Daniel J.

Hartman
MRP General Counsel
101 S. Washington Square
Lansing, MI 48933

Re: Joint Fundraising Agreements with MIGOP

Mr. Hartman:

Thank you for confirming receipt of $263,000 in federal funds from Protect the House 2024
(“PTH”) to the Michigan Republican Party State Central Committee Federal Account (“State
Party Federal Account”). I appreciate you directing your client to hold onto the funds while I
request the opportunity to appear in front of MIGOP’s budget subcommittee to make our case.
Surely, as General Counsel for the MI GOP, you of all people understand that it defies logic to
use these limited federal funds for exorbitant speakers’ fees and plush conferences when such
expenses can legally be paid for with state funds in a state that allows unlimited individual (and,
in some cases, corporate) contributions.

PTH was a joint fundraising committee (“JFC”) comprised of federal campaign committees,
PACs, federal party committees, and state party committees with federal accounts. All funds
raised through PTH are federal funds, subject to stringent amount limitations and source
prohibitions as outlined in federal law. Unlike MIGOP’s state account, which may receive
unlimited contributions from legal sources, MIGOP’s federal account may only $10,000/year
from individuals and non-multicandidate PACs and $5,000/year from multicandidate PACs.

While the federal funds received by state party federal accounts through PTH cannot legally be
earmarked for any particular candidate or use and contractually, it is up to each committee’s
sole discretion to determine how to best use its share of the net proceeds; I hope the budget
subcommittee will keep in mind that federal law prohibits the use of non-federal funds in
connection with federal elections. Meaning these federal funds, and only federal funds, may be
used in connection with the House and Senate races in your state. The state party must use
these limited federal funds to make contributions to federal candidates, to make coordinated
party expenditures, or to engage in exempt party activities such as volunteer mail. The MIGOP
may take advantage of its unlimited state party funds for most other expenses it incurs,
including operational and event expenses. In short: the State Party is being asked to reserve
federal funds for the benefit of federal candidates.

It is important to keep in mind that the donors whose federal funds you hold gave to an entity
called Protect the House. Their expectation was that those federal funds would be used to
protect Republicans’ majority in the US House of Representatives and, as donor-driven
organizations, we must always strive, first-and-foremost, to be good stewards of their funds. If

320 FIRST ST SE WASHINGTON, D.C. 20003

donors do not think that their federal funds are being well managed by the MIGOP, it certainly
is possible that the state party will be excluded from their generosity in the future.

I will not deny that we are growing increasingly alarmed by reports that the MIGOP is in dire
financial straits and grossly mismanaging their limited funds. That, while already deeply in
debt, they took out a six-figure loan to pay actor Jim Caviezel to speak at the Mackinac Island
Conference. That their debt has since grown to over half a million dollars with little action
taken to pay it back. Perhaps most concerning for our purposes is the fact that the party
inexplicably paid for the Mackinac Island Conference from its federal account instead of its
administrative state account, which can accept unlimited and undisclosed corporate
contributions. These do not seem to be the actions of a state party that adheres to
conservative principles; or frankly, one that has the desire or ability to elect Republicans to
office. I certainly hope that your response will prove to us otherwise.

Sincerely,

Erin Clark
NRCC General Counsel

320 FIRST ST SE WASHINGTON, D.C. 20003