 elections: An analysis released last month by the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen found that crypto firms have poured more than $119 million directly into federal elections so far this year, making them "by far the dominant corporate political spenders."
"Crypto-influenced lawmakers bending over backwards to benefit Big Crypto means weaker protections preventing individual consumers from being defrauded by reckless crypto scams—and softened regulations protecting our financial system from destructive innovations that exploit consumers while enriching insiders," Public Citizen said at the time. "The influence of Big Crypto is more evidence a constitutional amendment is needed to overturn Citizens United—and restore our democracy to one where people call the shots, not corporations."
Hauser also expressed concerns about "the idea that crypto insiders would have any sway in policymaking," which he warned would "just further put Americans in harm's way, once again disproportionately harming the poor and communities of color."
"Harris' promise to balance the industry's interests with those of consumers is an obvious contradiction," said Hauser. "Crypto is a haven for businesspeople with nefarious or criminal intent. The rampant fraud and criminal behavior in the very young industry—not just from FTX, but from Binance, OneCoin, Digital Currency Group, and countless others—is unprecedented in recent American history."
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As RFK Jr. Backs Trump, Here's the Secretive Billionaire Plutocrat Funding Them Both
Timothy Mellon, the reclusive heir to a Gilded Age fortune, has poured over $165 million into the 2024 election so far, with tens of millions backing both Donald Trump and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Aug 24, 2024
Joining Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump onstage at a campaign rally in Arizona Friday night, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. tried to emphasize what the two share.
"We talked about not the values that separate us, because we don't agree on everything, but on the values and issues that bind us together," Kennedy said shortly after suspending his independent presidential bid to throw his support behind Trump.
But Kennedy did not mention that he and Trump have in common the same billionaire megadonor, a reclusive heir to a Gilded Age fortune who has pumped over $165 million into the 2024 campaign thus far.
Timothy Mellon, the grandson of plutocrat Andrew Mellon, has poured tens of millions of dollars into the campaigns of both Trump and Kennedy, making the secretive billionaire the top individual donor to both.
The campaign finance watchdog OpenSecrets noted Friday in an analysis of Mellon's donations that the billionaire "made a $50 million cash infusion to pro-Trump super PAC Make America Great Again, Inc." in July, according to new Federal Election Commission filings.
"This brings his total contributions to the group to $125 million this election cycle, including a $50 million check he wrote to the super PAC the day after Trump was convicted of 34 felonies," OpenSecrets added. "Mellon's latest $50 million contribution accounts for over 90% of what MAGA, Inc. raised in July."
As for Kennedy, his hybrid PAC American Values 2024 received $25 million from Mellon earlier this year. OpenSecrets observed that Kennedy is quoted on the cover of the billionaire's autobiography, "praising Mellon as a 'maverick entrepreneur.'"
"He and Trump both shared the same major donor—billionaire nepo baby Timothy Mellon. RFK Jr.'s campaign was always a MAGA spoiler."
Robert Reich, the former U.S. labor secretary, wrote Friday that "it's no surprise" Kennedy dropped out of the 2024 race and endorsed Trump.
"He and Trump both shared the same major donor—billionaire nepo baby Timothy Mellon," Reich added. "RFK Jr.'s campaign was always a MAGA spoiler."
Mellon is a member of a powerful group known as "guardian angels," a label "for big donors who supply 40% or more of a committee's funds and are a political group's top contributor," OpenSecrets explained.
Spending from super PACs and other outside groups has topped $1 billion this election cycle, and the largest spender to date has been MAGA, Inc.
But U.S. billionaires, who are collectively richer than ever, aren't exclusively backing pro-Trump groups. Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has cut huge checks to Democratic PACs, and groups backing Democratic nominee Kamala Harris have received large donations from LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman and Netflix executive chairman Reed Hastings, among other rich executives.
In his primetime speech at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Tuesday, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) condemned the outsized influence of billionaire "oligarchs" on the U.S. political process, particularly in the wake of the Supreme Court's 2010 Citizens United ruling.
