Blake Masters/Gage Sizemore/Flicks
By Igor Bobic and Paul Blumenthal|POLITICO
Arizona GOP Senate candidate Blake Masters complained about having to disclose donations under federal campaign finance law in a recent podcast interview, appearing to agree with the suggestion that it’s similar to Kristallnacht, the Nazi attack on Jews in 1938.
“If someone gives $100 to a political candidate, why are we exposing their name and their hometown and their employer to the public? That’s really crazy. Maybe if you cut a million-dollar check, people should know that,” Masters said on the May 25 episode of “The Greg Medford Show.”
“It’s for hit lists. And AOC said this, one of the first things she said after Joe Biden was inaugurated is, ‘We need to de-Trumpify this country.’ And she said, ‘We’re making lists,’” Masters added, appearing to refer to this tweet by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.).
In the Nov. 7, 2020, tweet, Ocasio-Cortez actually said, “Is anyone archiving these Trump sycophants for when they try to downplay or deny their complicity in the future? I foresee decent probability of many deleted Tweets, writings, photos in the future.”
Greg Medford, the host of the podcast, responded: “Right, that’s like Kristallnacht. That’s like Kristallnacht.”
“Yeah, that’s right,” Masters said. “No, it’s absolutely wild.”
Masters’ campaign did not immediately return a request for comment.
Campaign finance law does not require campaigns to disclose information about donors giving $100, as Masters suggests. The current threshold for disclosure of donor information by a candidate’s campaign committee is $200. Some smaller contributions can be disclosed if made through a conduit political action committee like ActBlue, a Democratic digital fundraising hub, or the Republican WinRed.
