Sanders spent $444k of campaign dollars on his own books

[lunamagica]

Posted on the right forum

Link to tweet

[NurseJackie]

1. Wow!

Was that enough to make it appear to be a "bestseller"?

[lunamagica]

2. Remember he said "write a bestseller and become a millionaire". Looks like this is the formula,

Jackie: Run fo president, write a book, take almost half a million from your campaign contributions to buy books, pocket money...

[sheshe2]

14. No way.

Never happened.

[BannonsLiver]

91. That sounds like what happened

If I were a Sanders supporter I’d be pissed. IN fact I think some Sanders people here are pissed but won’t show or admit it. How could you not be?

[lunamagica]

93. I'd be furious!

[Blue_true]

101. Wealth transfer. Where the heck is Bernie on this? Oh, I forgot. nt

[True Blue American]

51. Yes!

[Blue_true]

100. Yes. That would have put it into the top 100-200 books. nt

[NurseJackie]

102. Not including any legitimate sales to the public?

[Blue_true]

103. I think do, $400,000 plus is book sales on Amazon is a pretty serious sales level.

[Historic NY]

3. Someone had to buy them.....

[BlueFlorida]

4. This makes one go

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm and whistle

[sheshe2]

19. ummmhmmmm

[sheshe2]

21. whistle

[Celerity]

5. sounds like this

Baltimore Mayor Takes Indefinite Leave Of Absence Amid Book Scandal

https://www.npr.org/2019/04/02/709203198/baltimore-mayor-takes-indefinite-leave-of-absence-amid-book-scandal

[TexasTowelie]

23. Thank gooness! My short-term memory isn't totally fried.

I posted a thread about this story a couple of weeks ago in the Maryland Group.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10562904

[hedda_foil]

6. Of he sells them for campaign donations above the retail price it makes sense.

The campaign will profit and his book will be in more supporters hands. If that's not what's done it's a different story and would become scandalous. How about we wait and see?

[mr_lebowski]

7. Seems reasonable ...

I'd also like to know how common/uncommon this actually is ... before I go raking Bernie over the coals.

[RandySF]

9. Politicians have resigned in the past over book sales.

[True Blue American]

52. Newt Gingrich, anyone?

[democratisphere]

53. There is a difference between book sales and book giveaways for donations to a campaign.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

12. Why wait for facts before raking Bernie over the coals? After all, it's BERNIE they're talkin bout!

Bernie & Elizabeth 2020!!!
Welcome to the revolution!!!

[Steven Maurer]

43. What do you mean WAIT? The facts are there in black and white.

You may not like them, but no way are these not facts.

[MrsCoffee]

60. You can wait til you are blue in the face for the facts to change.

[Indygram]

113. You do have to admit that it doesn't look good

Has his campaign had anything to say about it?

[amywalk]

24. It's extremely common in the right wing sphere. They have these right wing think tanks buy

thousands of copies to get them on the Best Seller List at the New York Times.

[bobbieinok]

89. MarkDriscoll preacher at Seattle's MarsHill church did this to get a spot on NYT list

IIRC he used donations to church--half a mil or so.

One of reasons he was fired.

I believe mega-church pastors have also bought lots of their own books to raise their status. They then sell the books in church stores at higher prices.

[nolabear]

116. Oh Man, I'd forgotten about him.

Mars Hill was quite the mess. I think their counseling program improved but it made me uneasy. Driscoll was in all kinds of crap.

[RandySF]

10. Isn't that akin to the Trump campaign paying the Trump Organization in 2016?

[lunamagica]

27. He looks more and more like trump with each passing day

[trueblue2007]

45. I AGREE WITH YOU. and i am not a happy camper. sigh.

[MrsCoffee]

61. Pretty stunning.

[Demsrule86]

64. Sen. Sanders profits when he sells books...is this a violation?

[lunamagica]

76. I wonder. At the very least it is quite unethical.

[Demsrule86]

86. Sure is.

[Blue_true]

104. What you described is illegal. nt

[RandySF]

8. Didn't Speaker Jim Wright resign over something like this?

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

13. Not exactly.

In 1988 Wright became the target of an inquiry by the House Ethics Committee. Their report in early 1989 implied that he had used bulk purchases of his book, Reflections of a Public Man, to earn speaking fees in excess of the allowed maximum, and that his wife, Betty, was given a job and perks to avoid the limit on gifts. Faced with an increasing loss of effectiveness, Wright tendered his resignation as Speaker on May 31, 1989, the resignation to become effective on the selection of a successor. He was the first Speaker to resign because of a scandal. On June 6, the Democratic Caucus brought Wright's speakership to an end by selecting his replacement, Tom Foley of Washington, and on June 30 Wright resigned his seat in Congress.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Wright

[True Blue American]

54. Gingrich and his fellow Republican hacks went after Wright, then Gingrich

Made a million dollar book deal and was forced to resign.

