---
aliases:
- DNC
- DNC Services Corp.
- DNC Services Corporation
- Democratic National Committee
category: U.S. Government
created: 2026-10-15
location: Washington, D.C.
relations:
- fn: 43
  reverse: true
  role: final report on illegal or improper activities in connection with 1996 federal
    election campaigns, S. Rept. 105-167
  start: 1998
  type: investigated
  with: '[[Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs]]'
- end: 1993
  fn: 45
  reverse: true
  role: contributions through Hip Hing Holdings, San Jose Holdings and Toy Center
    Holdings
  start: 1992
  type: funded
  with: '[[Lippo Group]]'
- end: 1998
  fn: 59
  reverse: true
  role: itemized contributions to non-federal accounts, several with Loral Corporation
    as employer
  start: 1995
  type: funded
  with: '[[Bernard L. Schwartz]]'
- end: 2024
  fn: 74
  reverse: true
  role: allocation of a Harris Victory Fund receipt, 41,300 dollars
  start: 2024
  type: funded
  with: '[[Shayne Coplan]]'
- end: 2020
  fn: 61
  reverse: true
  role: Biden Victory Fund memo entries, 32,200 dollars, employer A&E Networks
  start: 2020
  type: funded
  with: '[[Christopher Mellon]]'
- end: 1974
  fn: 3
  role: entries into the headquarters on May 27 and June 17, 1972, and the Senate
    Select Committee report S. Rept. 93-981
  start: 1972
  type: subject_of
  with: '[[Watergate]]'
- end: 2016
  fn: 69
  reverse: true
  role: counsel to the DNC and Hillary for America; DNC payments of 849,407.97 dollars,
    July 15 to August 26, 2016
  start: 2016
  type: represented
  with: '[[Perkins Coie]]'
- end: 2022
  fn: 70
  reverse: true
  role: MURs 7291 and 7449, reason to believe vote of July 23, 2019, and conciliation
    agreement
  start: 2019
  type: investigated
  with: '[[Federal Election Commission]]'
summary: The Democratic National Committee is the governing body of the Democratic
  Party, whose Watergate headquarters was burgled in 1972 and whose finances and email
  systems later drew federal investigations.
tags:
- Organization
- PoliticalParty
- Watergate
- CampaignFinance
- LippoGroup
- EmailHack2016
- SethRich
updated: 2026-10-15
---

The Democratic National Committee is the national committee of the [Democratic Party](/organizations/democratic-party/). Its Federal Election Commission record is filed under the name "DNC Services Corp / Democratic National Committee," committee number C00010603, with a first filing date of March 10, 1975.[^1] The committee's origin is set out in the call for the party's 1852 national convention, issued over the signature of its chairman, B. F. Hallett, which describes the body as "consisting of one from each State, appointed by the Democratic National Convention of 1848."[^2] Its headquarters in the [Watergate](/events/watergate/) office complex in [Washington, D.C.](/places/washington-dc/) was entered on June 17, 1972, by five men.

### The headquarters and the 1972 break-in

The committee's headquarters occupied the sixth floor of the Watergate Office Building. In the early morning hours of June 17, 1972, [James McCord](/people/james-mccord/), Bernard L. Barker, Frank Sturgis, Eugenio Martinez and Virgilio Gonzalez illegally entered the headquarters, according to the final report of the Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities. [Howard Hunt](/people/howard-hunt/) and [G. Gordon Liddy](/people/g-gordon-liddy/) supervised the operation from a room in the Watergate Hotel, and Alfred Baldwin served as lookout from the Howard Johnson Motor Lodge across the street.[^3]

The headquarters was entered twice. The Senate report states that the team's first entry was made late on May 27, 1972, when Gonzalez picked the lock of a ground floor door of the Watergate Office Building. The team went to the sixth floor, where McCord placed electronic bugging devices in the telephones of DNC chairman O'Brien and of another official, [Spencer Oliver](/people/spencer-oliver/), and where Barker and his team photographed papers from DNC files.[^4] After the telephones were tapped, Alfred Baldwin, a former FBI agent recruited by McCord, monitored the intercepted conversations from a room in the Howard Johnson Motor Lodge, typed them almost verbatim and gave the logs to McCord, who gave them to Liddy. Liddy had several retyped on stationery with the word "Gemstone" printed at the top by his secretary, Sally Harmony, who testified that she also saw a stack of 8 by 10 photographs of documents from the DNC headquarters held by fingers in rubber gloves.[^5] On the night of June 17 the Watergate guard Frank Wills, who had earlier removed a piece of tape from a door, found it retaped and telephoned the police. Sergeant Beeper's plainclothes squad entered the sixth floor and apprehended the team while it was setting up photographic equipment. Police found 4,200 dollars in $100 bills, all in sequence, in the rooms the burglars had occupied.[^6]

The break-in was the last stage of a plan that had been reduced in cost. The Senate committee recorded that the budget for the plan had been "stripped down" to 500,000 dollars, and that Jeb Stuart Magruder testified that [John N. Mitchell](/people/john-n-mitchell/) discussed targets beyond the headquarters, including the headquarters at the convention and the headquarters of the Democratic nominee. Magruder testified that Mitchell also suggested as additional targets the committee's chairman, Larry O'Brien, and the Las Vegas publisher Hank Greenspun, who allegedly held explosive material damaging to Edmund Muskie in his office safe.[^7] The committee's treasurer, Hugh Sloan, testified to the payments that reached Liddy, who had received 199,000 dollars, and the Senate report calls the plan Gemstone.[^8]

Magruder testified that before his meeting with Mitchell at Key Biscayne, Florida on March 30, 1972, he received a call from Charles Colson, then special counsel to the President, who told him to "get on the stick and get the Liddy project approved so we can get the information from O'Brien."[^9] The committee wrote that Magruder's account "provides some evidence that Colson was doing more than simply being helpful to Liddy and Hunt."[^10]

The Senate committee stated that it had received no evidence suggesting complicity in wrongdoing on the part of the Republican National Committee or the Democratic National Committee, or their principal officers, during the 1972 campaign. The report identifies O'Brien as the Democratic chairman at the time.[^11]

After the arrests, Hunt's wife, Dorothy Hunt, died in an airplane crash in Chicago on December 8, 1972. On December 31 Hunt wrote to Colson that "There is a limit to the endurance of any man trapped in a hostile situation and mine was reached on December 8," and Colson sent a copy to Dean with a note asking, "Now what the hell do I do?"[^12]

The report's conclusion on the intelligence material before it is that the material did not answer "what the President or other individuals knew or when they knew it," and did not explain "why the Democratic National Committee headquarters twice was the target of an illegal entry."[^13] Senator Lowell Weicker, in his individual views printed with the report, wrote that the break-in itself, according to Magruder, was an attempt to find embarrassing information about O'Brien, because "Mr. O'Brien had been a very effective spokesman against our position on the ITT case," and that "we had hope that information (from the illegal break-in and wiretap) might discredit him."[^14]

