Category: AR PAC

The Washington Post reports that court documents outlining the charges against top Hillary supporter Jeffrey Thompson, who pled guilty in federal court yesterday to funding an illegal effort to support Clinton’s 2008 campaign, was coordinating with a campaign senior advisor. Minyon Moore, identified by POLITICO as Clinton’s “eyes and ears” for hosting strategy sessions in Clinton’s D.C. home, was “a central player in the” illegal scheme.

A key finding: though Moore may have violated campaign finance laws, the “the five-year statute of limitations has expired.” If Hillary’s 2008 team’s only refuge is a “statute of limitations” law, that might save them from jail time but will be a tougher sell to voters.

A longtime adviser to Hillary Rodham Clinton personally sought and secured the funding for an illegal shadow operation to boost Clinton’s 2008 presidential bid, according to court papers released as part of a wide-reaching campaign finance scandal.

Washington businessman Jeffrey Thompson, who pleaded guilty Monday on federal conspiracy charges in a case that has focused largely on District Mayor Vincent Gray’s 2010 election, told federal prosecutors that Clinton aide Minyon Moore asked him to fund pro-Clinton efforts in four states and Puerto Rico totaling $608,750 during the hard-fought 2008 Democratic presidential primary campaign, the documents show. …

But Thompson, in his discussions with authorities, depicted Moore as playing a far more intimate role in the off-the-books campaign than was previously known — securing the money and helping guide the strategy by feeding internal campaign documents and receiving messages about the media coverage.

Moore’s alleged participation in the scheme could have violated federal campaign finance laws, which prohibit officers or agents of a campaign from soliciting or arranging for illegal contributions. Election law attorneys said that pursuing charges against Moore could be difficult, however, because the five-year statute of limitations has expired. …

But the new court filings, based on Thompson’s statements to prosecutors that resulted from their probe of unreported donations to local and federal candidates, portray Moore as a central player in the efforts. …

Moore, who worked as a senior staffer for President Bill Clinton and went on to serve as chief executive of the Democratic National Committee, is close to both Clintons. She has been expected to play a significant role should Hillary Clinton decide to run for president in 2016.

The documents say that Moore, who was a senior adviser to Clinton’s 2008 campaign, introduced Thompson to a New York marketing consultant named Troy White, who had unsuccessfully pitched the campaign on the use of “street teams” to improve Clinton’s standing in urban communities.

White pleaded guilty in September to a misdemeanor tax charge as part of the ongoing investigation.

In February 2008, after the campaign rebuffed White, the documents say, Moore asked Thompson to fund the operation, which aimed to drive up support for Clinton in a string of key primary states as she was battling Barack Obama for the Democratic nomination.

The first target was Texas. Moore introduced Thompson to a Clinton supporter in the state identified in court papers as “individual C,” who, the documents say, helped put in place the street team and canvassers. …

Moore, Thompson and White then collaborated on similar operations in Pennsylvania, Indiana, North Carolina and Puerto Rico, the court papers say.