Amid late May’s crush of hyperbolic and histrionic political fundraising solicitations, a familiar gimmick, widely used just days ago, has all but disappeared: those messages promising to magically “triple match” or “quadruple match” contributions.
What gives?
A line buried in a recent Department of Justice guilty-plea announcement, which used the word “matched,” has so spooked most Republicans and Democrats alike that they’ve all but abandoned this popular — and decidedly bogus — fundraising ploy, say several political operatives, speaking to Insider on condition of anonymity to discuss confidential legal advice.
Out of more than 150 political-committee solicitations Insider reviewed in late May, only a handful still used “match” gimmicks. Just a month before, at least three dozen of the same committees did.
“Stop for now,” is the guidance one Republican political operative said she received from her attorney.