60 percent of SarahPAC donations went to consultants

By Ron Brynaert It takes a village to pay for a slew of consultants.

Last Thursday, ABC News published a story titled "SarahPAC Ensures That Sarah Palin Travels in Style". A subheader added, "When She Speaks for Fees, Her Hosts Pick Up Tab; When Talking at Political Rallies, Donors Pay."

Matthew Mosk reported that "Palin spent more than $400,000 from her political action committee during the first three months of 2010, using the money donated by supporters to pay her team of advisers and cover the costs of stays in luxury hotels, flights, and even to de-ice a private jet that was shuttling her to a campaign rally."

The payments from her "leadership" PAC, called SarahPAC, are detailed in a newly released filing with the Federal Election Commission, and they lend additional insights into how the former GOP vice presidential nominee is paying for her whirl of post-governorship activities.

Much of the SarahPAC money contributed by her donors is being spent on legal and political advice. She has several consultants who help with media inquiries, and pays a former foreign policy adviser to Sen. John McCain to keep her fresh on global issues. A good portion is also going to the high-end hotels and first class travel that has become a staple of her life in the months since she left office.

At Politics Daily, Sandra Fish takes a closer look at the money that went entirely to consultants.

Sarah Palin put the bull's-eye on 20 U.S. House races on her Facebook page last month, but didn't donate to favored candidates in those districts during the first quarter of the year.

Although her SarahPAC took in $400,000 in the first quarter and had more than $900,000 in the bank, it gave only $7,500 to candidates between January and the end of March, plus an additional $2,000 to two other PACs. None went to Republicans in the races she targeted.

However, since Palin didn't target the races until March 23rd, those monies might not show up until the next SarahPAC filing.

But Fish's column notes, "Almost $243,000 went to consultants, including almost $45,000 to PAC treasurer Timothy Crawford (some of it for expenses), plus $21,500 for legal services. NorthStar Strategies took in $50,000, and Orion Strategies $30,000. Consulting services included media strategy, fundraising, candidate research and grassroots coalitions."

At the official site for Palin's political action committee, SarahPAC states that it's "[d]edicated to building America's future, supporting fresh ideas and candidates who share our vision for reform and innovation," and the donation page asks supporters to "[p]lease send what you can to SarahPAC today and help the campaigns of good, strong, commonsense Americans who will clean up the mess that Washington has created."

Conservatives upset about paying too much money in government taxes might not be pleased that over sixty percent of the total donations SarahPAC received during the first quarter of 2010 went to consultants instead of candidates or their campaigns.

ABC News reported last week, "Tim Crawford, a spokesman for Sarah PAC, said he sees nothing out of the ordinary in the way Palin has made use of her account. As for the $7,321 de-icing expense? Crawford said as Palin prepared to depart by private jet from Dulles Airport in Washington, 'there was thick stuff on the wings.' They thought it wise to have it removed. "

Tea Party Activists Criticize Financing And Cost Of National Convention: It ‘Smells Scammy’

By Ben Armbruster Tea party activists are set to gather next month at the National Tea Party Convention in Nashville, TN with the goal of “bringing the Tea Party Movement leaders together from around the nation.” However, infighting among tea party activist and leaders has already cast a shadow on the inaugural teabagger gala. Much of the controversy surrounds convention “brainchild” Judson Phillips, a Tennessee lawyer who controls the for-profit corporation Tea Party Nation, because of his intention to make money off of the event:

“I’m not a socialist. I don’t begrudge people trying to make money, but that’s not what the tea party is about,” said Antonio Hinton of the Knoxville Tea Party. “That convention has nothing to do with the tea party movement, as far as I’m concerned.”

“I think it is a great con of people making money off the passions of others,” RedState’s Erick Erickson told the Washington Independent recently. A Nashville-based tea party activist called Phillips’ Tea Party Nation “dishonest” and that it is “hijacking the tea party movement.” And Politico reported last week that three major sponsors have withdrawn support because of “the convention’s unusual finances.” Other groups followed suit:

American Majority, a leading training outfit for tea party organizers, canceled two planned sessions at the convention and withdrew its sponsorship after learning about the convention’s for-profit structure and the criticisms of Phillips.

“Who is this guy? What are his motivations? And what gives him the credibility to try to step in and insert himself as a leader of the movement?” Ned Ryun, president of American Majority, said he started wondering of Phillips.

Besides the issue of Phillips “money making venture,” other tea party activist have balked at the convention’s cost and the fact that Tea Party Nation is paying Sarah Palin $100,000 to attend — a fee that Phillips would not confirm or deny in a recent radio interview. “When I’ve talked to our members, they’ve said this is entirely too expensive,” said Jenny Beth Martin, the national coordinator of Tea Party Patriots. It “smells scammy,” Erickson said, adding, “A $500+ per person fee to a for-profit organization run by people most people have never heard of is neither populist nor accessible for many tea party activists.”

At the same time, Politico adds that some tea party activists are considering staging protests outside the National Tea Party Convention. “It would really look bad for tea parties to be out there protesting the tea party,” said former Tea Party Nation member Anthony Shreeve.

Update On Friday, Fox News' Bret Baier reported on the tea party activist infighting over the national convention.

Update The New York Times reports that the National Precinct Alliance announced yesterday that it will no longer participate in the convention. National director Philip Glass said he was concerned that the Tea Party Nation was "profiteering" and exploiting the tea party movement.