DAILY LEDES

Who is raising money off Mississippi Senate challenge?

Sam R. Hall
The Clarion-Ledger

Chris McDaniel has shamelessly been sending out fundraising emails leading up to his challenge of the Republican primary for U.S. Senate; however, he's not the only one getting in on the game.

RedState sent out a sponsored fundraising email from Madison Project that declared, "Chris McDaniel won in Mississippi." It then went on to say:

But the corrupt Republican Party of Mississippi is about to declare Senator Thad Cochran its official nominee anyway...
...unless you and I do something about it.

The problem is that it's not exactly clear where the money is going from the RedState/Madison Project pitch.

RedState, of course, is the conservative online site of Erick Erickson. It was originally started as a 527, which many people seem to forget from time to time. Included in their business model is rental of their email list in the form of a sponsor for their Morning Briefing, which is what was sent out on behalf of Madison Project this morning.

However, the pitch is deceiving. Consider this passage:

We need to give Chris McDaniel the support he needs to be recognized as the rightful winner.
We can't standby and allow the Establishment to steal this victory from us with fraudulent votes and questionable tactics.
So please help us fight back against the Establishment and chip in $35 today.
Together we can make sure justice is served and Chris McDaniel is the next U.S. Senator from Mississippi.

Who is the "we" in this? Maybe it tells the reader when they click on one of the three contribute links, which takes you to a page with the following heading:

Conservative Chris McDaniel defeated liberal Senator Thad Cochran by 10,000 votes in the Mississippi GOP Runoff last June.
But the corrupt Republican Party of Mississippi is about to declare Senator Thad Cochran its official nominee anyway...
...unless you and I do something about it.
Please make a contribution of $35 today so we can stop the Establishment from stealing this election.

Nope. Doesn't say. That's OK. I'm sure we can just check the disclosure statement required by the Federal Election Commission of any and all organizations raising and spending money related to federal elections.

Ooops. It's not there. In fact, there's not a name at all on the contribute page. Donors have no idea if they are giving to The Madison Project, RedState, Chris McDaniel or a guy sending out spam emails on behalf of the prince of Madeupastan.

The email doesn't contain any FEC disclosure language either, though in all fairness it does have a copyright line for the Madison Project in case anyone was thinking of ripping off their fundraising message to use as their own. Kind of ironic, isn't it.

This screenshot shows a sponsored fundraising email RedState sent out for The Madison Project, but there is no clear declaration as to whom readers would be donating.
The contribution page from a sponsored fundraising email sent by RedState on behalf of The Madison Project does not say to whom readers are contributing, as shown in this screenshot. It also does not include FEC disclosure language.

Note: Edited to correct that RedState was started as a 527.