“GOP Primary Challenger Invents George Soros Connection to Attack Incumbent Republican”

The Intercept:

Friends of Democracy is a Super PAC that was launched by Jonathan Soros (his father, George, has nothing to do with it). Its mission was to support members of Congress who support campaign finance reform — in other words, limiting the very same kind of influence conservatives fear that wealthy donors like the Soros family has. It was later merged into Every Voice, which continues similar work on reforming the campaign finance system.

Friends of Democracy had highlighted Jones because he is one of the few Republicans in Congress that supports campaign finance reforms, such as enacting public financing for federal campaigns. So, it’s fair to say that Jonathan Soros’s PAC did encourage donors to give to Jones at one point.

BUT THE REALITY is that neither Jonathan nor George Soros has personally given money to Jones at any point in his congressional career — contrary to what the attack ad, titled “Walter Jones: Paid for by George Soros,” clearly implies.

Ryan Kane, a spokesperson for Dacey, conceded that point in an interview with The Intercept. “I mean, yes, perhaps there was no direct — there may have been no direct link, or no direct donation [from the Soros family],” he said. In order to try to forge the connection between Jones and the Soroses, Kane pointed to a 2014 Politico article in which the younger Soros highlighted Jones as a Republican willing to back campaign finance reforms.

But the Soros family is never shy about giving directly and heavily to a candidate when it wants to. It has openly spent millions backing candidates like Larry Krasner, who was elected as Philadelphia’s district attorney in November.

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