Jill Stein raised $7.3 million for a 2016 election recount. And she's still spending it.


In the aftermath of Hillary Clinton's loss in 2016, Green Party candidate Jill Stein asked for donations to mount a recount in three pivotal states where President Trump won by razor-thin margins. Nearly 161,000 donors sent her a total of more than $7.3 million, and 17 months after Trump was sworn in as president, Stein is still spending that dedicated 2016 recount money, The Daily Beast reports. It isn't entirely clear what she is spending it on, as her campaign hasn't filed a report with the Federal Election Commission since September 2017, but the campaign said on April 20 that it still had $932,178 in its 2016 recount account.
"Ongoing litigation, travel costs, and staff salaries are also likely to eat up whatever is left, meaning those who donated to Stein are unlikely to receive a once-promised chance to vote on how the post-recount money would be spent," writes Charles Davis at The Daily Beast. He runs down the known recount expenditures — mostly filing fees and attorney fees — plus the debatably relevant push to improve voting security for future elections and the legally and ethically questionable expenditures that could be seen as strengthening Stein's campaign.
The opacity is puzzling to sunlight-in-politics groups. "It is strange that they would just stop filing reports given they were a legitimate, professional campaign, and despite still having more than a million dollars in cash on hand," Andrew Mayersohn at the Center for Responsive Politics told The Daily Beast. The FEC is curious, too. "The failure to timely file this report may result in civil money penalties, suspension of matching funds, an audit, or legal enforcement action," the FEC wrote in a May 7 letter to Stein campaign treasurer Steven Welzer, noting pointedly that there is no grace period. Read more about the Stein recount money trail at The Daily Beast.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Senate rejects Trump's Library of Congress takeover
speed read Congress resisted the president's attempts to control 'the legislative branch's premier research body'
-
Marya E. Gates' 6 favorite books about women filmmakers and directors
Feature The film writer recommends works by Julie Dash, Sofia Coppola, and more
-
Donald Trump's jumbo-sized corruption | May 14 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Wednesday's editorial cartoons feature artificial intelligence, Democratic attempts to reach rural voters, a tariff deal with Xi Jinping, the U.S. economy, tariffs, and habeas corpus.
-
Senate rejects Trump's Library of Congress takeover
speed read Congress resisted the president's attempts to control 'the legislative branch's premier research body'
-
Hamas frees US hostage in deal sidelining Israel
speed read Edan Alexander, a 21-year-old soldier, was the final living US citizen held by the militant group
-
White Afrikaners land in US as Trump-declared refugees
speed read An exception was made to Trump's near-total ban on admitting refugees for the white South Africans
-
Qatar luxury jet gift clouds Trump trip to Mideast
speed read Qatar is said to be presenting Trump with a $400 million plane, which would be among the biggest foreign gifts ever received by the US government
-
Trump taps Fox News' Pirro for DC attorney post
speed read The president has named Fox News host Jeanine Pirro to be the top federal prosecutor for Washington, replacing acting US Attorney Ed Martin
-
Trump, UK's Starmer outline first post-tariff deal
speed read President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Kier Starmer struck a 'historic' agreement to eliminate some of the former's imposed tariffs
-
Fed leaves rates unchanged as Powell warns on tariffs
speed read The Federal Reserve says the risks of higher inflation and unemployment are increasing under Trump's tariffs
-
Denmark to grill US envoy on Greenland spying report
speed read The Trump administration ramped up spying on Greenland, says reporting by The Wall Street Journal