Meanwhile Newt had an Intern on the side, just like Clinton. Trump appointed her to the Vatican while Monica is still condemned.

Irony there?

[Scurrilous]

11. He's a self made best seller.

[Cha]

44. +1..

[Scurrilous]

50. ...

[Cha]

55. Aloha, Scurrilous..

[BlueFlorida]

75. Yep nt

[SFnomad]

15. Did he as least wait until the book was on the Remainder Table so that he got a deal? n/t

[namahage]

16. Given that the recipient was Verso Books in 2015,

it was likely one of his early books like "Outsider in the House" which was re-released as "Outsider in the White House" in 2015.

https://www.fec.gov/help-candidates-and-committees/making-disbursements/personal-use/

Promotion of candidate’s books
Generally, the expense of marketing a book would exist irrespective of a candidate’s campaign, and thus a campaign cannot ordinarily use its funds to pay such an expense. In limited situations, however, the Commission has permitted the use of campaign funds to promote a candidate’s book, as follows:

A campaign could incur de minimis costs to post on its website material promoting the book’s release and linking to an online bookseller.

A campaign could incur costs for planning book-related events and handling press and public inquiries where the candidate donates royalties to charitable organizations and thus does not personally gain from the use of campaign assets to promote the book.

Which means this is NOT his "bestseller" Our Revolution which was published in 2016.

[lunamagica]

31. He took campaign money to personally profit, no matter wich book it was

[namahage]

40. Oh, clearly, unless he can show that the royalties were donated to charity.

But were they? That would have been captured on the personal financial disclosure due in May 2016, which coincidentally was never filed even after two extensions given.

[Jarqui]

41. No. FEC rules are when you do that you have to give up royalties to the book

$444,000 to Verso Books is on the record with FEC

Do you really think he's trying to fool someone at the FEC?

The big buy gets book stores buying it and putting it out - it's like advertising.
The campaign can hand them out.
It was a recycled 1980s book he wrote.

This story came out in 2016.
old news.

[Demsrule86]

65. Link

[Jarqui]

72. May 25, 2016 story

#9. $444,937 on books
https://www.stltoday.com/on-books/article_accf37ea-fc17-5acc-adcb-a079bf6e57f2.html
google it - lots of publications ran with it.

Trump bought tens of thousands of books for a similar reason in a similar way.

AO 2014-10: Commission approves use of campaign funds to purchase book
https://www.fec.gov/updates/ao-2014-10-commission-approves-use-of-campaign-funds-to-purchase-book/

[Demsrule86]

88. Thanks.

[Demsrule86]

87. It also says must be converted to personal use.

Is it true that Sanders never made FEC filings after his extensions?

[democratisphere]

17. I believe that would be called rigging the best seller ranking.

[billpolonsky]

18. Can we just have a thread

where everybody freely vents on Bernie Sanders?

Cause all this party unity right here is overwhelming.

The last election was the Democrats to lose and they did just that.

[SFnomad]

20. Yes and during the 2016 General Election, people like

Co-Chairman: Nina Turner - Jill Stein voter
National Press Secretary: Briahna Joy Gray - Jill Stein voter
Campaign Speechwriter: David Sirota - Jill Stein voter
Top campaign adviser: Cornell West - Jill Stein voter

Certainly helped the Democrats lose.

[LongtimeAZDem]

22. Exactly

[BlueFlorida]

78. +1000 nt

[we can do it]

97. Thank you. Didn't he raise a stink about Hillary's speeches?

[CaptainTruth]

46. Party unity?

I'll be honest, those 2 words stand out to me.

Why? Who was it that became a Democrat so they could take advantage of Democratic resources, & then left the party weeks after they lost their bid? If that person (Sanders) wants party unity, they should join the party & stay in the party.

And before anyone accuses me of being a "Sanders hater" know that in the 2016 primary I cast my vote for Bernie Sanders. I am not ashamed of that. I liked his ideas. I still do. However, over the course of the campaign he lost me because he wasn't able to explain how we would pay for all of those great ideas. (Yes there were general references, but I'm an engineer, show me the math.) Even recently he made a reference to how little a hospital visit cost in another country, yet failed to mention that in that country the average income tax is more than 50%, which subsidizes the national healthcare system. To imply that something is basically "free" when you're paying half your income for it is fundamentally dishonest. I want a candidate who is honest with the American people.

