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Committee for American Sovereignty
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| Committee for American Sovereignty | |
 | |
| Basic facts | |
| Location: | Los Angeles, Calif. |
| Type: | Super PAC |
| Affiliation: | Donald Trump |
| Top official: | Doug Watts, National executive director |
| Year founded: | 2016 |
| Website: | Official website |
Committee for American Sovereignty is a super PAC that supported Donald Trump's (R) 2016 presidential campaign. During that election cycle, the super PAC was led by Doug Watts, a former advisor to 2016 Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson.[1]
As of June 2017, records from the Internet Archive indicated that the organization last maintained an active website in December 2016.[2]
Background
The Committee for American Sovereignty was formed on May 8, 2016, according to FEC reports. The statement of organization designated Alane Pelleriti as both custodian of records and treasurer. The assistant treasurer was Laura Cardenas.[3]
Former advisor to former 2016 Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson, Doug Watts, was appointed as the national executive director and the spokesman for the super PAC at the time of its inception.[1] At that time, former California State Senator Tony Strickland (R), was listed as the California chairman, according to The New York Times.[4]
Work
Website
The Committee for American Sovereignty's work consisted of operating a website that maintained updates on Trump's candidacy. The organization ran the "Make America Great Again" blog, chronicling Trump's campaign stops and the Republican National Convention.[5] To raise money for its efforts, the organization also sold "limited-edition Trump Start energy drinks."[6]
Finances
2016
According to documents filed with the Federal Election Commission, the Committee for American Sovereignty reported $485,982 in total receipts and $485,178 in total disbursements during calendar year 2016.[7]
Initial comments on fundraising
According to comments from Doug Watts in May 2016, the super PAC aimed to raise $20 million before the Republican National Convention in July 2016. Overall, Watts anticipated the committee raising $100 million before November 2016.[1] Spending was intended to target online and television ads, field operations, such as voter registration and get out the vote operations, according to Watts.[4]
Legal status
The Committee for American Sovereignty is a super PAC. A super PAC is a political committee that can solicit and spend unlimited sums of money. A super PAC cannot contribute directly to a politician or political party, but it can spend independently to campaign for or against political figures. These committees are also called independent expenditure-only committees. A super PAC is not legally considered a political action committee (PAC) and as such is regulated under separate rules.[8][9]
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms 'Committee for American Sovereignty'. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 ABC News, "Newly Launched Super PAC Vows to Raise Millions for Donald Trump," May 12, 2016
- ↑ Committee for American Sovereignty, "Home page," archived December 6, 2016
- ↑ FEC, "Statement of Organization, Committee for American Sovereignty," accessed May 12, 2016
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 The New York Times, "New ‘Super PAC’ Backing Donald Trump Pledges to Raise $20 Million," May 12, 2016
- ↑ Committee for American Sovereignty, "Make America Great Again," accessed July 21, 2016
- ↑ Committee for American Sovereignty, "Trump Start Energy Drinks," accessed July 21, 2016
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Committee for American Sovereignty Year-End Report, 2016," January 31, 2017
- ↑ The Atlantic, "The New York Times' Disingenuous Campaign Against Citizens United," February 24, 2012
- ↑ The New York Times, "Who's Financing the 'Super PACs?" May 7, 2012
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