Maxine Waters, the Democratic Representative from the progressive paradise of California, has been an active participant in the "Resist 45" movement. She has frequently appeared on political talk shows to call for President Trump's impeachment for, among other things, his clearly 'bigoted' travel ban (which has since been upheld by the Supreme Court) and his support of Russian President Vladimir Putin...even as Putin continued his invasion of 'Korea' (no, that's not a typo...it's an actual quote).
Of course, it's somewhat likely that all of Waters' grandstanding has been nothing more than a political stunt designed to raise extra cash for the Democratic Party. But, the only problem with the plan is that it doesn't seem to be working at all. In fact, it seems to be having the opposite effect on potential donors as political contributions to her campaign have collapsed.
As the Washington Free Beacon points out, despite her elevated profile of late, Waters' campaign only managed to pull in ~$20,000 in individual contributions so far this year and an abysmal $12,600 in 2Q 2017.
Citizens for Waters, Rep. Waters' campaign committee, reported receiving just $12,600 individual contributions throughout the second quarter, which runs between April 1 and June 30. During the first quarter, which spans from Jan. 1 to March 31, the campaign reported $9,508.79 in individual contributions. Waters has now pulled in just $22,108.79 in total individual contributions.
The campaign has compensated for the low amount of individual contributions by pulling in six figures from political action committees. The campaign reported $2,500 from PACs during the first quarter and $99,500 during the second quarter.
Rep. Waters' campaign now has $193,714.02 cash on hand and debts totaling $128,748.12. A majority of the debt is owed to Karen Waters, the daughter of Maxine Waters.
Ironically, despite her inability to raise money, Maxine's daughter Karen is owed $108,000 by the campaign for assisting with her "slate mailer" program.
Karen is in charge of the campaign's "slate mailer," or endorsement mailer, operation that has proved lucrative for the campaign by raising hundreds of thousands in donations from other candidates' committees in exchange for placement on a mailer sent out to constituents in California.
A candidate pays Citizens for Waters from their own campaign committee to appear on the endorsement mailer. If a candidate does not directly pay Citizens for Waters, they must mark an in-kind contribution on their own committees from the Waters campaign.
At the end of the first quarter, the Waters campaign marked a $108,000 debt to Karen for her services.
And while we would never intentionally attempt to "criminalize behavior that is normal," if just in Washington D.C., perhaps departing Ethics Director Walter Shaub, who has apparently become enraged by Trump's trips to Mar-A-Lago, should also take a look at Waters' campaign payments to her own family members just as a fun little departing project on his way out the door.