The Washington Post: Tom Perez’s claim that DNC broke fundraising records in January

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Perez has been dogged by questions about the DNC’s fundraising, which dipped below historical levels in recent months while the Republican National Committee shattered fundraising records.

Pressed about these lopsided financials on C-SPAN, Perez said he was upbeat about the DNC’s resources heading into the congressional midterm elections. Democrats, he said, raised more money in January 2018 than in any previous January. (The DNC was founded in 1848.)

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Lawrence Noble, general counsel of the Campaign Legal Center, said joint fundraising committees are not unlike super PACs in that they both offer donors and campaigns a way to get around the legal contribution limits for individual candidates.

“You’ll see the presidential candidate, the national party committee, and the state party committees [teaming up],” Noble said. “It allows them to add up all the individual contribution limits they have, and then we’ll split it, so that no one goes over the limit.”

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Finally, it’s worth noting that the DNC appears to have siphoned $842,000from the joint committee in November, according to FEC records. It doesn’t affect January’s fundraising total. But it sets a precedent that the DNC could repeat. As Noble said, “transfers between party committees are unlimited.”

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