Mysterious PAC propping up embattled Susan Collins' attempt to hang onto to her seat

According to a report from the Daily Beast's "Pay Dirt" team, embattled Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) is getting an assist in her campaign to cling to her seat after sentiment in her state turned against her after she voted to put Brett Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court despite accusations of sexual improprieties.

Collins -- along with Senators Cory Gardner (R-CO) and Joni Ernst (R-IA) -- has been targeted by Democrats for ouster in the 2020 election where voter turnout is expected to be high with President Donald Trump at the top of the Republican ticket.

According to the Beast, questions are being asked about the super PAC called 1820 PAC which has put close to $700,000 into ads this year aimed at re-electing Collins.

As the Beast reports, "The name of the PAC is a reference to the year of Maine’s founding, but 1820’s mailing address is in Washington. And a PAY DIRT analysis of public records shows the fingerprints of one of DC’s heaviest political hitters: the U.S. Chamber of Commerce."

Lachlan Markay writes that he has been unable to get straight answer out of the business-friendly Chamber, writing, "But when asked about its relationship with 1820, Scott Reed, a senior political strategist for the business group, told us in an email, 'The Chamber’s voter-education program is in close contact with other outside groups that share the same goals.'"

"Reed himself is a donor to 1820," the report notes, adding, "Both groups are using the same ad buyer for their pro-Collins television spots. Those ads all use footage from the same clip of B-roll uploaded to the Collins campaign’s YouTube page, a common tactic to circumvent super PAC coordination rules. 1820 has paid for digital ads that consist solely of the Chamber’s pro-Collins videos. And last week, 1820 started buying ads that link to the Chamber’s pro-Collins website."

While who is behind the super PAC remains a mystery, where some of the money raised is not -- including some big names.

"1820 PAC was formed in March, and within a few months had amassed a sizable war chest. Its top donor by far is Stephen Schwarzman, the chairman and CEO of private-equity giant Blackstone, who chipped in half a million dollars in May," Markay reports. "The group has also received $100,000 donations from investors Robert Burt and Howard Leach; $25,000 apiece from a company run by former AIG chief Hank Greenberg, and a division of film studio Lionsgate, and an investment fund founded by Dallas developer Trammell Crow; and $1,000 from Reed."

"The group won’t disclose its finances for the second half of 2019 until January. But in the first six months of the year, none of its donors hailed from Maine," he pointedly adds.

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