### The DNC's civil suits and the counteroffensive

The DNC also litigated. The Senate report cites the civil case *Democratic National Committee, et al. v. James McCord, et al.* (D.D.C. Civ. No. 1233-72), in which McCord's deposition was taken on April 30, 1973.[^15] The report describes the civil suits brought by the DNC against the Committee for the Re-election of the President. It records that around September 9 or 10, 1972, Haldeman and Colson relayed to Dean a request from the President that a counteraction be filed against the Democrats "as quickly as humanly possible." On September 13 the committee filed a 2,500,000 dollar countersuit against the DNC for abuse of process, and on September 14 a 5 million dollar libel suit was brought against O'Brien. Dean testified that the various civil cases were discussed with the President on September 15, and that the committee's lawyers were handling both the DNC suit and another. Dean told the President that Judge Ritchie, to whom the Stans libel action was assigned, had been helpful in slowing down the civil cases.[^16] A memorandum entitled "Counter Actions," dated September 11, 1972, noted that depositions could be taken in a civil suit against O'Brien, covering "everything from Larry O'Brien's sources of income while Chairman of the DNC to certain sexual activities of employees of the DNC."[^17]

The Senate report prints excerpts of a purported transcript of the President's September 15, 1972, meeting with Haldeman and Dean, prepared by the House Judiciary Committee and published in the Washington Post on May 17, 1974. In the excerpts Haldeman says that Dean is working the matter through the IRS, and the President says he would not want to be in the position of the DNC's counsel, Edward Bennett Williams, after the election. Haldeman is recorded as saying, "That is a guy we've got to ruin."[^18] According to information provided to the Senate minority counsel by Special Counsel Fred Buzhardt, Dean reported at that meeting on the IRS investigation of O'Brien.[^18]

### The CIA's links to the burglars

The Senate report describes Hunt as "a former CIA agent" when it explains how he came to the White House staff.[^19] It records that [Mullen and Company](/organizations/robert-r-mullen-company/) had maintained a relationship with the agency since its incorporation in 1959 and provided cover for an agent in Europe and an agent in the Far East at the time of the break-in. Hunt left the agency in 1970 and joined the firm with what its founder, Robert Mullen, understood to be the blessing of Director [Richard Helms](/people/richard-helms/); Hunt's covert security clearance was extended by the agency, and he remained witting of the Mullen cover and negotiated with the agency about it even after he joined the White House, according to agency records.[^20]

Robert F. Bennett, the son of Senator Wallace F. Bennett, became president of the firm in 1971 and was introduced to the Mullen case officer in April of that year. He brought the [Hughes](/people/howard-hughes/) Tool Company account with him. The committee wrote that agency records indicated consideration was given to using Mullen's Hughes relationship for a cover arrangement in South America and to garner information on [Robert Maheu](/people/robert-maheu/).[^21] Its staff listed Bennett's activities in relation to Hunt and Liddy: he suggested and coordinated the DeMott interview regarding Chappaquiddick, coordinated the release of Dita Beard's statement from Denver, suggested that Greenspun's safe contained information of interest to both Hughes and the Committee for the Re-election of the President, asked for and received from Hunt a price estimate for bugging Clifford Irving for Hughes, coordinated Hunt's employment of the political spy Thomas Gregory, received a scrambler from Hughes personnel for use on Mullen telephones, set up dummy committees with Liddy as a conduit for Hughes campaign contributions, and served as the point of contact between Hunt and Liddy in the two weeks after the break-in.[^22] The same passage states that Robert Oliver, Mullen's Washington lobbyist for Hughes Tool, is the father of R. Spencer Oliver Jr., "whose telephone was tapped at the Democratic National Committee," and that Bennett met with the Olivers after the break-in to discuss the bugging.[^22]

According to a CIA case officer's memorandum of July 10, 1972, forwarded to Helms on or before July 14, Bennett had established a "back door entry" to E. B. Williams, the DNC's attorney, in order to "kill off" revelations of the agency's relationship with Mullen and Company in the course of the DNC lawsuit, and agreed to check with the CIA before contacting Williams. The committee staff confirmed that Bennett funneled information to Williams through the attorney Hobart Taylor, and that it was more extensive than what Bennett had given the grand jury. The CIA acknowledged paying one-half of Bennett's attorney fee for his grand jury appearance.[^23] The same memorandum contains a reference to a "WH flap" which the committee called mysterious, and a July 24, 1972, contact report shows that the agency persuaded Mullen to withdraw its Far East cover through an "agreed upon scenario" that included a falsified Watergate publicity crisis. The agency told the committee that the "WH flap" referred to a matter, deleted at its request, that threatened Western Hemisphere operations; the committee wrote that the agency had not explained why the information was withheld from Mullen nor its significance to Watergate.[^24] A CIA memorandum of March 1, 1973, notes that Bennett felt he could handle the Ervin Committee if the agency could handle Hunt, and that he was feeding stories to Bob Woodward, who was "suitably grateful," without attribution to Bennett.[^25]

The report also describes the case of [Lee Pennington](/people/lee-pennington/), a paid CIA operative retained at 250 dollars a month until December 1973. The committee wrote that the agency had information as early as June 1972 that Pennington entered the McCord residence shortly after the break-in and destroyed documents which might show a link between McCord and the agency, that the agency answered an FBI inquiry about a "Pennington" in August 1972 with information about a former employee with a similar name, and that in January 1974 the Pennington materials were ordered removed from the agency's Watergate files before review by its Inspector General. The report adds that the CIA's Director of Security retired early in 1974.[^26]

On Martinez, the report states that Helms had testified to little more than the fact that Martinez was on a 100 dollar monthly retainer with the agency as an informant on Cubans of interest to it. The committee wrote that its own investigation had revealed information about the Martinez relationship "not previously brought forward in testimony by CIA officials," and it asked whether the agency was aware of Hunt's activities in early 1972, when Hunt was recruiting Cubans for the break-in.[^27] The report also notes that newspaper articles since June 1972 had pointed out that many of those involved were former CIA employees, that CIA equipment was used by Hunt, and that other possible CIA links to Watergate had been reported.[^28]

The House Armed Services Committee's Special Subcommittee on Intelligence, whose report is known as the Nedzi report, issued its findings on October 23, 1973.[^29] It found that alias identification gear, disguises and other technical materials had been provided improperly by the CIA to Hunt, then on the White House staff, for use by non-CIA personnel. The material included wigs, speech-altering devices, alias materials, a tape recorder, a clandestine camera, one-way tinted spectacles and film developing facilities. The subcommittee listed the abortive break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters in the Watergate complex among the improper purposes for which the material was used. It also found continued CIA dealings with Hunt after General Cushman first questioned Hunt's judgment in requesting additional agency assistance. The subcommittee further found that Haldeman, Ehrlichman and Dean made efforts to deflect the FBI investigation of the break-in by invoking nonexistent conflicts with CIA operations, and that Dean made substantial efforts to involve the agency in the break-in without foundation in fact.[^30]

