AIPAC wraps political corruption for Israhell in the American flag

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A screenshot of the web page of AIPAC's new super PAC. It does not mention AIPAC or Israel. Taken March 21, 2022

AIPAC's pro-democracy 'super PAC' does not mention Israel in its mission
https://www.jta.org/2022/03/21/politics/aipacs-pro-democracy-super-pac-does-not-mention-israel-in-its-mission

AIPAC's new regular political action committee is self-evident about what it's all about: It's called AIPAC PAC, after all, and is committed to supporting pro-Israel candidates.

The "super PAC" that the American Israel Public Affairs Committee launched in December, however, is more opaque: It's called the United Democracy Project. Its brief mission statement does not mention Israel nor the powerhouse pro-Israel lobby behind its founding. Instead, it emphasizes the promotion of democracy.

"United Democracy Project is an organization comprised of American citizens, Democrats and Republicans, united in the belief that we are stronger as a nation when we come together in support of our democracy and other democracies around the world," says the mission statement on its website.  "United Democracy Project works to elect candidates that share our vision of Americans coming together to support our mutual interests and belief in democracy."

Asked why the super PAC does not state that it supports Israel, AIPAC spokesman Marshall Wittmann did not directly answer.

"As we indicated at the time of the announcement of the PAC and Super-PAC, the creation of the PACs is an opportunity to significantly deepen and strengthen the involvement of the pro-Israel community in politics," Wittmann said Monday in response to an email query.

The revelation of the name and mission of the super PAC comes as its sister political action committee, AIPAC PAC, drew fire from Democrats for endorsing several dozen Republicans who voted against affirming Joe Biden as president on Jan. 6, 2021. Those critics said a pro-Israel PAC had no business endorsing candidates who, like the insurrectionists who took part in the deadly riot that day at the Capitol, sought to stop Biden's affirmation.

The AIPAC super PAC's aims were further spelled out in an ad in The Hill newspaper, a daily read widely in Congress. The ad, seeking a political director, said the super PAC's emphasis would be on the U.S.-Israel relationship, and that the political director would report to Rob Bassin, the United Democracy Project's CEO who for 22 years was AIPAC's political director. The ad was removed Monday after reporters started making queries about the new super PAC.

United Democracy Project has so far raised close to $10 million, according to the Federal Election Committee, including $8.5 million from AIPAC itself.

Super PACs may spend unlimited money promoting a candidate, or opposing a candidate, or promoting or opposing an issue, as long as the super PAC does not directly coordinate with any campaign.

Regular PACs may contribute a maximum of $5,000 to a candidate per election and may also relay individual contributions to a candidate; the added value for an individual routing his contribution through a PAC rather than directly is that the candidate understands what is motivating the donation. Giving a candidate money through AIPAC's regular PAC signals that the donors' primary motivation is pro-Israel.

AIPAC PAC's mission on its website is straightforward: "The AIPAC PAC supports pro-Israel Democratic and Republican members of Congress and congressional candidates to secure the future of the U.S.-Israel relationship."

For most of its history and despite its acronym, AIPAC was a lobbying group that did not and could not contribute to political campaigns. When it announced the launch of the two PACs in December, it said that the super PAC had yet to be named, although United Democracy Project has had a Twitter account in its name since last September.

Vague generic names for super PACs are not unusual. "Restore Common Sense," which backs a conservative Republican running for Senate in North Carolina, features only a sketch of Thomas Paine and a quote from the founding father on its website. "American Leadership Action" was established to back the candidacy of Mehmet Oz, the TV doctor turned Republican running for Senate in Pennsylvania.

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AIPAC's new super action committee doesn't mention Israel
The first direct campaign-financing venture of the best-known American lobbying group for strong bipartisan support for Israel is named "United Democracy Project."
https://worldisraelnews.com/aipacs-new-super-action-committee-doesnt-mention-israel/

One of the best-known American lobbying groups for strong bipartisan support for Israel jumped into campaign financing for the first time last December, but one of its two new political action committees (PACs) doesn't mention Israel, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) reported.

AIPAC, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, has for seven decades been a lobbying group whose mission is to "encourage and persuade the U.S. government to enact specific policies that create a strong, enduring and mutually beneficial relationship with our ally Israel."

This includes promoting Israel's security with military aid and joint missile defense development as well as "strategic cooperation" in areas such as technology, agriculture, energy and intelligence sharing.

With a membership of well over a million citizens, its powerful advocacy efforts on both sides of the political aisle have been credited with keeping bipartisan support for the Jewish state strong on almost every issue affecting the Middle East.

Four months ago, the organization added a new element to its work due to the "profound change" in Washington's political environment, as AIPAC president Betsy Berns Korn explained in her introduction of two money-funneling tools.

"Hyperpartisanship, high congressional turnover and the exponential growth in the cost of campaigns now dominate the landscape," she said.

AIPAC, as its mission statement says, "supports pro-Israel Democratic and Republican members of Congress and congressional candidates to secure the future of the U.S.-Israel relationship." American law allows such a PAC to donate up to $5,000 to a candidate or their campaign committee per election.

Its new PAC (public affairs committee), however, says nothing about the Jewish state in its official mission statement. Named the United Democracy Project, its webpage says that its goal is "to elect candidates that share our vision of Americans coming together to support our mutual interests and belief in democracy."

Curiously, according to the JTA report, neither does it state that its main backer is AIPAC, although the report said that out of the almost-$10 million the PAC has already raised, $8.5 million comes from AIPAC, as per data from the Federal Election Committee.

In contrast to its sister-committee, the Project is a 'super PAC,' meaning that it can spend any amount of money to help or hinder a candidate or issue as long as it is not directly synchronizing its efforts with a specific campaign.

The JTA noted that in an advertisement in The Hill for a political director, the United Democracy Project did say it would be concentrating on the Israel-U.S. relationship. Its CEO, Rob Bassin, is also an obvious link, as he served as AIPAC's political director for the last 22 years before switching positions.

AIPAC spokesman Marshall Wittmann did not respond to an email asking why the word "Israel" is missing from the mission statement, said the JTA report, stating only, "The creation of a PAC and a super PAC is an opportunity to significantly deepen and strengthen the involvement of the pro-Israel community in politics."

The premier Israel-advocacy organization has recently come under fire from both sides of the political map.

The Left bashed its federal PAC for endorsing 37 Republicans who refused to affirm Joe Biden's presidency, backing former president Donald Trump's claim that the 2020 elections had been "stolen."

Meanwhile, the Right protested the PAC's support of 27 Democratic lawmakers who had voted for the Obama-era Iran nuclear deal in 2015, despite pledging to "excommunicate" any legislators who did so because of the profound danger it posed to Israel.