Have you ever wondered what becomes of socially awkward politicians with no marketable skills, aside from crying on cue, when they are gerrymandered out of public office? Better yet, do you ever wonder what happens to all the leftover campaign cash they bilked out of pussy-hat wearing cat ladies in the name of saving our Democracy? If the answer is yes, this one's for you!
Before finding fame in 2021 from the fallout of January 6, the most remarkable thing about Mr. Kinzinger was just how unremarkable his congressional career had been. Despite representing (arguably) the reddest district in Illinois, Mr. Kinzinger prided himself on being a bipartisan stooge at every turn. He co-authored a few pieces of legislation, notably the 2016 Countering Foreign Propaganda and Disinformation Act, aimed at "stopping Russian interference in our elections," but that's about it. His fundraising efforts were decent but never excessive (using Congress' standards). In his first five terms in office, Mr. Kinzinger never raised more than $2.45 million (2020) across all of his campaign committees and never spent more than $2.53 million (2018).
However, as we all know, America was changed forever on that fateful day in January 2021. Our Democracy™ was threatened, and the burden to save it had fallen on the shoulders of men like Adam Kinzinger. First order of business when saving our Democracy™? Opening up a second joint fundraising committee.
Unfortunately for Mr. Kinzinger, the Illinois state legislature had other plans following the 2020 census, and they redrew his district's lines, combining two republican districts into one. Rather than get into a grueling primary with the other Republican, Kinzinger announced on October 29, 2021, that he would not seek re-election.
Normally, this would be the end of the story; no re-election means no more campaign fundraising. Time to wrap it up and move along to K Street with all the other washed-up politicians whoring themselves out to the highest special interest bidder. But curiously enough, that's not where our story ends. That's where it just gets started. You see, Mr. Kinzinger had found himself quite the lucrative, niche role to play in American politics following January 6: Republican Man of Conscience®.
How lucrative, you ask? For the 2022 cycle, Mr. Kinzinger tripled his previous record, raising $6,728,851 across all committees. This, despite not running for re-election! Wait. How was that even possible? Behold the power of campaign committees!
Ten days after announcing his retirement from Congress, Kinzinger converted his Country First Joint Fundraising Committee into a Leadership PAC. This kept the money flowing. Now, he was free to continue raising money in the name of "saving our Democracy" by soliciting donations under the guise of using that money to help Country First Patriots win elections across America! So did he? Not exactly...
Despite raising $6.7 million in the 2022 cycle, Mr. Kinzinger only gave about $140,000 to other candidates. To be fair, he needed to pay for the airplane hanger he was keeping his new plane in.
Yes, friends, it appears you can not only bill your campaign to store your personal airplane, but you can also reimburse yourself for the miles you flew that plane (when conducting the business of your leadership PAC, of course.
Naturally, no Republican campaign expenditure list would be complete without AT LEAST $1.5 million in consulting fees. But hold on... Mr. Kinzinger wasn't running a re-election campaign... so why did he need $1.75 million in consulting?
Furthermore, why did Kinzinger's leadership PAC purchase his campaign committee's vehicle? FEC rules allow a candidate to purchase campaign property at fair market value upon leaving office, but using your leadership PAC to buy the property for you? That seems... highly suspect.
Then there's the club... can't forget the clubs! You see, when you become a Republican Man of Conscience, you get invited to join ALL the swanky DC social clubs... but it ain't cheap. Kinzinger billed his principal campaign $25,000 for membership dues to the Capitol Hill Club and another $40,000 in member dues for the "Former Members of Congress Club." $65,000 in membership dues to private clubs... super weird; I could've sworn the FEC just said this was a huge no-no*
*The important point for Kinzinger is that he used his principal campaign committee to pay those fees despite not running for reelection. There is one loophole for using donor dollars to pay club dues, and it is if you're holding a fundraising event at the club and a membership is required. But Kinzinger paid his CHC dues after the election had already passed (Dec 2022) just 20 days before he left office. That is a huge NO-NO.
So clearly, Kinzinger was living it up in his last year in office... but what happened next? Despite his wild spending sprees, Mr. Kinzinger still left office with a LOT of money in his multiple committee accounts.
$3,344,001 to be exact. (He came into the 2022 cycle with $1.5 million on hand)
It turns out that the nationally televised primetime hearings he and his staff had scripted and directed were quite a hit with the donor crowd because the money never seemed to stop flowing to Mr. Kinzinger. It's truly impressive.
The first step when leaving office is $2.4 million still in your principal campaign committee? Convert that committee into a PAC.
Second step: Transfer $2 million to your first leadership PAC and $250,000 to your second leadership PAC.
Third step: Empty the rest of the fund by making small donations to random state and local campaigns, including ones run by your leadership PAC employees!
Now that the money is freed from those pesky campaign committee rules, things get much less... restrictive. But that doesn't mean there won't be expenses... that airplane isn't going to store itself! Then there's the $21,000 in airfare mileage reimbursements to yourself, on top of the $60,000 in regular airfare... and, of course, another almost $10,000 in regular mileage reimbursements to yourself... which is really weird since your PAC owns a committee car. Why would you be reimbursing yourself for mileage incurred by a committee car? Then there's the $16,000 in "travel expenses." Plus hotels, meals, and OF COURSE CONSULTANTS!
Okay, but still... where did the REST of the money go? Well, my friends, allow me to introduce you to the next layer of campaign finance slime... the 501(c)3, aka nonprofits, aka THE BLACK HOLE.
Mr. Kinzinger did one more thing before leaving office: he opened a 501(c)3 under the name Country First Foundation, using the same mailing address as his leadership PACs, and he was granted tax-exempt status from the IRS on 3/13/23 (effective 6/9/2022)
In 2023, Kinzinger transferred $415,000 to the Country First Foundation and another $348,546 to an entity called "Country First Action" that uses the same mailing addresses as his leadership PACs and Country First Foundation. It is NOT the same entity, as confirmed by searching the Delaware SoS website and confirming that Country First Action was registered as a corporation in Delaware seven months after Country First Foundation was registered there.
GuideStar has a Country First Foundation profile, so we know that Mr. Kinzinger chose Austin Weatherford to run it.
Who is Austin Weatherford, you ask?
Well, Mr. Weatherford is Kinzingers, former chief of staff, but more importantly, according to his website, "...Weatherford played a key role in producing, editing, scripting and advising on the televised hearings of the US House Select Committee on the January 6 attack."
Isn't that convenient? Help the Biden administration pull off a televised smear of the MAGA crowd, and in exchange, you get to head up a "virtual" nonprofit, seeded with close to half a million from your old boss!
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Mel (buymeacoffee.com)