The Senate report names R. Spencer Oliver Jr. as one of the DNC officials whose telephone McCord bugged. A 1976 memorandum by [Bruce Solie](/people/bruce-solie/), chief of the agency's Security Analysis Group, identified for the agency's privacy staff the "Spencer Oliver" named in a Freedom of Information request from McCord, "who according to a newspaper article in 1972 was the Executive Director of the State Chairmens Association of the Democratic National Committee," and in whose office telephone "an alleged listening device was found."[^31] The DNC official is the Spencer Oliver who afterward served as Chief of Staff of the Helsinki Commission (1976 to 1985), as chief counsel of the House Foreign Affairs Committee until 1993 and as Secretary General of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly (1992 to 2015); the Wilson Center's biography of him lists senior positions at the Democratic National Committee from 1966 to 1976.[^32]

### Larry O'Brien and the Hughes retainer

O'Brien was the committee's chairman during the 1972 campaign, and the record ties him to Howard Hughes through a contract with the Hughes organization. The Senate report states that a sensitive case report of the IRS, brought to the attention of the Treasury Secretary, stated that the Hughes Tool Company had made substantial payments to Lawrence F. O'Brien and Associates during 1970. Roger Barth, an assistant to the IRS commissioner, testified that he received that report in May 1972. The report also says that IRS policy did not prohibit continued investigation of O'Brien after communications from John Ehrlichman were received.[^33] The sensitive case reports reflected on a continuing basis the amounts paid to O'Brien by the Hughes Tool Company "pursuant to a contract."[^34] Barth testified that Ehrlichman asked how the payments would be treated for tax purposes, and that he obtained O'Brien's returns, which showed enough gross income to cover the amounts Hughes reported having paid. Ehrlichman testified that there were good political reasons to go after O'Brien, that Nixon was especially interested in the fact that O'Brien was on retainer to the Hughes organization, and that Haldeman told him the retainer was quite significant. The IRS interviewed O'Brien on August 17, 1972. Ehrlichman testified: "I wanted them to turn up something and send [O'Brien] to jail before the election and unfortunately it didn't materialize."[^35] The Senate report states that Dean and Haldeman discussed the IRS investigation of O'Brien with Nixon on September 15, 1972, and that this conversation was deleted from the tapes provided to the Special Prosecutor and the House Judiciary Committee.[^36]

The Senate report further states that an audit of O'Brien was encouraged by White House officials in the summer of 1972, and that O'Brien's tax returns were specially inspected by IRS personnel at Ehrlichman's direction.[^37] The White House record of the Hughes matter includes a January 15, 1971, memorandum by Colson which states that Robert Bennett had taken over the Robert R. Mullen Company and that one of its new clients was Hughes, and which describes O'Brien as "the principal Hughes man in Washington."[^38] In a series of memoranda to John Dean beginning January 22, 1971, Jack Caulfield wrote that negotiations had taken place in 1969 for O'Brien's firm to represent Hughes's interests in Washington, with "knowledgeable sources" putting the fee at 100,000 dollars. Caulfield wrote that the retainer could be documented only indirectly, and Dean reported that Bennett told him there was "no doubt" that O'Brien had been retained by Hughes and that the contract was still in existence.[^39] Caulfield also wrote that Maheu's "tentacles touch many extremely sensitive areas of government."[^39]

Richard Danner, who joined the Hughes organization in February 1969, testified that in the spring of 1969 Bebe Rebozo was "needling" him about Hughes's favoritism toward the Democrats, citing a large contribution made available to then Vice President Hubert Humphrey in 1968, "Larry O'Brien on retainer," and the employment of Humphrey's son.[^40] The report also records Robert Bennett's suggestion that Greenspun's safe contained information of interest to both Hughes and the Committee for the Re-election of the President.[^41] An FCC application for approval of the sale of [KLAS-TV](/organizations/klas-tv/) by Greenspun to Hughes, reported by Broadcasting on October 23, 1967, gave the price as about 4.5 million dollars.[^42]

### The 1992 to 1996 fundraising inquiries

The Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs, in its final report on illegal or improper activities in connection with the 1996 federal election campaigns, stated that "the Committee has established that Huang funneled foreign-source monies through three different Riady-controlled entities to the DNC during 1992 and 1993."[^43] The report describes [John Huang](/people/john-huang/) as a former [Lippo Group](/organizations/lippo-group/) executive who later worked at the Commerce Department. Juliana Utomo, who worked for the companies from 1988 through late 1996, testified that the holding companies Hip Hing Holdings and San Jose Holdings were owned or controlled by [James Riady](/people/james-riady/) and managed by Huang, and that Huang made all decisions about political contributions and approved requests to the Lippo Group in Jakarta for operating funds.[^44]

The first contribution was a 50,000 dollar check from Hip Hing dated August 12, 1992, payable to the "DNC Victory Fund." Huang requested reimbursement from Jakarta in an August 17, 1992, memorandum, and a wire from LippoBank Jakarta arrived several weeks later. In 1992 Hip Hing lost 482,395.33 dollars, and Utomo testified that the shortfall was made up with funds transferred from Jakarta. In September 1993 Huang wrote three checks of 15,000 dollars each to the DNC, drawn on Hip Hing, San Jose Holdings and Toy Center Holdings, and the report describes the checks as paid with foreign money.[^45]

The report states that in 1996 Huang solicited some 3.4 million dollars in contributions to the DNC, and that nearly half of that amount was returned after the DNC determined that the contributions had been made with actual or suspected foreign funds.[^46] The minority views of Senators John Glenn, Carl Levin, Joseph Lieberman and others state that the DNC returned over 1.6 million dollars in contributions attributable to Huang, that there was no evidence that DNC officials knowingly took part in his misdeeds, that the DNC "did not adequately supervise Huang's fundraising," and that the evidence did not establish that Huang served as a spy or a conduit for any foreign government.[^47]

The minority views record how Huang came to the DNC. In the summer of 1995 the Arkansas lawyer [C. Joseph Giroir](/people/c-joseph-giroir/) arranged a meeting with DNC chairman Donald Fowler to suggest that Fowler hire Huang, with finance director Richard Sullivan attending. On September 13, 1995, Huang, James Riady and Giroir met Sullivan and Fowler at the Four Seasons Hotel in Washington, and the same day went to the White House. Huang was interviewed at DNC headquarters in November 1995 and hired under the title Vice Chair of Finance, a title normally reserved for volunteer fundraisers.[^48] The same chapter records a DNC coffee at the White House on June 18, 1996, attended by the Thai businesswoman Pauline Kanchanalak, whose account Huang handled and who had been giving to the DNC since at least 1991, together with several business associates who were foreign nationals.[^49] A Senate chapter on the PRC's efforts to influence elections records that Huang escorted Shen Jueren, chairman of [China Resources](/organizations/china-resources/), to the White House in 1993, where Shen met Jack Quinn and may have met Al Gore. The same chapter places a September 27, 1993, check from Huang to the DNC alongside a Santa Monica event at which Shen may have met Gore again.[^50] The report's Lippo chapter quotes a White House audio tape of a DNC function in Los Angeles and finds that Gore "may have met with Shen Jueren in the White House and also exchanged words with him at a subsequent DNC event."[^50] The same chapter states that Huang's 45,000 dollars in DNC contributions were made in close proximity to occasions when he may have arranged for Gore to meet Shen, who was the head of a commercial enterprise wholly owned and operated by the People's Republic of China's Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation.[^50]

