A reality based independent journal of observation & analysis, serving the Flathead Valley & Montana since 2006. © James Conner.
Ryan Zinke’s 2014 campaign accepted contributions from two white supremacists, Earl Holt, whose writings may have inspired Dylann Roof, the man arrested for murdering nine churchgoers in Charleston, SC, and Richard B. Spencer, who lives in Whitefish, MT, but commits most of his mischief elsewhere. Each made a $500 donation to Zinke’s campaign.
Upon learning his campaign had accepted these men’s money, Zinke announced he was donating the money to the Mother Emanuel Hope Fund, a charity established to help the families of the people shot in Charleston.
Zinke was not the only recipient of Holt’s largesse. In all, Holt donated approximately $65,000 to Republican candidates around the country, among them Sen. Ted Cruz, who said he’s returning the money to Holt. Cruz should follow Zinke’s lead and donate Holt’s whitebacks to charity.
Zinke did the right thing when he donated the money to charity. But did he do the wrong thing when he accepted it? And should he have easily flagged the check from fellow Whitefish resident Spencer?
Many Democrats and human rights activists that I know believe Zinke should have rejected Spencer’s donation, and they find it hard, even impossible, to believe that Zinke’s didn’t know that the whitest man in Whitefish made a contribution to his campaign.
Unless Spencer personally handed his check to Zinke, I don’t agree.
Zinke reported 6,494 itemized individual contributions totaling $2,419,546, and unitemized contributions totaling $1,682,851. Most of that money came in by check or credit card, and was handled by the campaign’s financial team. That team was on the alert for missing information, excessive contributions (sometimes contributors forget they’ve already donated and send donations that exceed campaign contribution limits), and so forth. Their job was getting the money in the bank while complying with campaign finance law. Holt’s and Spencer’s donations were legal.
A great many campaigns receive contributions from embarrassing individuals. Zinke received money from men who are too proud of being white. His Democratic opponent in 2016 might receive money from an advocate for legalized pederasty.
These situations cannot be avoided, so what matters is how they’re handled. My advice, neither keep the money nor give it back. Donate it to a charity that works to counter the evil the unsavory donors support. Donate it right away. And never say “we can’t return it because we spent it.”