An ally of Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden who is part of a group that launched a "dark money" strategy center that plans to spend $60 million during the 2020 elections has shuttered a separate political action committee that was created to provide support for the former vice president, Federal Election Commission filings show.
Matt Tompkins, a Democratic fundraiser, submitted paperwork to the FEC on April 24 establishing the Biden PAC. That same day, additional paperwork was submitted changing the name of the entity from the Biden PAC to the G Street PAC while also removing Tompkins as its treasurer. The PAC would eventually be named For the People and spend millions backing Biden. Biden's communications director, Kate Bedingfield, put distance between the campaign and the PAC and told the Hill that Biden "does not welcome assistance from super PACs."
Tompkins is also involved with a $60 million dark money "strategy center" for the 2020 elections, the Washington Free Beacon previously reported.
The "strategy center," called Future Majority, a Washington, D.C.-based 501(c)4 "dark money" nonprofit that is not required to disclose its donors and whose upcoming plans were reported by Politico, will focus on midwestern states in an effort to "rebrand" the Democratic Party and provide support to liberal organizations. The group will also establish a "war room" to push back against conservative media and fight against the "socialism" label being applied to the Democratic Party.
While Tompkins has not been publicly linked to the group, the Free Beacon found that Tompkins was listed as the governor for Future Majority in filings to D.C.'s Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs.
Mark Riddle, the executive director of Future Majority, whose group did not respond to previous inquiries from the Free Beacon, brushed it off as "an interesting coincidence" to Real Clear Politics.
"The group, however, has a tangential connection to at least one candidate. According to filings publicly available through the Federal Election Commission, Matthew Allen Tompkins serves as the founding treasurer. As the conservative Free Beacon reported, he also founded a political action committee called Biden PAC," Real Clear Politics wrote. "That may be just a byproduct of the incestuous nature of political fundraising, however: Riddle said Future Majority doesn’t coordinate with the Biden PAC and will not favor any candidate. He dismissed the participation of Tompkins, a prolific fundraiser, in both efforts as just 'an interesting coincidence.'"
The PAC has now been terminated, according to filings to the Federal Election Commission.
Kaitlin Saier, who took over as treasurer for Tompkins of the G Street PAC, submitted a miscellaneous filing to the FEC on May 1 to shut down the PAC. "Please perform administrative termination," Saier wrote. "We are not and will not be using this." On May 6, the FEC accepted the PAC's termination report.
The PAC, which never became the For the People PAC, would have carried the same name as Future Majority's "For the People" plan posted on its website.
Saier did not respond to a request to questions asking if they planned to later relaunch the PAC.
Riddle and Tompkins are both linked to the New Leaders Council, a progressive organization established to act as a "hub for progressive Millennial thought leadership." Riddle is the president and Tompkins acts as vice president of the group.
Future Majority was incorporated by Cathedral Strategies LLC. Cathedral Strategies LLC itself was registered by Brett Avery Seifried, who is general counsel at the New Leaders Council.
The group, incorporated in January 2018, soft launched during the midterm elections and advised a number of organizations including the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, according to Politico's report on its 2020 plans.
Future Majority tapped Dan Sena, the executive director of the DCCC during the 2018 elections, to advise the group. Julianna Smoot, a deputy director on President Obama's 2012 reelection campaign will also advise the group.
Democratic megadonors Philip Munger, the son of Berkshire Hathaway Vice Chairman Charles Munger, and Dan Tierney, who was managing director of KCG Holdings, a global financial services company that sold in 2017, are co-chairing Future Majority.