Report: Daniel Craig Donated Almost $50,000 to Sketchy Bernie Sanders Super PAC
According to a new report from the Center for Public Integrity, Skyfall star Daniel Craig gave nearly $50,000 to a super PAC accused of falsely representing an affiliation with Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders.
In July, Craig donated $47,300 to Americans Socially United, a super PAC that was forced to change its name from “Bet on Bernie 2016” after the FEC determined it did “not appear to be an authorized committee of that candidate.”
Craig later confirmed that he made the donation, telling Variety he gave the money “in good faith as I understood it to support Senator Sanders’ candidacy.”
Sanders, however, has repeatedly spoken out against super PACs and pledged not to accept their support. In June, his campaign sent a cease and desist letter demanding Americans Socially United take down their web domains “pledgesanders2016.com” and “betonbernie.com”—a request that has so far been ignored.
According to CPI, the founder of the organization is Cary Lee Peterson, a man with long history of financial and legal woes including two warrants for his arrest in Arizona:
Americans Socially United is just one of eight political groups Peterson has registered with the FEC this year.
He’s also created the American Friends for Micronesia, the Congressional Committee on Cuban Affairs, the Congressional Committee on Eurasian Affairs, the Congressional Committee on Law Enforcement and Public Safety, the Congressional Task Force on Human Trafficking, the Every Vote Counts Restoring America Super PAC and the Independent National Committee.
Like Americans Socially United, none have filed campaign finance disclosures. And despite their names, none are officially affiliated with Congress.
“Those who are confused know very little about [the] difference between [a] PAC and Campaign Fund [sic],” Peterson said in an email to CPI. “Their lack of knowledge is not our fault.”
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