The same chapter describes Charlie Trie as a business partner of Ng Lap Seng, a Macao businessman with alleged ties to the People's Republic of China. Trie had brought nearly half a million dollars in small-denomination checks and money orders to the Presidential Legal Expense Trust in March 1994. The checks were written by followers of the Suma Ching Hai Buddhist sect, and the reimbursement money came from accounts in Taiwan and Cambodia.[^51] Trie was indicted on January 28, 1998, on fifteen counts, including conspiracy to defraud the DNC and the United States. The indictment charged that he purchased access to high-level government officials through contributions made to the committee.[^51] The report states that Trie initially left the country, then returned and was arrested.[^51]

On August 12, 1999, Huang pleaded guilty in federal court in Los Angeles to charges that he conspired to defraud the Federal Election Commission by causing fellow employees to make campaign contributions and reimbursing them with corporate funds or with funds from Jakarta. The Justice Department stated that the conspiracy lasted from approximately 1992 through June 1994, that Huang was responsible for arranging approximately 156,000 dollars in illegal contributions from the Lippo Group overseas to Democratic and Republican committees, and that he was sentenced to one year of probation, 500 hours of community service and a 10,000 dollar fine. The same release lists Huang as one of 19 persons prosecuted by the Campaign Financing Task Force, including Robert Lee, who pleaded guilty on April 26, 1999, to making an illegal foreign contribution to the DNC, and Kanchanalak and her associate Georgie Kronenberg, charged on July 13, 1998.[^52] A Justice Department press release dated January 11, 2001, carries the headline "James Riady Pleads Guilty, Will Pay Largest Fine in Campaign Finance History for Violating Federal Election Law."[^53] The Senate report identifies 465,000 dollars in contributions from James and Aileen Riady to the DNC and to Democratic state party organizations in the 1992 cycle.[^54]

C. Joseph Giroir, a lawyer and Lippo joint venturer, testified that in 1996 he contributed close to 200,000 dollars to the DNC in connection with fundraisers that Huang organized.[^55] [Mochtar Riady](/people/mochtar-riady/) wrote to [Bill Clinton](/people/bill-clinton/) shortly after Clinton took office, advocating most-favored-nation trade status for China, and thanked him for the personal time he spent with the Riady family on Inauguration Day 1993. The Riadys gave more than 450,000 dollars to the DNC and state Democratic parties in the 1992 cycle.[^56] James Riady hired the former associate attorney general [Webster Hubbell](/people/webster-hubbell/) in June 1994, after Hubbell's resignation from the Justice Department; the House report states that Hubbell was paid a lump sum of 100,000 dollars for unknown services between June 27 and December 6, 1994, that the Lippo Group also paid for a trip to Jakarta and Bali for Hubbell and his wife, and that both Riady and Hubbell refused to describe what services Hubbell performed.[^57] In the Independent Counsel's account, [Hong Kong China Limited](/organizations/hong-kong-china-limited/), a Lippo company, engaged Hubbell as a consultant, and in September 1994 he traveled to Jakarta, where he met Mochtar Riady.[^58]

### Donors in the 1990s and after

Itemized FEC receipts under the name [Bernard L. Schwartz](/people/bernard-l-schwartz/) list contributions to the DNC's non-federal accounts from 1995 through 1998. They include 25,000 dollars on April 24, 1995, 250,000 dollars on August 11, 1998, and 50,000 dollars on October 26, 1998, with Loral Corporation given as employer on several entries.[^59] The House Select Committee on U.S. National Security and Military/Commercial Concerns with the People's Republic of China, the Cox Report, attributes to the New York Times the description of Schwartz as "the largest individual donor to the Democratic Party in 1997."[^60] Later FEC records under the name Bernard Schwartz, employer BLS Investments, list the DNC committee as recipient of entries including 41,300 dollars on June 22, 2023, and 25,000 dollars on February 6, 2024, each marked with the Biden Victory Fund memo.[^59]

FEC entries under the name [Christopher Mellon](/people/christopher-mellon/), with A&E Networks as employer, list 25,000 dollars on August 27, 2020, and 7,200 dollars on August 25, 2020, each with the memo "Biden Victory Fund," for the DNC committee's record.[^61] The FEC entries do not state whether this contributor is the former Pentagon official of that name.

Individual contribution records under the name [Philip Scaturro](/people/philip-scaturro/) total 41 entries from June 1983 to December 2012, and include a 1992 contribution to the DNC among contributions to presidential and Senate committees.[^62] The FBI applicant file of Robert Maheu for 1940 records endorsements from Richard C. Durham, identified there as assistant secretary of the Democratic National Committee.[^63]

### The 2016 email compromise

The indictment of [GRU](/organizations/gru/) officers, filed July 13, 2018, charges officers of the Russian military intelligence directorate with intrusions into the computer networks of the DNC and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. It states that officers of GRU Unit 26165 spearphished volunteers and employees of the presidential campaign of [Hillary Clinton](/people/hillary-clinton/), and that through stolen credentials they entered the DCCC and DNC networks.[^64]

The indictment states that the conspirators covertly monitored the computers of dozens of DCCC and DNC employees, implanted hundreds of files containing malicious computer code, and stole emails and other documents from both committees.[^65]

The indictment states that on or about April 18, 2016, the conspirators hacked into the DNC's computers through their access to the DCCC network, and that by June 2016 they had gained access to approximately thirty-three DNC computers. Between May 25 and June 1, 2016, the conspirators hacked the DNC Microsoft Exchange Server and stole thousands of emails from the work accounts of DNC employees. The indictment says the conspirators cleared event logs from a DNC computer on May 13, 2016, and deleted logs and files to cover their tracks.[^64]

The indictment also describes the release of stolen material. It states that Unit 74455 assisted in releasing the stolen documents through the DCLeaks and Guccifer 2.0 personas and in promoting those releases.[^66] It states that on June 14, 2016, the DNC, through a cybersecurity company it designates Company 1, publicly announced that it had been hacked by Russian government actors; that in response the conspirators created the Guccifer 2.0 persona and falsely claimed to be a lone Romanian hacker; and that the conspirators transferred stolen documents to an entity it designates Organization 1, discussing the timing of the releases with it. According to the indictment, Organization 1 wrote to Guccifer 2.0 on July 6, 2016, that "if you have anything hillary related we want it in the next tweo [sic] days prefable [sic] because the DNC [Democratic National Convention] is approaching," and on July 22, 2016, about three days before the start of the Democratic National Convention, released over 20,000 emails and other documents stolen from the DNC network.[^67] The indictment further states that in September 2016 the conspirators gained access to DNC computers hosted on a third-party cloud service and copied snapshots of the DNC's analytics test applications.[^68]

### Counsel, Fusion GPS and the FEC

The Durham report states that in the spring of 2016 the law firm Perkins Coie, counsel to Hillary for America and the Democratic National Committee, retained Fusion GPS, whose co-founder Glenn Simpson in mid-May 2016 retained the former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele and his firm Orbis Business Intelligence. The same report states that Steele was then also a confidential human source for the FBI.[^69]

