Democratic Presidential Candidate Dean Phillips Redirects Controversial Donation From GOP Donor To Charity Amid Backlash

Democratic presidential hopeful Dean Phillips (D-Minn.) announced that he will be donating a contentious contribution he received from GOP donor Harlan Crow to Second Harvest Heartland, a charity organization dedicated to feeding children and families.

What Happened: The donation from Crow, which was instrumental in Phillips’ successful 2019 House reelection campaign, will now be redirected to a local charity, The Hill reported. The decision by Phillips comes amid a wave of controversy surrounding the donation.

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Phillips initially claimed in a post in X, formerly Twitter, that the donation was made in 2018, but Federal Election Commission (FEC) campaign filings indicate otherwise. The donation was actually made in 2019, as acknowledged by the campaign in a subsequent statement to The Hill.

The maximum individual contribution to a campaign committee in 2019 was capped at $2,800, as per FEC guidelines. Crow has recently been embroiled in controversies surrounding unreported gifts to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and a donation to independent presidential candidate Cornel West, who has also decided to return it.

Why It Matters: Crow’s philanthropy has been under scrutiny recently. In May 2023, it was revealed that Crow allegedly paid $6,200 in tuition fees for Justice Thomas‘ grandnephew at two private schools. This payment was made through one of Crow’s companies, Crow Holdings LLC, as revealed by a bank statement filed in court.

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Photo by Gage Skidmore on Wikimedia Commons