Clinton nonprofit won't let donor cancel $10.48 monthly contribution: report

Former U.S. Secretary of State and 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton speaks in Washington, Nov. 2, 2017. (Reuters)

A Seattle man who recently sought to end his monthly donation to a Hillary Clinton nonprofit group ran into a small roadblock: There was no way to cancel his contribution, according to a report.

Corey Koscielniak, 29, wanted to stop his $10.48 recurring tithe to Onward Together, the politican action organization Clinton formed after her 2016 election defeat, because the group disclosed little information on how it spent the money, he told the Seattle Times.

“Onward Together (OT) accepts payment information, but provides no ability to alter or cancel donations once the initial donation is received,” Koscielniak wrote in his complaint to the Washington state Attorney General’s Office.

Political groups have employed aggressive tactics in the past when asking for contributions, many times using email blasts to persuade would-be donors.

According to the Seattle PI, one such email sent to a potential Clinton backer 11 months after the 2016 presidential election read:

“Heather -- It's an old joke by now that I took a few long walks in the woods after Election Day. But I did, and I came out ready to fight for our vision of a fairer, more inclusive country by supporting the incredible groups and leaders who are encouraging people to organize and run for office.

"I hope you're ready, too. Because I'd like for you to become a Founding Donor to Onward Together by starting a monthly donation of just $10."

Koscielniak, who began contributing in May 2017, has spent weeks on a mission to keep that $10 and change in his bank account, the Seattle Times reported.

Hillary Clinton founded Onward Together in 2017 to help progressive groups with fundraising, training and introductions to advisors and donors, its website said. The Seattle Times noted that the organization was what’s known as a 501(c)(4) in the federal tax code, making it a tax-exempt social-welfare group with no requirements to reveal its donors.

Nick Merrill, communications director for Clinton, told the paper that the organization gave upwards of $1 million to “various groups” and it plans to exceed that in 2018.

Koscielniak, with help from state Attorney General Bob Ferguson, was able to use a newly implemented cancel button on the group’s website. But when the next month came, another $10.48 was withdrawn from his account, the Seattle Times said.

Merrill told the paper that Koscielniak’s situation has since been “rectified” and they “will make sure this doesn’t happen again, with anybody, in the future.”

Koscielniak wouldn’t find out if his donation was canceled until next month’s bank statement, the paper reported.

While he didn’t take issue with Clinton personally, he told the paper that “what surprised me is, the Democratic Party is supposed to stand for other people and not be part of this larger industrial complex.”