There have been many troubling developments surrounding the Democratic Party’s support for Hillary Clinton in recent days– but perhaps the most disturbing story involves Jeremy Kennedy, the former Maine Democratic Party Executive Director.
Although employees of state parties are expected to be impartial and not favor any candidates, Kennedy clearly used his position as the ED of the Maine Dems for several months to funnel big money to the Clinton campaign. Kennedy – who worked for Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign – helped implement a complex campaign money scheme which runs in direct contrast to the platform of the Democratic Party.
But even worse, Kennedy then profited off of his dark-money dealings by joining the Clinton campaign as Maine’s State Director.
This money scheme allowed wealthy out-of-state individuals to skirt campaign finance laws and direct seemingly endless amounts of money to the Clintons. It was first exposed in January of this year, when the Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting detailed how the Hillary Victory fund was exploiting loopholes in our campaign finance system to avoid limitations and safeguards.
Wealthy out-of-state donors were giving tens of thousands of dollars to the Maine Democratic Party via the Hillary Victory Fund. All of this money was then transferred almost immediately to the Democratic National Committee – which has since been exposed as being one hundred percent behind Hillary Clinton and against Bernie Sanders.
The Maine Democratic Party, under the leadership of Kennedy, was essentially a middle-man which enabled powerful billionaires to direct money to the Clintons and avoid almost all campaign finance restrictions.
When asked why the Maine Democratic Party participated in this type of money transfer system, Kennedy claimed he believed it would ‘strengthen’ Maine’s state party and that he ‘hopes’ it will someday find its way back to Maine. Less than one percent of all money which was transferred through these schemes has actually come back to state parties.
It’s also now clear that Kennedy wasn’t telling the whole story. Just after the conclusion of the Maine Democratic State Convention in May, Kennedy jumped over to the Hillary Clinton campaign with little fanfare. According to a post on Facebook, this took place on approximately June 15.
At best, this is an example of an individual engaging in extremely unethical behavior, and then being rewarded with a handsome campaign role by the Clintons. At worst, Kennedy knew all along he would join the Clinton campaign – and he used his role as Maine Democratic Party Executive Director as another tool to ensure that Clinton had as much money as possible.
There’s no question that Jeremy Kennedy – and the Maine Democratic Party – were incredibly biased in their support for Hillary Clinton. So for anyone who believes every candidate (such as Bernie Sanders) should be given an equal chance to win, the actions of Kennedy and the Maine Democratic Party are simply shameful and unethical.