The DNC paid Perkins Coie 849,407.97 dollars between July 15 and August 26, 2016, of which it reported 782,907.97 dollars as "legal and compliance consulting." On a complaint by the Coolidge Reagan Foundation, the [Federal Election Commission](/organizations/federal-election-commission/) voted 4 to 0 on July 23, 2019, to find reason to believe that both committees had misreported the purpose of the payments. The Commission later reached conciliation agreements with DNC Services Corporation/Democratic National Committee and with Hillary for America, following votes in December 2021 and in February and March 2022.[^70]

### The Seth Rich claims

In May 2017 Fox News published a story by the reporter Malia Zimmerman claiming that Seth Rich, a DNC staffer who had been slain, was killed for leaking emails to [WikiLeaks](/organizations/wikileaks/). Fox News later retracted the article.[^71]

In March 2018 Rich's parents, Joel Rich and Mary Rich, sued Fox News, Zimmerman and Ed Butowsky, a Texas businessman, alleging that the reporter worked with the businessman to develop a "sham" story about their son's death.[^72] On August 2, 2018, Judge George B. Daniels of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York dismissed the suit. He found that the parents had failed to prove intentional infliction of emotional distress, and wrote that defamatory statements to news outlets "fall well short of meeting the high standards for extreme and outrageous conduct."[^71] On September 13, 2019, the Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals vacated the dismissal and remanded the case, holding that the allegations, taken together, plausibly rose to the level of extreme and outrageous conduct.[^73]

Both sides confirmed a settlement on Tuesday, November 24, 2020. The Riches said they were "pleased with the settlement of this matter and sincerely hope that the media will take genuine caution in the future." Fox said it was pleased with the resolution of the claims and hoped it would enable the Riches "to find a small degree of peace and solace moving forward." Neither side disclosed the financial terms. The Associated Press added that theories that Rich had been assassinated for leaking emails were contradicted by U.S. intelligence reports.[^72]

### Donors in 2020 and 2024

FEC Schedule A records for [Shayne Coplan](/people/shayne-coplan/) list a 50,000 dollar contribution to the Harris Victory Fund on October 21, 2024. The joint fundraising committee's allocations of that money include 41,300 dollars to the Democratic National Committee under the entry name DNC Services Corp.[^74] Matthew Modabber, the chief marketing officer of [Polymarket](/organizations/polymarket/), gave 50,000 dollars to the Harris Victory Fund on September 19, 2024, with the same allocations.[^75] Garry Tan, with [Y Combinator](/organizations/y-combinator/) as employer, gave 25,000 dollars on September 25, 2024, and 100,000 dollars on October 3, 2024, to the Harris Victory Fund, with attributed amounts of 21,700 and 19,600 dollars to the DNC.[^76]

