Correct the Record
{{Short description|Hybrid PAC/super PAC founded by David Brock}}
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| predecessor = American Bridge 21st Century
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| formation = 2015
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| type = Super PAC
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| purpose = Supported Hillary Clinton's 2016 U.S. presidential campaign
| headquarters = Washington, D.C.
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| name = Correct the Record
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| founder = David Brock
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| methods = Opposition research against Bernie Sanders & Donald Trump
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| website = {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20160208084303/http://correctrecord.org/ correctrecord.org]}} (Deactivated Dec 31, 2016)
(Archived Feb 8, 2016)
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Correct the Record was a hybrid PAC/super PAC founded by David Brock. It supported Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign. The PAC aimed to "find and confront social media users" who posted "unflattering messages about the Democratic front-runner".{{Cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-clinton-digital-trolling-20160506-snap-htmlstory.html|title=Be nice to Hillary Clinton online — or risk a confrontation with her super PAC|date=May 9, 2016|website=Los Angeles Times}}
History
The organization was created in May 2015 when it spun off from American Bridge 21st Century, another Democratic Super PAC. It coordinated with Clinton's 2016 U.S. presidential campaign via a loophole in campaign finance law that it says permits coordination with digital campaigns.{{cite news|last1=Halper|first1=Evan|title=Be nice to Hillary Clinton online — or risk a confrontation with her super PAC|url=http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-clinton-digital-trolling-20160506-snap-htmlstory.html|access-date=22 September 2016|work=Los Angeles Times|date=May 9, 2016}}{{cite news|last1=Nurik|first1=Chloe|title=Correct the Record|url=http://www.factcheck.org/2016/01/correct-the-record/|access-date=22 September 2016|publisher=FactCheck.org|date=January 22, 2016}}
Purpose
In July 2015, Correct the Record teamed with Priorities USA Action, another pro-Clinton super PAC, to create a fundraising committee called American Priorities '16.{{cite news|title=Two 'Super PACs' Backing Hillary Clinton Join Fundraising Forces|url=https://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2015/07/31/two-super-pacs-backing-hillary-clinton-join-fund-raising-forces/?mtrref=www.factcheck.org&gwh=7380DEBB0B91D97EE47D2D80B078D5CE&gwt=pay|access-date=22 September 2016|work=New York Times|date=July 31, 2015}}
In October 2015, historian Allida Black and political strategist Connor Shaw launched "Let's Talk Hillary" in partnership with Correct the Record and Wild Onion Media. The $1 million project was used to give Hillary Clinton's long time friends and co-workers a platform to describe the woman they knew. The project was largely considered a success and awarded numerous awards, including the Golden Donkey in 2015.{{cite news |last1=Rucker |first1=Phil |title=Super PAC launches 'Let's Talk Hillary' to reveal a softer side of Clinton |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/super-pac-launches-lets-talk-hillary-to-reveal-a-softer-side-of-clinton/2015/10/25/3ba216ae-7b3c-11e5-afce-2afd1d3eb896_story.html?noredirect=on |newspaper=the Washington Post}}
In April 2016, Correct the Record announced that it would be spending $1 million to find and confront social media users who post unflattering messages about Clinton in a "task force" called "Barrier Breakers 2016".{{cite news|last1=Foran|first1=Claire|title=A $1 Million Fight Against Hillary Clinton's Online Trolls|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/05/correct-the-record-online-trolls/484847/|access-date=22 September 2016|publisher=The Atlantic|date=May 31, 2016}} In addition to this, the task force aimed to encourage Sanders supporters to support Clinton and to thank both "prominent supporters and committed superdelegates".{{cite web |title=Barrier Breakers 2016: A Project of Correct The Record |url=https://www.politico.com/f/?id=00000154-3082-d20b-a1fc-b3e3368b0000 |publisher=Politico}} The organization's president, Brad Woodhouse, said they had "about a dozen people engaged in [producing] nothing but positive content on Hillary Clinton" and had a team distributing information "particularly of interest to women".Ben Luke, Artists raise millions for Hillary Clinton [http://theartnewspaper.com/news/news/artists-raise-millions-for-hillary-clinton/]. A spokesperson also claimed that posts from the organization were "always identified" as being from it.
The Super PAC ran ads against Bernie Sanders during the Democratic primary.{{cite web |title=Bernie Sanders Brushes Off Clinton Super PAC Attacks |date=17 September 2015 |url=https://time.com/4037944/bernie-sanders-correct-record-david-brock/ |publisher=Time}}{{cite web |title=Hillary Clinton wrong that no negative ads have hit Bernie Sanders |url=https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2016/may/22/hillary-clinton/hillary-clinton-wrong-negative-ads-bernie-sanders/ |publisher=Politifact}}
In September 2016, Correct the Record announced a project called "Trump Leaks". Correct the Record said it would pay anonymous tipsters for unflattering scoops about Donald Trump, including audio and video recordings and internal documents.{{cite news|last1=Seitz-Wald|first1=Alex|title=Democratic Super PAC to Pay for Dirt on Donald Trump|url=http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/democratic-super-pac-pay-trump-dirt-n648591|access-date=22 September 2016|work=NBC News|date=September 15, 2016}}
On December 31, 2016, the official website was deactivated from its host's servers WPEngine.{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20161208182904/http://correctrecord.org/ Wayback Machine archive capture of 404 page]}} taken on December 31, 2016
Legality
Super PACs, officially known as "independent expenditure-only committees", are political committees that are legally only allowed to make expenditures that are independent of specific campaigns and which are not coordinated with a candidate or political party. However, Correct the Record says its activities do not fall under this campaign coordination ban restriction, relying on a 2006 Federal Election Commission "Internet exemption" regulation that said that content posted online for free is off limits from regulation. According to FEC rules, online postings do not technically count as campaign expenditures, which allows independent groups to consult with candidates about the content they post on their sites.{{cite news|last1=Gold|first1=Matea|title=How a super PAC plans to coordinate directly with Hillary Clinton's campaign|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2015/05/12/how-a-super-pac-plans-to-coordinate-directly-with-hillary-clintons-campaign/|access-date=22 September 2016|newspaper=Washington Post|date=May 12, 2015}}
Criticism
In June 2016 Correct the Record was criticized over the hiring of Sidney Blumenthal who was paid $200,000 per year for part time work. Critics charged that his hiring was politically motivated.{{Cite web |last=Mathis-Lilley |first=Ben |date=2016-06-28 |title=Democrats Accidentally Reveal How Much Sidney Blumenthal Gets Paid for Knowing Hillary Clinton |url=https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2016/06/sidney-blumenthal-makes-at-least-200000-a-year-for-knowing-hillary-clinton-david-brock.html |access-date=2022-05-08 |website=Slate Magazine |language=en}}
During the 2016 election Correct the Record suspended former Clinton adviser Burns Strider over allegations of sexual harassment.
References
{{reflist|30em}}
External links
- [https://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/lookup2.php?strID=C00578997 Correct the Record on OpenSecrets.org]
- [https://ballotpedia.org/Correct_the_Record Correct the Record on Ballotpedia.org]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Correct the Record}}
Category:Hillary Clinton 2016 presidential campaign
Category:United States political action committees