Trump-linked group that battled Hillary Clinton in 2016 rebranded this year to attack critical race theory in Virginia

Though American Legacy Center does not publicly list its donors, the operatives involved with it helped finance Republican campaigns, according to Federal Election Commission filings. Murray was the treasurer of the affiliated American Legacy PAC since it launched in 2010 through most of the 2016 election. Waldeck was briefly treasurer before the PAC closed in 2017.

The PAC contributed to Mitt Romney’s campaign in 2012 and Trump’s effort in 2016, according to data from the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics. From 2012 through the 2018 midterms, the American Legacy PAC gave over $280,000 to Republican candidates.

The PAC raised over $9 million from its creation until it shut down in 2017. Top donors over the years included Jennifer Pritzker, a member of the wealthy Pritzker family, and Murray, along with other employees of his data firm, TMA Direct. Murray’s company received over $325,000 from the PAC before it closed.

While the American Legacy PAC is closed, its related organization, the American Legacy Center, persisted and took pro-Trump stances in the 2016 and 2018 election cycles.

During the 2016 campaign, the group took aim at Clinton’s handling of the 2012 attack on the U.S. compound in Benghazi, Libya, when she was secretary of State. In two ads posted on their still active YouTube account, the group blasts Clinton with commentary from Kristian “Tanto” Paronto, who was part of the security detail that defended against the attack. Those two spots were published in the summer of 2016, months before Trump defeated Clinton in the election.

A website sponsored by the American Legacy Center at the time lists Paronto as the chairman, according to internet archive the Wayback Machine.

During the 2018 midterms, the same organization put up an ad featuring former New York police commissioner Bernard Kerik, who was later pardoned by Trump for federal crimes.

The ad calls on viewers to “put America first,” evoking one of Trump’s slogans, and to “force your members of Congress to do their job.” It ends by encouraging people to go onto a website titled “Sovereignty Now.” Text of the archived site says “the 2018 midterm elections offer a clear choice between President Trump’s vision of strong borders and restored American sovereignty, and the radical Left’s vision of open borders and abolishing ICE.”

Article source: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/11/04/virginia-governor-election-trump-linked-group-attacked-critical-race-theory.html