In a surprising revelation, it has been reported that former Vice President Kamala Harris entered into a clandestine agreement with the Democratic National Committee (DNC) following her unsuccessful bid for the presidency in 2024.
As reported by The New York Times, the DNC discreetly settled a staggering $20.5 million in debts incurred by the Harris-Walz campaign. In return, Harris pledged to raise funds for the Democratic Party.
According to The New York Times, the covert arrangement stipulated that "The party would pick up the tab for any outstanding 2024 bills, allowing Harris to claim she did not end the race in debt. In turn,
Harris would raise the money to cover all of those leftover costs, leaving the party whole financially as it sought to navigate the second Trump era." This deal was confirmed by four anonymous sources privy to the details.
The $20.5 million paid by the DNC represents a fraction of the $1.5 billion that the Harris-Walz campaign managed to expend during the Democratic nominee's 15-week campaign. The campaign's expenses ranged from chartered planes and music licensing to polling and fees to an agency that facilitated advertising through "online influencer work."
Throughout this year, Harris's team dispatched nearly 100 fundraising emails, imploring Democrat donors to contribute to the DNC. However, these emails failed to disclose that their contributions would be utilized to settle expenses from Harris's brief presidential campaign.
Roger Lau, the executive director of the DNC, lauded the former Vice President as a "grass-roots fund-raiser," expressing gratitude for her support for the committee. "The D.N.C. has raised more grass-roots dollars in 2025 than in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2023, not including sends from the vice president," he stated.
Despite entering 2025 with $22.1 million, the DNC reported a reduced figure of $13.9 million. The current party chairman, Ken Martin, who was elected in February before the deal was struck, has maintained the agreement under his leadership.
In a June news release, he extolled his party's fundraising efforts, stating, "The D.N.C. has just set a new record for most money raised in the first four months under a new chair ever."
However, approximately 20 cents of each dollar spent by the DNC this year has been directed towards settling Harris's leftover debts, contrary to the former Vice President's suggestion that donations would be used immediately towards winning the next set of elections.
Saurav Ghosh, the director of federal campaign finance reform for the Campaign Legal Center, asserts that the party adhered to all reporting rules, despite the lack of transparency in the distribution of funds. "Its not completely forthright but its also far from the most exploitative of campaign practices we see happening," he commented.
In the aftermath of her election loss, Harris's staff denied the existence of campaign debts. The Harris campaigns post-election filings stated that "there were no outstanding debts or bills overdue" at the time of the election.
Subsequent reports did not reveal any debts from the costly presidential campaign, although the party has since begun reporting payments of $20.5 million in Harriss expenses as party coordinated expenditures.
The DNC now finds itself at a financial disadvantage compared to the Republican National Committee (RNC), which reportedly entered August with $84.3 million six times the amount the Democrats were able to amass. The DNC reportedly had less money this summer than at any point in the past five years.
The last expense the committee settled for the unsuccessful Democrat nominee was in July, as per recently disclosed public records. They directed $498,287.30 to Howard University, where Harris delivered her concession speech.
This revelation raises questions about the DNC's financial management and the transparency of its fundraising efforts.
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