Republican National Committee (RNC) chairman Reince Preibus called for Hillary Clinton, Harry Reid, and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) to return campaign donations they received from a man who pled guilty to identity theft of the terminally ill.
Clinton, Reid, and the DNC all received donations from Joseph Caramadre. Democratic Virginia gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe invested $47,000 in an illegal business in which Caramadre applied for annuities and bonds with the stolen identities of dying people.
Caramadre donated $27,000 to McAuliffe’s last gubernatorial campaign in 2009 and hosted a fundraiser for the former DNC chairman. McAuliffe and his campaign immediately vowed to make contributions to the American Cancer Society to atone for the investment and 2009 campaign contribution from Caramadre.
“The allegations are horrible and he never would have invested if he knew he was being deceived,” said a McAuliffe spokesman.
But the RNC found that the scandal is wider than initially thought.
Caramadre and his wife Paula have donated $13,000 to Hillary Clinton since 2005, $9,200 to Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid since 2007, $5,000 to the DNC since 2007, and $28,250 and $25,250 to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) respectively since 2006.
“Terry McAuliffe has already given back part of his ill-gotten gains from Joseph Caramadre. It is now up to Democrats, including Hillary Clinton, Harry Reid, and the DNC, to decide where they stand,” RNC chairman Reince Priebus said in a statement to Breitbart News.
“Will they continue to keep the hundreds of thousands of dollars they received from a convicted fraudster who illegally profited off terminally ill patients?” Priebus asked.