Bernie lost me then & he's losing me even more now, because of all of the above plus his apparent lack of understanding of the issues facing women & minorities in American society.

I'm sorry if this offends anyone, but it is honestly how I feel, my journey from initially being a Bernie supporter to now saying "no thanks."

[True Dough]

49. Don't forget tuition-free university as well

Big $$$ needed to pay for that too!

[Hortensis]

69. Agree. When Sanders first stepped into the vacuum

of enthusiasm Elizabeth Warren created in 2015, I also looked very seriously at him, reading everything I found on him, really hoping he'd be someone I could support. That wasn't the case, but I still hoped he would have a positive effect. To put it mildly, that hasn't been the case either.

[BlueFlorida]

83. Great post .. Thank you. nt

[Cha]

99. Mahalo for your post, CTruth.

I've seen a lot of posts and tweets from former BS supporters like this.

[MrsCoffee]

62. Reaps what he sows I guess.

He is the least unifying candidate we have ever had. Always a negative word about Democrats and the party.

[Hortensis]

70. Yes.

[we can do it]

98. Way too divisive.

[Demsrule86]

67. This is primary as Sanders supporters have pointed out.

[BlueFlorida]

77. THis is called vetting

Simply vetting candidates for campaign finance irregularities to keep everyone honest.

[cwydro]

25. Wtf?

That’s bizarre.

[RandySF]

37. It happens.

https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/when-politicians-buy-their-own-books

[BooScout]

26. My, my, my,my, my...

So all I got to do is run for president, take my old book, sell it to my campaign and wallah! I'm a best selling author & a millionaire! AND I can buy some houses. Wheeeeeeee!

[lunamagica]

28. That's the way to do it, Boo!

[BooScout]

29. Naaaasah...

That would be cheating. I couldn't do it.

[lunamagica]

30. Oh, but that applies to you, me, Hillary...some are so pure, they retain their saintly status no

no matter what.

[BooScout]

32. Looks like he's in good company...

Hmmm....

https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/when-politicians-buy-their-own-books

[RandySF]

34. +1

[lunamagica]

35. Palin, Cain, Lieberman...Hmmmm

[pnwmom]

33. Are those the forms that Bernie didn't submit in 2016, after getting two extensions?

[lunamagica]

36. I wonder...

[cwydro]

39. Hmm...

Makes one wonder, doesn’t it.

[Demsrule86]

68. This would have been lumped in with merch ...8 or 10 million I think.

[pnwmom]

84. He never submitted FEC forms that were due in the spring of 2016.

He got 2 extensions, and then when he lost the primary, he didn't file it at all, and that apparently was okay.

[Demsrule86]

85. Wow...I thought you had to file. So how did those come out?

[pnwmom]

94. That's what I'm wondering!

[Demsrule86]

95. Well if you find out, let me know please.

[CaptainTruth]

38. OK, my analysis...

If the books were being purchased as campaign materials for giveaways at rallies etc, right along with stickers, signs, T-shirts, whatever, fine, but Bernie (or any of his family members, or friends, or staff, etc) should NOT profit from the sale of any books purchased using campaign funds for that purpose. Donate any profit to charity, whatever, but any candidate should not personally profit from selling their own products for campaign purposes.

That goes for any candidate.

[BooScout]

71. Here's the thing...

It's impossible not to profit from it. Even if they bought the books direct from the publisher and no royalties were involved....the bulk sales of the book pushed it up the best seller lists and increased overall sales of the book, thus giving it more exposure to potential purchasers in a deceptive manner. The average reader is going to see it climbing the best seller lists and buy the book to see what's so wonderful about it that it's rocketing up the lists. Tell me how it's fair to legitimate authors who bust their asses writing and promoting their books, only to have another 'author' pass them and bump them down the lists because he figured out how to game the system.

It may be a perfectly legal loophole, but it hurts other authors and the actual sales of the book are falsely inflated. Ultimately, Sanders profited from the practice.

[BlueFlorida]

81. Exactly this

It is deceptive even if no royalties were paid.

[revmclaren]

42. I see a NEW book on it's way...

HOW TO MAKE A MILLION WRITING, PUBLISHING, AND BUYING YOUR OWN BOOK.

Coming to Amazon soon!



ONLY!!! 2019 and beyond.

[brush]

108. Sounds like self-dealing to me. The books where paid for by campaign funds...

not Bernie's. which means the the funds paid by the campaign eventually came back to Bernie's pocket as sales.

Hmmmmm? That's one way to become a millionaire.

[Kablooie]

47. If he handed them out as part of his campaign it could be a valid expense but...

That large an amount would be hard to justify.

