Rashi Mehta
According to the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, Billionaire Elon Musk has said he plans to commit around $45 million a month to a new pro-Trump super political-action committee backing former President DonaldTrump’s White House bid.
Musk had not given any money yet to the group, called American PAC, as of the end of June as per quarterly financial filing submitted to the Federal Election Commission on Monday evening.
What are PACs?
Pacs stand for Political Action Committees, formed first around 1944 to raise money for the re-election of President Franklin D. Roosevelt.It was set up for the purpose of raising and spending money to elect and defeat candidates.
Pac can give $5,000 to a candidate committee, $15,000 annually to any national party committee and $5,000 annually to any other PAC. It includes separate segregated funds, nonconnected committees and super PACs
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SSFs and nonconnected Committees
Segregated funds are political committees established by corporations, labor unions, membership organizations or trade associations; they can only ask contributions from individuals associated with a connected organization.
While nonconnected committees are not connected to any aforementioned entities and are free to ask from the general public.
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Super PACs
Super PACs by the name suggests that the committee may receive unlimited contributions from individuals, corporations, labor unions and other PACs for the purpose of financing independent expenditure and other activities.
Many politicians also form Leadership PACs as a way of raising money to help fund other candidates’ campaigns. However it is not an authorized committee of a candidate or an officeholder.
Elon Musk active participation
Elon Musk has been actively involved in political donations lately. He has also donated nearly $39,000 to protect the house PAC, which aims to maintain Republican control of Congress.
On Saturday, Musk publicly endorsed Trump for the first time in the US presidential race, hours after Trump was shot in the ear, it can be seen as a move of Musk towards right-wing politics and for Trump it is a greater backbone of support for the upcoming elections.
Moreover, Lonsdale Enterprises and the Winklevoss Twins were among the donors to American PAC, with Lonsdale donated $1 million while Cameron and Winklevoss each donated $250,000.
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