Democrats Have No Money To Give Back Pledge To Return Donations Just Adds To Millions Of Debt

When the Democratic National Committee called a news conference to announce the return of another $1.5 million in questionable or improper donations, top party officials neglected to mention one tiny detail: They don’t have any money to give back.

Following an election that shattered all previous spending records, the committee is between $10 million and $12 million in debt. Now the Democratic Party finds itself going in opposite directions - forced to obligate itself to return precious dollars because of the campaign finance controversy at the same time it is struggling to raise $50 million for operations this year.

Top DNC officials acknowledged Saturday, one day after revealing the results of a three-month audit of major contributors, that it will take at least several months to raise enough money both to erase the red ink and issue refunds to 77 donors whose contributions were deemed unacceptable. They hope to return the donations by the end of June.

“The lights are on and (our employees) are still getting paychecks,” said DNC spokeswoman Amy Weiss Tobe. “As we can give back donations, we will.”

However, campaign finance experts predict that the growing - and embarrassing - controversy surrounding the party’s fund raising will only make it more difficult for the Democrats to raise the funds necessary to make refunds.

While an initial $1.5 million returned by the DNC last year went primarily to foreign donors and Asian Americans who made illegal or improper contributions, records show that many of the refunds announced on Friday are owed to convicted felons, individuals under indictment and companies with criminal histories.

The DNC also plans to return $3,000 to the U.S. Treasury in lieu of a donation that records show was made on August 21 of last year by Michele Lima, a Washington woman who has been dead for a decade, according to party officials.

Would-be donors will be “much more reluctant” to dig deep into their pockets to help, said Herbert E. Alexander, a political scientist at the University of Southern California. With reporters combing through donor lists, congressional committees gearing up for public hearings and a growing drumbeat for the appointment of an independent counsel to investigate the matter, many potential donors naturally will shy away, Alexander said.

Even Clinton acknowledged the problem when he told those gathered at a recent New York fund-raiser they were “brave” to attend.