[BlueFlorida]

82. Even if no profit was made

this purchase pushed the book sales up and made it a best seller. One has to see the numbers from NY Times to determine what effect this purchase had on the rankings.

[brush]

107. Seems Bernie profitted mightily from the book sales.

His campaign paid for those books, not him. And we can all guess whose pocket that money went too.

It takes a lot of $27 dollar donations to make 444k. Nice work if you can get it.

[Blue_true]

105. Even if he handed them out, WHO pocketed the royalties? Was it Bernie or his campaign treasury? nt

[Cha]

48. Gives a whole new meaning to

If you write a best selling book.. you too can be a Millionaire!

[FM123]

56. Just a quick question: who is Brit that girl from Ohio?

I have seen her name being re-tweeted here on DU regarding Bernie before, is she usually spot on about things or is she Louise Menschish?

[MrsCoffee]

63. There is a link directly to the FEC page.

[beachbum bob]

57. face it, if this true, sanders just proving he is just another opportunist like trum, sees a pile of

money easy for the pickens.

[WeekiWater]

58. Seems like a really high dollar amount that will be hard to justify.

He base won’t care in the slightest. Others will.

It also shines a light on him dragging his feet so he wouldn’t have to file that 2016 report. That report might show an even higher amount purchased.

[Gothmog]

59. Who is surprised by this?

[lunamagica]

73. Not me

[highplainsdem]

66. Wow.

[LongtimeAZDem]

74. Talk about bad optics

[Bleacher Creature]

79. Grifters gotta grift!! NT

[Me.]

80. AHA...So That's How They Could Give Those Books Away!

and the money comes right back to him. FINALLY, the truth is eeking out.

It's called Bundling.

[BannonsLiver]

90. That's a lot of $27 donations

Last edited Mon Apr 22, 2019, 01:12 PM - Edit history (1)

[DesertRat]

92. Wow k&r

[Cha]

96. KICK!

[Eric J in MN]

106. It's common for campaign websites

...to sell books in the online campaign store.

First the books have to be purchased by the campaign.

[lunamagica]

109. Is it common for a candidate to personally profit from campaign donations?

More importantly, is it right?

[Autumn]

112. Do you know that he did personally profit from campaign donations?

Or are you just smearing him without proof that personally profited from campaign donations?

[Hassin Bin Sober]

114. He can't profit from the sale. Another made up nothingburger

[Autumn]

119. The book was Outsider in the House. Written in 97. He gave them out to some of his donors

during the campaign. I got one and it's a very good read. But hey, anything to slander Bernie.

[sheshe2]

110. Kick!

[Autumn]

111. You should report him to the proper authorities. At the very least contact the DNC. nt

[SouthernProgressive]

117. What law has been broken?

Why do you think the DNC should be contacted?

[Autumn]

118. Obviously he's laundering money from his campaign for his own profit, as has been stated.

Several times in the thread. I imagine you missed those posts. But, no matter. Those who are accusing him of that should at least make the attempt to contact the DNC with their concerns. Otherwise, they really aren't concerns now are they?

[SouthernProgressive]

120. That's not money laundering.

I have missed where people claim he is laundering money.

I get it. You are making light of ethical concerns by inciting hyperbole.

I doubt anyone would deny it’s ethically questionable. I don’t see people saying the authorities should be alerted.

[Autumn]

121. I'm pointing out made up smears by people who know better. This is not the first rodeo

for this hogwash.

[SouthernProgressive]

122. Again, I haven't seen the smear of money laundering until your post.

I see a lot of posters questioning the ethics. I’m sure you do as well.

[Autumn]

123. If you want to see them you just have to read the threads. nt

[SouthernProgressive]

124. Kick NT

[Autumn]

125. Cool. Now I know.

[SouthernProgressive]

129. Your're welcome. NT

[SouthernProgressive]

130. My apologies. I forgot to recommend it. Done. NT

[NastyRiffraff]

115. Stunning, but not really surprising

He's taking advice from Jane, a known grifter herself.

[Indykatie]

126. Bernie Also Received a $500,000 Advance for a New Book While Running for POTUS

That book has been a bust. He probably plans of buying up 1000s of copies during the 2020 campaign.

[corbettkroehler]

127. Easiest Arithmetic Event

In the vein of Democracy for America in the aftermath of the 2004 primary, in 2016, Sanders launched not one but two spin-off groups, Our Revolution and the Sanders Institute.

As a Sanders supporter, I was on his mailing list when the book offer was sent. This prepurchasing of books merely was a means of economizing through bulk pricing. I donated $25 in order to obtain a copy of the book and haven't regretted it for a second.

[Gothmog]

128. Who is surprised by this?