Pro-Clinton Super PAC Ready for Hillary will be walking a delicate legal tightrope in the coming months as it prepares to transfer some of its most valuable resources to Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, campaign finance experts tell the Washington Free Beacon.
A Ready for Hillary strategy meeting at the Sheraton Hotel in New York’s Times Square late last week drew hundreds of Democratic donors, strategists and politicians, who talked transition strategy behind closed doors.
While the strategy meetings were closed to reporters, Ready for Hillary staffers and surrogates held question-and-answer sessions throughout the day with a select group of journalists. The Washington Free Beacon was not allowed to attend the briefings.
A Ready for Hillary spokesperson told the Free Beacon that the event was "not a cattle-call" and was only open to media outlets that were specifically invited.
Invited media outlets included the New York Times, USA Today, and CNN, which reported on a pro-Clinton video played at the event.
Ready for Hillary officials stopped short of publicly confirming a Clinton run but her announcement could come as soon as late February 2015.
One of Ready for Hillary’s top priorities would be transferring its carefully cultivated mailing list, an invaluable political resource, to an official Clinton campaign.
While the group can’t give the list away due to campaign finance laws, it will be allowed to sell the list to a Clinton campaign or an exploratory committee for a reasonable market price, according to Lawrence Nobel, senior counsel at the Campaign Legal Center and the former general counsel for the Federal Election Commission. Lists can sell for several million dollars.
"They can make arrangements pretty quickly," said Nobel. "But one of the pitfalls in all this is if she’s too involved in setting up, in getting all this stuff going [before the campaign officially launches], one could find that she has begun testing the waters before she thought she had."
If Ready for Hillary decides to continue operating after Clinton announces, it can do so in two ways—by remaining an independent Super PAC or by becoming Clinton’s officially designated campaign committee.
Legal experts say the second option is not viable if Ready for Hillary has already received donations from unions, corporations, or individuals that go beyond Federal Election Commission limits on campaign contributions.
To continue operating independently, Ready for Hillary would need to change its name to remove direct references to the candidate. The FEC also prohibits any coordination between Super PACs and an official campaign.
"The question is whether things that go on now could result in coordination later on," said Nobel.
Ready for Hillary works closely with members of Clinton’s close circle who would likely join her official campaign.
"Depending on what’s going on now and how far along they are now in strategizing, what time a decision is made, it could be problematic, but it’s a very grey area," said Nobel. "More than likely the FEC will say things that took place prior to becoming a candidate do not compromise the independence of the PAC."
A future Clinton campaign would also have to disclose any previous work that would be considered exploratory such as early fundraising meetings or infrastructure building.
"If you’re working for the candidate and you’re running around doing everything to set up the campaign, all of that will be considered at least exploratory work," said Nobel. "And once you announce, all the exploratory work that you didn’t report has to be reported and it all has to fit within the limitations and prohibitions of the law."
Additionally, the Super PAC and the campaign would need to avoid sharing specific consultants or other outside advisors, which could be deemed coordination.
"Often what they’ll do is they’ll set up what they call a firewall, so the consulting firm will have some people working for the Super PAC and some people working for the campaign and they’ll say they don’t talk," said Nobel.
The Ready for Hillary meeting was held at the Sheraton Hotel in Times Square, beginning Thursday with a $25,000 per plate fundraising dinner, and running though Friday as hundreds of former Clinton aides, donors, and supporters met for "strategy sessions" and financial meetings with potential campaign donors.
The only sign of Ready for Hillary at the hotel on Thursday evening were two empty rooms and a young staffer lying on the floor with her MacBook. The dinner was not at the Sheraton.
The fundraising dinner, which was off limits to the press, was at Remi, an upscale restaurant around the corner from the Sheraton. Remi was created and designed by Adam D. Tihany, who donated $2,300 to Hillary Clinton’s failed bid for president in 2007, according to the Federal Election Commission.
Lanny Davis was seen talking on the phone outside. The event was private and the restaurant was closed for the night.
While Ready for Hillary officials at the registration desk said an RSVP was not necessary for media, Sean England, a communications associate for Ready for Hillary, told the Free Beacon that the event was "invite only."
England also said there was "not enough WiFi" for additional reporters. He was standing next to a stack of hundreds of extra press passes.