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Make America Great Again PAC
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Basic facts
Location: New York
Type: Super PAC
Top official: Mike Ciletti
Founder(s): Leslie Caldwell
Year founded: 2015
Website: Official website
Super PACs

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Read more about super PACs and the super PACs covered on Ballotpedia.

Make America Great Again PAC (MAGA PAC) was a pro-Donald Trump Super PAC. It was established in July 2015 by Leslie Caldwell. The super PAC filed termination paperwork on July 6, 2016, with the FEC and refunded over a $1 million to its donors.[1] [2]

Background

Founded in July 2015, Make America Great Again PAC (MAGA PAC) was a pro-Donald Trump Super PAC established by Leslie Caldwell. According to the FEC Statement of Organization, Caldwell was the custodian of record and treasurer.[3]

In October 2015, the super PAC announced it intended to shut down. Mike Ciletti, the group's director, said at the time, "Mr. Trump has said he doesn't have a super PAC. So to honor his wishes, I'm shutting my organization down."[4] On July 6, 2016, MAGA PAC filed for termination with the FEC, effectively ending the super PAC. The super PAC refunded $1,033,000 to its donors.[2] [1]

Finances

2016

According to documents filed with the Federal Election Commission, Make America Great Again PAC reported $157,714 in total receipts and $109,350 in total disbursements during calendar year 2016 prior to filing for termination.[5]

2015

According to documents filed with the Federal Election Commission, Make America Great Again PAC reported $1,742,684 in total receipts and $1,584,969 in total disbursements during calendar year 2015.[6]

Noteworthy donors

Phillip Ruffin, who contributed $1 million, is the owner of Treasure Island Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, while Seryl Kushner, who gave $100,000 is Trump's daughter Ivanka Trump's mother-in-law.[7] [8] The Washington Post noted that "Make America Great Again eventually refunded Ruffin's money and a few other contributions in December after spending about half a million dollars on consulting, legal expenses, travel, polling and other costs."[1] Below is a list of the top five donors in 2015.

Top five 2015 donors to MAGA PAC[9]
Name Contribution amount
Phillip Ruffin $1,000,000
Andrew Beal $100,000
Michael Dezertov $100,000
Seryl Kushner $100,000
Phillip Pilevsky $100,000

Legal status

Make America Great Again PAC was 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.[10] [11]

Noteworthy events

Alleged connections to Trump campaign

On October 20, 2015, The Washington Post reported that there were several connections between the super PAC and Trump's campaign.[12] Mike Ciletti, who was a consultant for the super PAC according to Politico, had also received payments from the Trump campaign for consulting work.[13] Such interaction is permissible by law, provided that precautions are taken to guarantee that no coordination takes place between the two organizations. The Washington Post also reported that the super PAC used donor information obtained through the campaign to generate their own fundraising list.[13] [12]

In an interview on March 24, 2016, Stephanie Cegielski, a former spokeswoman for the group, stated, "I am glad [Trump] has brought more people to the political process but I question his ability to be the leader of this country."[14]

In an open letter on March 28, 2016, Cegielski explained why she no longer supported Trump:[15]

" I don't think even Trump thought he would get this far. And I don't even know that he wanted to, which is perhaps the scariest prospect of all. He certainly was never prepared or equipped to go all the way to the White House, but his ego has now taken over the driver's seat, and nothing else matters. ... His ego has now taken over the driver's seat, and nothing else matters. The Donald does not fail. The Donald does not have any weakness. The Donald is his own biggest enemy. ... Trump acts as if he's a fictional character. But like Hercules, Donald Trump is a work of fiction.[16] "

Recent news

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Make America Great Again PAC. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

See also

  • Donald Trump
  • Donald Trump presidential campaign, 2016
  • Super PAC
  • Republican presidential election super PACs, 2016

External links

  • Make America Great Again PAC, archived January 27, 2016

Footnotes

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 The Washington Post, "Longtime Trump friend seeded pro-Trump super PAC with $1 million," February 4, 2016
  2. 2.0 2.1 FEC, "Termination, Make America Great Again PAC," accessed August 23, 2016
  3. FEC, "Statement of Organization," accessed October 20, 2015
  4. Politico, "Pro-Trump super PAC shuts down," October 22, 2015
  5. Federal Election Commission, "Make America Great Again PAC Year-End Report, 2016," February 24, 2017
  6. Federal Election Commission, "Make America Great Again PAC Year-End Report, 2015," May 23, 2016
  7. Forbes, "Phillip Ruffin," accessed February 26, 2016
  8. The New York Times, "Donald Trump Pays a Visit to His Not-So-Poor Relations," August 23, 2015
  9. Open Secrets, "Make America Great Again PAC," accessed October 24, 2016
  10. The Atlantic, "The New York Times' Disingenuous Campaign Against Citizens United," February 24, 2012
  11. The New York Times, "Who's Financing the 'Super PACs?" May 7, 2012
  12. 12.0 12.1 The Washington Post, "The inside story of Trump campaign's connections to a big-money super PAC," October 18, 2015
  13. 13.0 13.1 Politico, "Trump attended big-donor fundraiser last month," August 23, 2015
  14. Free Beacon, "Former Pro-Trump Operative Disavows GOP Frontrunner," March 24, 2016
  15. XOJane, "An Open Letter to Trump Voters from His Top Strategist-Turned-Defector," March 28, 2016
  16. Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.