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.
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.
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.
-
October 4 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Saturday's political cartoons include the Einstein files, defunding the police, and an odd tribute to Jane Goodall
-
Mustardy beans and hazelnuts recipe
The Week Recommends Nod to French classic offers zingy, fresh taste
-
Under siege: Argentina’s president drops his chainsaw
Talking Point The self-proclaimed ‘first anarcho-capitalist president in world history’ faces mounting troubles
-
Museum head ousted after Trump sword gift denial
Speed Read Todd Arrington, who led the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum, denied the Trump administration a sword from the collection as a gift for King Charles
-
Trump declares ‘armed conflict’ with drug cartels
speed read This provides a legal justification for recent lethal military strikes on three alleged drug trafficking boats
-
Supreme Court rules for Fed’s Cook in Trump feud
Speed Read Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook can remain in her role following Trump’s attempts to oust her
-
Judge rules Trump illegally targeted Gaza protesters
Speed Read The Trump administration’s push to arrest and deport international students for supporting Palestine is deemed illegal
-
Trump: US cities should be military ‘training grounds’
Speed Read In a hastily assembled summit, Trump said he wants the military to fight the ‘enemy within’ the US
-
US government shuts down amid health care standoff
Speed Read Democrats said they won’t vote for a deal that doesn’t renew Affordable Care Act health care subsidies
-
YouTube to pay Trump $22M over Jan. 6 expulsion
Speed Read The president accused the company of censorship following the suspension of accounts post-Capitol riot
-
Oregon sues to stop Trump military deployment
Speed Read The president wants to send the National Guard into Portland