[^1]: Federal Election Commission, committee record for C00010603, "DNC Services Corp / Democratic National Committee," first file date March 10, 1975, OpenFEC API. https://api.open.fec.gov/v1/committee/C00010603/
[^2]: Democratic National Committee, call for the Democratic National Convention to be held at Baltimore on June 1, 1852, signed by B. F. Hallett, Chairman, with W. F. Ritchie and R. H. Stanton, Secretaries, printed in *Proceedings of the Democratic National Convention, held at Baltimore, June 1-5, 1852* (1852). https://archive.org/details/proceedingsofde00demo
[^3]: U.S. Senate, Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, *Final Report*, S. Rept. 93-981 (June 1974), Part I, "The Watergate Break-In and Its Prelude." https://archive.org/details/FinalReportOfTheSenateSelectCommitteeOnPresidentialCampaignActivities
[^4]: U.S. Senate, Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, *Final Report*, S. Rept. 93-981 (June 1974), Part I, section on the first entry of May 27, 1972, and the placement of the telephone devices. https://archive.org/details/FinalReportOfTheSenateSelectCommitteeOnPresidentialCampaignActivities
[^5]: U.S. Senate, Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, *Final Report*, S. Rept. 93-981 (June 1974), Part I, "The Watergate Break-In and Its Prelude," pp. 29-30, citing 1 Hearings and the testimony of Sally Harmony. https://archive.org/details/FinalReportOfTheSenateSelectCommitteeOnPresidentialCampaignActivities
[^6]: U.S. Senate, Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, *Final Report*, S. Rept. 93-981 (June 1974), Part I, section on the June 17, 1972 arrests and the search of the rooms occupied by the burglars. https://archive.org/details/FinalReportOfTheSenateSelectCommitteeOnPresidentialCampaignActivities
[^7]: U.S. Senate, Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, *Final Report*, S. Rept. 93-981 (June 1974), testimony of Jeb Stuart Magruder on the Liddy intelligence plan, text at notes 61 to 63. https://archive.org/details/FinalReportOfTheSenateSelectCommitteeOnPresidentialCampaignActivities
[^8]: U.S. Senate, Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, *Final Report*, S. Rept. 93-981 (June 1974), Part I, discussion of the funding of the Liddy plan and of the Sloan testimony, and the report's use of the codename Gemstone. https://archive.org/details/FinalReportOfTheSenateSelectCommitteeOnPresidentialCampaignActivities
[^9]: U.S. Senate, Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, *Final Report*, S. Rept. 93-981 (June 1974), section on the approval of the Liddy plan, text at notes 80 and 90, testimony of Jeb Stuart Magruder. https://archive.org/details/FinalReportOfTheSenateSelectCommitteeOnPresidentialCampaignActivities
[^10]: U.S. Senate, Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, *Final Report*, S. Rept. 93-981 (June 1974), section on the approval of the Liddy plan, text at note 90. https://archive.org/details/FinalReportOfTheSenateSelectCommitteeOnPresidentialCampaignActivities
[^11]: U.S. Senate, Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, *Final Report*, S. Rept. 93-981 (June 1974), preliminary statement of findings and footnote 10, identifying Lawrence F. O'Brien as chairman of the Democratic National Committee. https://archive.org/details/FinalReportOfTheSenateSelectCommitteeOnPresidentialCampaignActivities
[^12]: U.S. Senate, Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, *Final Report*, S. Rept. 93-981 (June 1974), Part I, section "Representations to Howard Hunt," p. 66, quoting Hunt's letter to Charles Colson of December 31, 1972, and Colson's note to John Dean. https://archive.org/details/FinalReportOfTheSenateSelectCommitteeOnPresidentialCampaignActivities
[^13]: U.S. Senate, Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, *Final Report*, S. Rept. 93-981 (June 1974), section on the intelligence-related material and the committee's conclusions. https://archive.org/details/FinalReportOfTheSenateSelectCommitteeOnPresidentialCampaignActivities
[^14]: U.S. Senate, Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, *Final Report*, S. Rept. 93-981 (June 1974), Individual Views of Senator Lowell P. Weicker Jr., "Constitutional Democracy in the Era of Watergate," p. 1190, quoting the testimony of Jeb Stuart Magruder, 2 Hearings 790. https://archive.org/details/FinalReportOfTheSenateSelectCommitteeOnPresidentialCampaignActivities
[^15]: U.S. Senate, Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, *Final Report*, S. Rept. 93-981 (June 1974), section "The civil suits," note 68, citing *Democratic National Committee, et al. v. James McCord, et al.* (D.D.C. Civ. No. 1233-72), deposition of James McCord, pp. 70-71, April 30, 1973. https://archive.org/details/FinalReportOfTheSenateSelectCommitteeOnPresidentialCampaignActivities
[^16]: U.S. Senate, Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, *Final Report*, S. Rept. 93-981 (June 1974), section "The civil suits," text at notes 94 and following, testimony of John Dean. https://archive.org/details/FinalReportOfTheSenateSelectCommitteeOnPresidentialCampaignActivities
[^17]: U.S. Senate, Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, *Final Report*, S. Rept. 93-981 (June 1974), Individual Views of Senator Lowell P. Weicker Jr., section III, "The Political System," p. 1219, memorandum "Counter Actions" of September 11, 1972. https://archive.org/details/FinalReportOfTheSenateSelectCommitteeOnPresidentialCampaignActivities
[^18]: U.S. Senate, Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, *Final Report*, S. Rept. 93-981 (June 1974), Part I, pp. 9-11, excerpts of the purported transcript of the September 15, 1972, meeting prepared by the House Judiciary Committee and published in the *Washington Post*, May 17, 1974, pp. A26-28, and information furnished by Fred Buzhardt to minority counsel (note 59). https://archive.org/details/FinalReportOfTheSenateSelectCommitteeOnPresidentialCampaignActivities
[^19]: U.S. Senate, Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, *Final Report*, S. Rept. 93-981 (June 1974), Part I, discussion of the recruitment of Hunt and Liddy to the White House, footnote 65. https://archive.org/details/FinalReportOfTheSenateSelectCommitteeOnPresidentialCampaignActivities
[^20]: U.S. Senate, Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, *Final Report*, S. Rept. 93-981 (June 1974), section "Robert Bennett and the Mullen and Company," p. 1121, citing the executive session testimony of Robert R. Mullen (February 5, 1974), pp. 3, 8-9, and the CIA memorandum "Wrap-Up of Agency's Association with Robert R. Mullen and Company." https://archive.org/details/FinalReportOfTheSenateSelectCommitteeOnPresidentialCampaignActivities
[^21]: U.S. Senate, Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, *Final Report*, S. Rept. 93-981 (June 1974), section "Robert Bennett and the Mullen and Company," pp. 1121-1122, citing the executive session testimony of Robert R. Mullen (February 5, 1974) and Robert F. Bennett (February 1, 1974), the CIA memorandum "Wrap-Up of Agency's Association with Robert R. Mullen and Company," and the Mullen case officer's memorandum of April 30, 1971. https://archive.org/details/FinalReportOfTheSenateSelectCommitteeOnPresidentialCampaignActivities
[^22]: U.S. Senate, Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, *Final Report*, S. Rept. 93-981 (June 1974), section "Robert Bennett and the Mullen and Company," pp. 1122-1123, citing executive session testimony of Bennett and E. Howard Hunt (December 18, 1973) and staff interviews of Thomas J. Gregory and Linda Jones. https://archive.org/details/FinalReportOfTheSenateSelectCommitteeOnPresidentialCampaignActivities
[^23]: U.S. Senate, Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, *Final Report*, S. Rept. 93-981 (June 1974), section "Robert Bennett and the Mullen and Company," p. 1124, citing the Mullen case officer's memorandum for record of July 10, 1972 (CIA Supplemental Material, Volume IV) and the Hobart Taylor interview report of February 11, 1974. https://archive.org/details/FinalReportOfTheSenateSelectCommitteeOnPresidentialCampaignActivities
