Small-Dollar Donors Are Asking John Fetterman for Their Money Back

Close to people have requested their money back from the campaign of Sen John Fetterman D-Pa Refund requests can be routine part of campaigns either because donors decide for specific reason that they want a refund or they accidentally donated over the legal limit for contributions In Fetterman s episode though several donors have indicated that they solicited the campaign for their money back or planned to do so because of his hard-right turn toward Israel and Republican-aligned policies The bulk of the refund requests to Fetterman s campaign since the start of Israel s war on Gaza have been from small-dollar donors Darwin Leuba the vice-chair of the O Hara Township Democratic Committee and the elected auditor of the township since in Allegheny County Pennsylvania requested a refund of his contribution last month Fetterman s either fighting for our rights or he s not And if he s not then we need to push back It seems silly right It s just five bucks but it serves as a proof of concept for those who gave much more Leuba recounted The Intercept noting that he only spoke for himself Our rights are being stripped away and we need representatives who care enough to fight for us Fetterman s either fighting for our rights or he s not And if he s not then we need to push back Leuba commented even if it s five bucks at a time The Fetterman campaign has issued more than refund requests since from more than donors totaling more than according to filings with the Federal Voting Commission That includes more than refunds last cycle At least seven political action committees also received refunds Fetterman s campaign did not respond to a request for comment Preponderance of the refunds the campaign issued last cycle after October went to small-dollar donors More than percent of the total number of refunds the campaign issued in went to donors who gave less than up percent from In all of the campaign issued more than refunds totaling compared to refunds in totaling Still the refunds represent a small portion of Fetterman s campaign haul Sixty-two donors received refunds after the October attacks totaling across contributions less than percent of the campaign s total individual contributions that cycle That figure does not include donors like Leuba who requested their refunds last month or anytime since December requests after December will be reflected in an upcoming filing The period since October reflects about two-thirds of the total time Fetterman has been in office making it natural for more requests for refunds to pile up since the Hamas attacks Totally Defrauded by Fetterman Fetterman s supporters have been vocal about their disappointment with his rightward turn since taking office Small-dollar donors have increasingly voiced their dismay with Fetterman since October and his subsequent aid for GOP efforts like the Laken Riley Act and the confirmation of Attorney General Pam Bondi At the same time Republican donors ramped up their contributions to the Democratic senator after October The Intercept previously disclosed It s been clear for a while that he s been moving further to the right which is why I quietly requested a refund months ago Leuba announced I posted it publicly because he didn t fight back on the establishment funding bill and was attacking other Democrats for voting against it That came off as selfish and counterproductive Particular Reddit users posted comments on a thread about Leuba s refund request and commented they planned to do the same I just emailed in my refund request I don t expect anything to come of it but is one user wrote last month I just sent in my request another user replied Not expecting any response but it s a good way to make it clear Pennsylvania is not behind this NewCon turn I m not sure if he was invariably a fraud it was the stroke or he s just trying to keep his wife Gisele out of an ICE raid Regardless he s not who he stated he was Rabbi David Mivasair a member of the rabbinic council of Jewish Voice for Peace and a Pennsylvania voter wrote in a Twitter post last month that he longed to request a refund from Fetterman s campaign because of the senator s advocacy for Israel s war on Gaza I must request a refund from John Fetterman who I gave regular donations to not knowing what a deeply perverse genocidal monster he is I ll do it to clear my karma a bit and will double and donate every penny to desperate families in Gaza Mivasair wrote He added a link to donate to families in Gaza I feel totally defrauded by Fetterman Mivasair stated The Intercept noting that he had not yet requested the refund I actively supported him in the Democratic primary for Senate with both advocacy and donations If I had only known what he would end up doing in the Senate I never would have done that I feel that way specifically because of his genocidal backing for Israel He has no regard for justice or human life when it comes to Palestinians he added I think John Fetterman is entirely irrational in his unstinting total sponsorship for Israel as it commits genocide in full view of the world Other senators also have large numbers of refund requests The campaign for Sen Mark Kelly D-Ariz had more than refund requests since from more than people and eight PACs totaling more than million Other senators see far fewer such requests The campaign for Sen Gary Peters D-Mich has issued refunds to more than people since totaling Former Sen Kyrsten Sinema I-Ariz issued just under refunds last cycle including several for excessive contributions One of the biggest outliers in campaign refund requests is President Donald Trump whose campaign issued more than million in refunds to donors in more than percent of what the campaign raised that cycle Cozy With the Right Last month Fetterman was scheduled to appear alongside Sen Dave McCormick R-Pa who he previously attacked During McCormick s and campaigns Fetterman had railed against the Republican Now the two would be appearing together at an event on youth mentorship their first joint appearance The event was canceled after protesters demonstrated against it Related Fetterman Staff Quit Amid Frustration Over Just Working on Israel All the Time Staffers have left Fetterman s office en masse since Last spring three of his top communications staffers resigned in the program of a month His office has had three different communications directors in the span of just over two years The office has not hired a new communications director since the departure of Charlie Hills in February according to LegiStorm Fetterman s office did not this instant respond to a request for comment In total six staffers have left the office since The Intercept previously communicated including several people who left over Fetterman s singular focus on Israel Fetterman campaigned on being a champion of the working class fighting to protect immigrants and reforming the criminal justice system Since the October attacks and his increasingly cozy relationship with both the American Israel General Affairs Committee and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the bulk of his office s activity has drifted away from the promises of his campaign according to people familiar with the office s work FEC records reflect campaign refunds through December The next round of campaign finance filings are due later this month The post Small-Dollar Donors Are Asking John Fetterman for Their Money Back appeared first on The Intercept