‘Scam PACs’ strike again in the West
WASHINGTON—Mysterious and misleading political action committees are nothing new, but two recent examples demonstrate just how brazen some PACs are becoming in their money-grabbing email pitches.
“BREAKING: Sheriff Clarke Resigned,” announced the subject line of a Sept. 2 email from the Sheriff David Clarke for U.S. Senate Official Draft Campaign. The subsequent text of the message was supposedly explanatory, yet nearly completely wrong.
“Well, exactly as your Sheriff Clarke Draft Committee has been predicting, Sheriff Clarke notified Governor Walker that he was resigning his position as the Sheriff of Milwaukee County, effective at midnight, yesterday morning,” according to the email.
“The courageous black conservative Sheriff has been tight lipped about his future plans, but those of you who have been paying attention to our draft efforts will not see his resignation as a surprise,” the email continued.
This message is remarkable, considering, six months ago, Clarke wrote in his book, “I have no interest in running for elected office other than being sheriff…I’m not running for mayor, I’m not running for congressman, I’m not running for senator, and I’m not running for governor.”
But don’t let that get in the way of a good email:
“His resignation will at long last free him to prepare for a U.S. Senate campaign in earnest—something he was unwilling to do while still taking taxpayer dollars to serve Milwaukee County,” the email stated. “That means it’s showtime, folks!”
But more than six weeks before the recent email, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that Clarke told a local radio station, “I want to put this to a rest because it’s becoming a distraction. No, I’m not running for Senate.”
Of course that didn’t stop this PAC from asking for money.
“Sheriff Clarke needs our prayers and vocal support to officially launch his campaign for Senate. You can encourage him today with a donation of $50, $100, or $500—CLICK HERE to your secure link.”
That’s a pretty bold ask, considering Clarke specifically told people not to give money to the PAC.
“It’s a scam PAC really,” Clarke said in July. “They don’t need my permission to do it.”
“Every time I turn around, I talk to people and say, ‘No, I’m not running for Senate, hang onto your money,’” continued Clarke, who (surprise!) just announced a new position with America First Action, a pro-President Donald Trump PAC, and not that he was running for the Senate.
An Aug. 26 email, subject line “URGENT: Enemy #1” from Black America’s Political Action Committee was almost as offensive for it’s lack of truth.
“I’m sending you this urgent email to get your attention on a critical matter: Mia Love is in serious trouble. You see, the Democrats are already on the offensive— making wild allegations against Mia Love … and every indication is that it seems to be working,” the email began. “Mia’s poll numbers have revealed serious trouble ahead for her re-election.”
That caught my attention on a couple of levels, that the congresswoman from Utah was in “serious trouble” in a district where Hillary Clinton received 32 percent of the vote in 2016, according to Daily Kos Elections, and that her campaign would share polling numbers with BAMPAC.
So I reached out to Love’s pollster.
“There’s no indication in any polling that I know of, public or private, that Mia is having any trouble,” said Quin Monson, a partner at Y2 Analytics.