[^24]: U.S. Senate, Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, *Final Report*, S. Rept. 93-981 (June 1974), section "Robert Bennett and the Mullen and Company," pp. 1125-1126, citing the case officer's memoranda of July 10 and July 24, 1972 (CIA Supplemental Material, Volumes IV and V). https://archive.org/details/FinalReportOfTheSenateSelectCommitteeOnPresidentialCampaignActivities
[^25]: U.S. Senate, Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, *Final Report*, S. Rept. 93-981 (June 1974), section "Robert Bennett and the Mullen and Company," p. 1126, citing the Memorandum for Deputy Director for Plans of March 1, 1973 (CIA Supplemental Material, Volume IV). https://archive.org/details/FinalReportOfTheSenateSelectCommitteeOnPresidentialCampaignActivities
[^26]: U.S. Senate, Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, *Final Report*, S. Rept. 93-981 (June 1974), section "Pennington Matter," pp. 1127-1128, citing the CIA Director of Security's memorandum of February 22, 1974, and the executive session testimony of Lee R. Pennington Jr. (February 23, 1974). https://archive.org/details/FinalReportOfTheSenateSelectCommitteeOnPresidentialCampaignActivities
[^27]: U.S. Senate, Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, *Final Report*, S. Rept. 93-981 (June 1974), section "Hunt - Martinez - CIA." https://archive.org/details/FinalReportOfTheSenateSelectCommitteeOnPresidentialCampaignActivities
[^28]: U.S. Senate, Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, *Final Report*, S. Rept. 93-981 (June 1974), section on the CIA's involvement in the Watergate affair, paragraph on newspaper articles and possible CIA links. https://archive.org/details/FinalReportOfTheSenateSelectCommitteeOnPresidentialCampaignActivities
[^29]: U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Armed Services, Special Subcommittee on Intelligence, *Inquiry into the Alleged Involvement of the Central Intelligence Agency in the Watergate and Ellsberg Matters*, H.A.S.C. No. 93-25 (Washington, October 23, 1973). https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp80b01495r000500030007-0
[^30]: U.S. House of Representatives, Special Subcommittee on Intelligence, *Inquiry into the Alleged Involvement of the Central Intelligence Agency in the Watergate and Ellsberg Matters* (October 23, 1973), "Basic Observations," items (1), (2)(d), (3) and (4). https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp80b01495r000500030007-0
[^31]: Solie, Bruce L., Chief, Security Analysis Group, memorandum for the file, "McCord, James Walter, Jr.," June 23, 1976, JFK record 104-10123-10362.
[^32]: Wilson Center, "Spencer Oliver," expert biography (senior positions at the Democratic National Committee, 1966 to 1976; Chief of Staff, Helsinki Commission, 1976 to 1985; Chief Counsel, House Foreign Affairs Committee; Secretary General, OSCE Parliamentary Assembly). https://wilsoncenter.org/person/spencer-oliver ; OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, "R. Spencer Oliver," former Secretary General. https://www.oscepa.org/en/about-osce-pa/international-secretariat/former-secretary-general/former-secretary-general
[^33]: U.S. Senate, Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, *Final Report*, S. Rept. 93-981 (June 1974), chapter 8, "The Hughes-Rebozo Investigation and Related Matters," section "IRS Audit of Larry O'Brien," p. 1025. https://archive.org/details/FinalReportOfTheSenateSelectCommitteeOnPresidentialCampaignActivities
[^34]: U.S. Senate, Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, *Final Report*, S. Rept. 93-981 (June 1974), chapter 8, "The Hughes-Rebozo Investigation and Related Matters," p. 1018. https://archive.org/details/FinalReportOfTheSenateSelectCommitteeOnPresidentialCampaignActivities
[^35]: U.S. Senate, Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, *Final Report*, S. Rept. 93-981 (June 1974), chapter 8, "The Hughes-Rebozo Investigation and Related Matters," section "IRS Audit of Larry O'Brien," pp. 1025-1030, citing 23 Hearings 11224-11231, 24 Hearings 11638-11645, 21 Hearings 9683-9684, and the Ehrlichman interview of January 10, 1974. https://archive.org/details/FinalReportOfTheSenateSelectCommitteeOnPresidentialCampaignActivities
[^36]: U.S. Senate, Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, *Final Report*, S. Rept. 93-981 (June 1974), chapter 8, "The Hughes-Rebozo Investigation and Related Matters," p. 1030. https://archive.org/details/FinalReportOfTheSenateSelectCommitteeOnPresidentialCampaignActivities
[^37]: U.S. Senate, Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, *Final Report*, S. Rept. 93-981 (June 1974), section on the Internal Revenue Service and the White House requests, p. 137. https://archive.org/details/FinalReportOfTheSenateSelectCommitteeOnPresidentialCampaignActivities
[^38]: Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, *Book 23: The Hughes-Rebozo Investigation and Related Matters* (GPO, 1974), Higby Exhibits 5-A to 5-I, pp. 11123-11135: Colson memorandum of January 15, 1971.
[^39]: Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, *Book 23: The Hughes-Rebozo Investigation and Related Matters* (GPO, 1974), Higby Exhibits 5-A to 5-I, pp. 11123-11135: Caulfield to Dean, January 22, January 25, February 1 and February 3, 1971, and Dean's report of Bennett's statement.
[^40]: U.S. Senate, Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, *Final Report*, S. Rept. 93-981 (June 1974), chapter 8, "The Hughes-Rebozo Investigation and Related Matters," pp. 948-949, testimony of Richard Danner. https://archive.org/details/FinalReportOfTheSenateSelectCommitteeOnPresidentialCampaignActivities
[^41]: U.S. Senate, Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, *Final Report*, S. Rept. 93-981 (June 1974), testimony of Jeb Stuart Magruder with footnotes 61 to 63, and the section on Robert Bennett's suggestion regarding Greenspun's safe. https://archive.org/details/FinalReportOfTheSenateSelectCommitteeOnPresidentialCampaignActivities
[^42]: "Application for FCC approval of the sale of KLAS-TV Las Vegas by H. M. Greenspun to industrialist Howard R. Hughes ... for about $4.5 million," *Broadcasting*, October 23, 1967. https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1967/1967-10-23-BC.pdf
[^43]: U.S. Senate, Committee on Governmental Affairs, *Investigation of Illegal or Improper Activities in Connection with 1996 Federal Election Campaigns*, S. Rept. 105-167 (1998), chapter 13, "John Huang's Years at Lippo." https://irp.fas.org/congress/1998_rpt/sgo-sir/1-13.htm
[^44]: U.S. Senate, Committee on Governmental Affairs, S. Rept. 105-167 (1998), chapter 13, "John Huang's Years at Lippo," testimony of Juliana Utomo (July 15, 1997), pp. 14-15. https://irp.fas.org/congress/1998_rpt/sgo-sir/1-13.htm
[^45]: U.S. Senate, Committee on Governmental Affairs, S. Rept. 105-167 (1998), chapter 13, "John Huang's Years at Lippo," checks of August 12, 1992 (Ex. 4), the August 17, 1992 memorandum (Ex. 5), the 1992 earnings statement (Ex. 6), and the composite of 1993 checks (Ex. 7); chapter "The China Connection," section on the 1993 checks. https://irp.fas.org/congress/1998_rpt/sgo-sir/1-13.htm ; https://irp.fas.org/congress/1998_rpt/sgo-sir/2-18.htm
[^46]: U.S. Senate, Committee on Governmental Affairs, S. Rept. 105-167 (1998), chapter "The China Connection: Summary of the Committee's Findings Relating to Efforts of the People's Republic of China to Influence U.S. Policies and Elections." https://irp.fas.org/congress/1998_rpt/sgo-sir/2-18.htm
[^47]: U.S. Senate, Committee on Governmental Affairs, S. Rept. 105-167 (1998), Minority Views of Senators Glenn, Levin, Lieberman, Akaka, Durbin, Torricelli and Cleland, chapter 4, "John Huang," introduction and findings, p. 4788. https://irp.fas.org/congress/1998_rpt/sgo-sir/4-4.htm
[^48]: U.S. Senate, Committee on Governmental Affairs, S. Rept. 105-167 (1998), Minority Views, chapter 4, "John Huang," section "Hiring Huang to Work at the DNC," p. 4811, citing the depositions of C. Joseph Giroir, Richard Sullivan and Donald Fowler. https://irp.fas.org/congress/1998_rpt/sgo-sir/4-4.htm
[^49]: U.S. Senate, Committee on Governmental Affairs, S. Rept. 105-167 (1998), Minority Views, chapter 4, "John Huang," section "June 18, 1996, DNC Coffee at the White House," p. 4836. https://irp.fas.org/congress/1998_rpt/sgo-sir/4-4.htm
