The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), which works to elect Democrats to the House of Representatives, disbursed millions of its funds to Hillary Clinton's "resistance" group since late December 2017, according to Federal Election Commission filings.
The DCCC made the millions in payments to Onward Together, a nonprofit founded by Clinton following her loss to President Donald Trump, for its email lists. The payments from the DCCC to Onward Together began in December 2017. Since that time, the committee reported 25 transactions to Clinton's group totaling slightly more than $3 million, the filings show. The most recent payments from the DCCC to the committee were made in February.
In addition to the DCCC, the Democratic National Committee pushed $1.65 million to Clinton's group throughout 2018. The payments from the DNC, which were marked primarily as list acquisitions with one payment going towards direct mail, stopped in late October of last year.
Clinton launched Onward Together to allow her to be a "part of the resistance" against Trump and Republicans following the 2016 elections. The group was incorporated in April 2017 by Marc Elias, a partner at the Washington, D.C., office of the Perkins Coie law firm, who is involved with a number of Democratic politicians and party efforts. Elias acted as Clinton's top lawyer during her failed 2016 run and is now aiding Sen. Kamala Harris's (D., Calif.) presidential campaign.
Onward Together was established to push money to other resistance groups and to assist them with strategic leadership, guidance, and exposure. The group is registered as a 501(c)4 nonprofit, or a "social welfare" organization, and does not disclose its donors.
Despite Clinton's name recognition, Onward Together collected just $3.2 million in contributions from the time of its incorporation, April 24, 2017, to March 31, 2018.
While Clinton does not disclose the donors to her group, the Washington Free Beacon previously found that she had transferred $800,000 from Hillary for America, her presidential campaign committee, to the group within a week of its launch. Kelly Mehlenbacher, the treasurer for Clinton's campaign committee, is also the chief operating officer of Onward Together.
Onward Together works with 13 other resistance organizations and dished out $1.8 million to groups during its inaugural year.
Onward Together currently partners with the likes of Demand Justice, a group led by Clinton's former press secretary Brian Fallon, Color of Change, co-founded by CNN contributor and activist Van Jones, and Latino Victory, co-founded by actress Eva Longoria and San Antonio-based businessman Henry R. Muñoz III, who has chaired the DNC's finance committee since 2013.
The DCCC did not respond to requests for comment on the payments to Clinton's resistance group from the committee.