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End Citizens United PAC Endorses Clinton

Backing comes despite the fact Clinton's receiving outside money

Hillary Clinton, center, says she supports a federal constitutional amendment to restore limits on independent expenditure groups. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)
Hillary Clinton, center, says she supports a federal constitutional amendment to restore limits on independent expenditure groups. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)

Super PACs have raised millions for Hillary Clinton this election season, but a political action committee dedicated to limiting the influence of outside money has endorsed the presumptive Democratic nominee.  

End Citizens United PAC, which wants to overturn the 2010 Supreme Court decision that removed limits on independent expenditure groups, announced its support for Clinton on Wednesday.  

In a statement, the group noted her support for a constitutional amendment overturning the court decision.  

“The first 30 days, she’s committed to doing that,” said communications director Adam Bozzi.   

Bozzi also said another potential way for Clinton to bring about change would be to appoint a Supreme Court justice who would support legal action.  

Clinton has said that she supports a constitutional amendment opposing Citizens United since the earliest days of her campaign.  

The Constitution requires two-thirds of both houses of Congress and three-fourths of all state legislatures to overturn such a ruling. It can also be done if two-thirds of state legislatures call for a constitutional convention, where the amendment must be approved by three-fourths of the states.  

Bozzi said it was important to back a candidate who supports campaign finance reform.  

“It’s night and day between her and (Donald) Trump and the Republican platform,” he said.  

However, Clinton has had her critics from the left on super PACs.  

Vermont indepenent Sen. Bernie Sanders, her chief opponent during the Democratic primaries, frequently said he did not have a super PAC backing him up and criticized pro-Clinton groups for the large amounts of money raised.   

According to the Center for Responsive Politics, outside groups supporting Clinton have raised  almost $85 million through June 27 — more than any candidate this election cycle with the exception of former Flordia Gov. Jeb Bush. However, Clinton’s official campaign has raised more than two and a half times that amount at $229.3 million over the same period.

Super PACs cannot give directly to a candidate or coordinate with a campaign. However, they can, and often do, run ads supporting a candidate or criticizing an opponent.

According to the End Citizens United PAC’s most recent Federal Election Commission filing, most of its donations came in small contributions.  

In a campaign statement, Clinton thanked the organization for its support and laid out specific policies to reform campaign finance.  

“I will appoint Supreme Court justices who understand that this decision deeply hurt our democracy,” the statement read. “I will fight for other progressive reforms to our campaign finance system, including more robust disclosure requirements, and measures that will make it easier for people who aren’t rich or well-connected to run for office, like small-donor matching.”  


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