Disgraced Mississippi Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith has failed to fully reimburse campaign donors who demanded a refund after she made lynching comments, reported the New York Times.
While campaigning Hyde-Smith said, "If he invited me to a public hanging, I'd be on the front row."
This remark caused nearly a dozen companies and Major League Baseball to condemn her remarks and dissociate themselves with her campaign by asking for a refund.
These companies have not received their money.
"It appears that only one of the donors has received any of the more than $50,000 in total that the Senator has been asked to return. They might as well give up on waiting," Nicholas Fandos from The New York Time reports.
"Ms. Hyde-Smith’s campaign told at least one company, Walmart, on Thursday that it did not intend to refund its money. What it did not say: The campaign is out of money anyway after a frantic push to the finish line, according to a person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to discuss the finances," Fandos wrote.
Companies still waiting for a refund include AT&T, Union Pacific, Aetna, and Pfizer.
However, federal law states that she is not obligated to return the contributions made to her campaign.
“In other words, the act and regulations don’t mandate refunds upon request,” said Judith Ingram, a spokeswoman for the Federal Election Commission.
Hyde-Smith said briefly that she is not keeping track of the donors. “I don’t even have a list,” she said in the Capitol.
Her top campaign official declined a request to comment from The New York Times.