"Billionaires in both parties should not be able to buy elections," said Sanders. "For the sake of our democracy, we must overturn the disastrous Citizens United Supreme Court decision and move toward public funding of elections."
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At DNC, Sanders Condemns 'Oligarchs' Buying Elections and Blocking Change
"Billionaires in both parties should not be able to buy elections, including primary elections," said Sen. Bernie Sanders.
Aug 21, 2024
Sen. Bernie Sanders said during his primetime appearance at the Democratic National Convention Tuesday night that overturning the U.S. Supreme Court's Citizens United decision should be "at the very top" of the party's list of priorities, particularly given the outsized role that billionaires and dark-money groups have played in recent elections.
"Billionaires in both parties should not be able to buy elections, including primary elections," Sanders (I-Vt.) said in his speech to Democratic delegates and activists gathered in Chicago. "For the sake of our democracy, we must overturn the disastrous Citizens United Supreme Court decision and move toward public funding of elections."
Sanders, a two-time Democratic presidential candidate, argued during his remarks that billionaire and corporate influence on U.S. elections is a major barrier obstructing policy changes that are overwhelmingly popular with the American public.
"These oligarchs tell us we shouldn't tax the rich," said the Vermont senator. "The oligarchs tell us we shouldn't take on price gouging; we shouldn't expand Medicare to cover dental, hearing, and vision; and we shouldn't increase Social Security benefits for struggling seniors."
"Well I've got some bad news for them: That is precisely what we are going to do, and we're going to win this struggle because this is precisely what the American people want from their government," he continued.
Watch Sanders' full speech:
According to the campaign finance watchdog OpenSecrets, super PACs—products of the 2010 Citizens United decision—and other outside groups have already spent more than $1 billion on federal elections this cycle, far outpacing previous election years.
The largest spender thus far has been Make America Great Again Inc., a super PAC supporting Republican nominee Donald Trump.
OpenSecrets also found that so-called "guardian angel" megadonors—"a term for big donors who supply 40% or more of a committee's funds and are a political group's top contributor"—have spent nearly $200 million so far this cycle.
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee's super PAC, which is funded by Republican billionaires, has spent big on Democratic primary contests this year in an effort to oust lawmakers who have backed a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip. Two members of the progressive "Squad"—Reps. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) and Cori Bush (D-Mo.)—recently lost primary contests to AIPAC-backed Democrats.
"We must take on Big Pharma, Big Oil, Big Egg, Big Tech, and all the other corporate monopolists whose greed is denying progress for working people."
In recent years, Sanders has repeatedly urged the Democratic Party to ban super PAC spending in its primaries, arguing that it's hypocritical for Democrats to call for campaign finance reform while simultaneously allowing billionaire-funded groups to pour staggering sums into their primary contests.
"What you're seeing from AIPAC and other super PACs is simply outrageous," Sanders said earlier this week. "Democrats often talk about the need to end Citizens United, and we agree. They talk about moving to public funding of elections. But if you're serious about the power of money in politics, you can say today, sorry, no super PACs allowed in primaries."
During his DNC speech on Tuesday, Sanders also demanded an immediate cease-fire to end Israel's "horrific war in Gaza" and said he looks forward to working with Democratic nominee Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, to pass an agenda that strengthens public education, slashes prescription drug prices, and expands healthcare to all.
"Let us be very clear: This is not a radical agenda," said Sanders. "But let me tell you what a radical agenda is, and that is Trump's Project 2025. At a time of massive income and wealth inequality, giving more tax breaks to billionaires is radical. Putting forth budgets to cut Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid is radical. Letting polluters destroy our planet is radical."
"We must take on Big Pharma, Big Oil, Big Egg, Big Tech, and all the other corporate monopolists whose greed is denying progress for working people," Sanders continued. "On November 5, let us elect Kamala Harris as our president and let us go forward to create the nation we know we can become."
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