[^50]: U.S. Senate, Committee on Governmental Affairs, S. Rept. 105-167 (1998), chapter 13, "John Huang's Years at Lippo," section on the Lippo contributions and the Shen Jueren meetings, footnote 15 (White House audio tape of the Los Angeles function); chapter "The China Connection," account of September 1993 meetings. https://irp.fas.org/congress/1998_rpt/sgo-sir/1-13.htm ; https://irp.fas.org/congress/1998_rpt/sgo-sir/2-18.htm
[^51]: U.S. Senate, Committee on Governmental Affairs, S. Rept. 105-167 (1998), chapter "The China Connection," sections on Ng Lap Seng, the Presidential Legal Expense Trust, and the indictment of Trie on January 28, 1998. https://irp.fas.org/congress/1998_rpt/sgo-sir/2-18.htm
[^52]: U.S. Department of Justice, "John Huang Pleads Guilty to Violating Federal Campaign Finance Laws," press release, August 12, 1999. https://www.justice.gov/archive/opa/pr/1999/August/357crm.htm
[^53]: U.S. Department of Justice, "James Riady Pleads Guilty, Will Pay Largest Fine in Campaign Finance History for Violating Federal Election Law," press release 01-17, January 11, 2001.
[^54]: U.S. Senate, Committee on Governmental Affairs, S. Rept. 105-167 (1998), chapter "John Huang's Years at Lippo," sections "Lippo Group," "LippoBank California," and "Lippo and Riady Political Contributions," footnote 37. https://irp.fas.org/congress/1998_rpt/sgo-sir/1-13.htm
[^55]: House Committee on Government Reform and Oversight, *Investigation of Political Fundraising Improprieties and Possible Violations of Law*, H. Rept. 105-829, vol. 2, 1998, Part A, section III, "Arkansas International Development Corporation," footnotes 55 through 60, citing the deposition of C. Joseph Giroir (April 30, 1997). https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CRPT-105hrpt829/html/CRPT-105hrpt829-vol2.htm
[^56]: House Committee on Government Reform and Oversight, *Investigation of Political Fundraising Improprieties and Possible Violations of Law*, H. Rept. 105-829, vol. 2, 1998, footnotes 14 and 115-119, and the Mochtar Riady letter to Clinton. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CRPT-105hrpt829/html/CRPT-105hrpt829-vol2.htm
[^57]: House Committee on Government Reform and Oversight, *Investigation of Political Fundraising Improprieties and Possible Violations of Law*, H. Rept. 105-829, vol. 2 (1998), section on Webster Hubbell, footnotes 91 to 93, citing the deposition of Webster L. Hubbell, June 4, 1996, and NationsBank account records. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CRPT-105hrpt829/html/CRPT-105hrpt829-vol2.htm
[^58]: Independent Counsel, *Final Report of the Independent Counsel In Re: Madison Guaranty Savings & Loan Association*, vol. 3, part C, "Webster L. Hubbell's Billing Practices and Tax Filings," pp. 28 to 29, footnotes 153 through 156, and pp. 33 to 35, footnotes 177 through 192. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-ICREPORT-MADISON/pdf/GPO-ICREPORT-MADISON-3-2.pdf
[^59]: Federal Election Commission, itemized receipts (Schedule A, OpenFEC) for contributor names "SCHWARTZ, BERNARD L" and "SCHWARTZ, BERNARD" with New York addresses, two-year periods 1996 and 1998 (January 1995 through December 1998), and for contributor name "SCHWARTZ, BERNARD" with employer BLS Investments, recipient committee C00010603, 2020 to 2024. https://api.open.fec.gov/v1/schedules/schedule_a/?committee_id=C00010603&contributor_name=SCHWARTZ%2C+BERNARD
[^60]: House Select Committee on U.S. National Security and Military/Commercial Concerns with the People's Republic of China (the Cox Committee), *Report*, H. Rept. 105-851, vol. III, ch. 9, p. 51, citing the New York Times report of April 13, 1998. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-CRPT-105hrpt851/pdf/GPO-CRPT-105hrpt851.pdf
[^61]: Federal Election Commission, itemized receipts (Schedule A, OpenFEC) for contributor "MELLON, CHRISTOPHER," employer A&E Networks, recipient committee C00010603, August 25 and 27, 2020, memo "Biden Victory Fund." https://api.open.fec.gov/v1/schedules/schedule_a/?committee_id=C00010603&contributor_name=MELLON%2C+CHRISTOPHER
[^62]: Federal Election Commission, Schedule A individual contributions, contributor name "SCATURRO, PHILIP" (41 results, June 28, 1983 to December 31, 2012). https://api.open.fec.gov/v1/schedules/schedule_a/?contributor_name=SCATURRO%2C%20PHILIP
[^63]: Federal Bureau of Investigation, file on Robert A. Maheu, FOI/PA no. 1342370-0, applicant investigation, 1940, endorsements by Richard C. Durham, assistant secretary of the Democratic National Committee.
[^64]: *United States v. Netyksho et al.*, No. 1:18-cr-00215 (D.D.C.), indictment filed July 13, 2018, ¶¶ 26, 29 and 31, pp. 10-12. https://www.justice.gov/file/1080281/download
[^65]: *United States v. Netyksho et al.*, No. 1:18-cr-00215 (D.D.C.), indictment filed July 13, 2018, introductory paragraph 4. https://www.justice.gov/file/1080281/download
[^66]: *United States v. Netyksho et al.*, No. 1:18-cr-00215 (D.D.C.), indictment filed July 13, 2018, paragraphs on the DCLeaks and Guccifer 2.0 personas and on the role of Unit 74455 in releasing and promoting stolen documents. https://www.justice.gov/file/1080281/download
[^67]: *United States v. Netyksho et al.*, No. 1:18-cr-00215 (D.D.C.), indictment filed July 13, 2018, ¶¶ 40, 47 and 48. https://archive.org/details/netyksho-et-al-indictment-1
[^68]: *United States v. Netyksho et al.*, No. 1:18-cr-00215 (D.D.C.), indictment filed July 13, 2018, ¶ 34. https://archive.org/details/netyksho-et-al-indictment-1
[^69]: Durham, John H., Special Counsel. *Report on Matters Related to Intelligence Activities and Investigations Arising Out of the 2016 Presidential Campaigns*, U.S. Department of Justice, May 12, 2023, pp. 11-12, 16-17, 81-85, 266 and 287. https://www.justice.gov/storage/durhamreport.pdf
[^70]: Federal Election Commission, MURs 7291 and 7449: certification of the July 23, 2019 vote, conciliation agreements with DNC Services Corporation/Democratic National Committee and with Hillary for America, and the letter of Richard L. Weiss to Graham Wilson, February 22, 2022; Commission votes of December 16, 2021, February 17, 2022, and March 25, 2022. https://www.fec.gov/files/legal/murs/7449/7449_64.pdf ; https://www.fec.gov/files/legal/murs/7449/7449_20.pdf ; https://www.fec.gov/data/legal/matter-under-review/7449/
[^71]: CBS News, "Seth Rich case against Fox News dismissed by federal judge," August 2, 2018, reporting the ruling of Judge George B. Daniels, the May 2017 article by Malia Zimmerman, and the article's retraction. https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/seth-rich-case-dismissed-by-federal-judge
[^72]: Associated Press, "Fox News, family of slain DNC staffer Seth Rich settle suit," November 25, 2020, reporting the March 2018 filing against Fox News, Zimmerman and Butowsky, the reinstatement of the suit by the Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the settlement confirmed on Tuesday, and the statements of the Riches and Fox News. https://www.ky3.com/2020/11/25/fox-news-family-of-slain-dnc-staffer-seth-rich-settle-suit/
[^73]: *Rich v. Fox News Network, LLC*, No. 18-2321-cv (2d Cir. decided Sept. 13, 2019), vacating the judgment of August 2, 2018, and remanding. https://www.steptoe.com/a/web/pcMf4NwhvnkzdJNxEs5dmm/3ZFvRt/no-18-2321-91319-opinion.pdf
[^74]: Federal Election Commission, Schedule A itemized receipts, contributor-name search "COPLAN, SHAYNE," October 21, 2024 entries, and Harris Victory Fund allocations to the Democratic National Committee (DNC Services Corp.). https://api.open.fec.gov/v1/schedules/schedule_a/?contributor_name=COPLAN%2C%20SHAYNE
[^75]: Federal Election Commission, Schedule A receipts for contributor Matthew Modabber, employer Polymarket, September 19, 2024, Harris Victory Fund filing. https://docquery.fec.gov/cgi-bin/fecimg/?202505089760714379
[^76]: Federal Election Commission, Schedule A itemized receipts, contributor "Tan, Garry," employer Y Combinator, 2024 entries to the Harris Victory Fund and allocations to the Democratic National Committee; committee record for Abundant Future (C00922229). https://api.open.fec.gov/v1/schedules/schedule_a/ ; https://api.open.fec.gov/v1/committee/C00922229/


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