The Jack White for Attorney General campaign confirmed to The Virginia Star that Jack White gave $5,600 to campaign committees associated with the Biden for President campaign in October 2020. The money was sent as two separate contributions. The first donation occurred October 1st, 2020, to the Biden Victory Fund in the amount of $2,800. The second donation occurred 29 days later on October 30th, 2020 to the Biden Action Fund for $2,800.
The Star published a story on April 25 with the headline “Virginia GOP Attorney General Candidate Jack White Gave More Than $10k to Biden in 2020—Including $2,800 Days Before Election,” the details of which were confirmed in the story by White campaign spokesperson Alyssa Farah:
When reached for comment, White for Attorney General Campaign Spokesperson Alyssa Farah, did confirm that it was, in fact Jack White, candidate for Attorney General, that made these campaign contributions. The White for AG campaign did say that Jack White voted for President Donald Trump in the 2020 general election.
The following day, the White campaign approached The Star to ask for a correction on the amount of the donation given by White to the Biden campaign committees in 2020. It was not “more than $10,000,” as The Star reported, but was instead $5,600, the White campaign explained.
“The dollar amounts were wrong on your story. I missed that while we were talking but can explain it to you,” a White campaign insider told The Star.
The Star has reviewed the materials provided by the White campaign and agrees that a correction to the April 25 story is in order. The amount donated by Republican Attorney General candidate Jack White to two campaign committees associated with the Joe Biden campaign in 2020 was, in fact, $5,600, and not “more than $10,000.”
In a subsequent email exchange, White spokesperson Alyssa Farah sent The Star a spreadsheet showing that there was only one donation made to the Biden Victory Fund for the federal maximum of $2,800, followed by a second donation 29 days later to the Biden Action Fund of the federal maximum of $2,800, for a total of $5,600. The campaign also asked The Star to include in it’s reporting that Mr. White donated to Republicans.
According to the Federal Election Commission, Mr. White gave $2,800 to the Biden Victory Fund on October 1, and gave $2,800 to the Biden Action Fund on October 30.
Federal Election Commission records also show corresponding contributions by Jack White to Biden for President in the amount of $2,800 on October 1 and $2,800 on October 30.
These recorded contributions, however, are not separate contributions beyond in addition to the $5,600 contributed to the Biden Victory Fund and the Biden Action Fund. They simply document the legal transfer of the $2,800 contributed by Jack White to the Biden Victory Fund on October 1 to the Biden for President committee, and the subsequent legal transfer of the $2,800 contributed by Jack White to the Biden Action Fund on October 29 to the Biden for President committee on that same day.
It is unclear why a debit memo in the amount of $2,800 for Jack White was not recorded in the FEC records for the Biden Victory Fund on October 1, or a debit memo in the amount of $2,800 for Jack White was not recorded in the FEC records for the Biden Action Fund on October 30.
The Biden Victory Fund and Biden Action Fund are both Joint Fundraising Committees. Joint Fundraising Committees, commonly referred to JFCs, are set up to fund campaigns and candidate committees.
The Federal Election Commission definition of a Joint Fundraising Committee is:
Joint fundraising is election-related fundraising conducted jointly by a political committee and one or more other political committees or unregistered organizations.
The rules described apply to political committees and unregistered organizations engaged in joint fundraising. Please note that nothing in these rules supersedes the fundraising restrictions of 11 CFR Part 300.”
White’s first donation, in the amount of $2,800, was contributed on October, 1st 2020 to the Biden Victory Fund, a JFC. In its disclosures, the Biden Victory Fund has a pre-determined formula, stating the first $2,800 of each donation will be directed to the Biden for President campaign committee. On the second page of the full FEC report, column AE, notes the $2,800 from Jack White is transferred from Biden Victory Fund to Biden for President campaign committee. This is referred to as “(Memo: Filer’s % of Contribution G…).”
White’s second donation, in the amount of $2,800, on October 30th, 2020 was made to the Biden Action Fund, another JFC. In its disclosures, the Biden Action Fund declares the first $2,800 of any donation given to the Biden Action Fund will be allocated to the Biden for President campaign committee.
Similarly, Jack White’s donation on October 30th, 2020 to the Biden Action Fund was transferred to Biden for President campaign committee. On the second page of the full FEC report, column AE, notes the $2,800 from Jack White is transferred from the Biden Action Fund to the Biden for President campaign committee. This is this is referred to as “(Memo: Filer’s % of Contribution G…).”
In addition, FEC records show Mr. White donated to Republican campaigns in the past. He donated $5,000 to Texans for Don Willett in 2012, which was the campaign fund to elect current Fifth District Court of Appeals Judge Don Willett to the Texas Supreme Court. He gave $2,700 dollars to former Florida Governor Jeb Bush’s presidential campaign in 2015. The AG candidate also gave two donations to Jeb Bush’s Right to Rise PAC, in the respective amounts of $4000 and $1,000 in February and March of 2015. White gave $25 to Virginian Andrew Knaggs for Congress in 2019, and gave Floridian Michael Waltz for Congress $500 in 2019.
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Matt Colt Hall is a reporter for The Virginia Star and the Star News Network. Follow Matt on Twitter at @MattColtHall on Twitter. Send tips to [email protected].
Photo “Jack White” by Jack White. Background Photo “Virginia State Capitol” by Ron Cogswell. CC BY 2.0.
He sounds like a lot of Tennessee “Republicans”.
He is a democrat running on as a Republican, Do not vote for him.