Hillary Clinton spent plenty of time in Philadelphia in her pursuit of the White House last year. She rallied with celebrities, including Jon Bon Jovi and Katy Perry, andcommanded the Democratic National Convention stage in July. Despite the love Philly showed for Clinton, city officials aren’t as pleased with her campaign, which they say has stiffed them on security bills totaling more than $2,000.
Clinton is not the only former presidential candidate who owes a city money.
More than 30 municipalities around the country are owed hundreds of thousands of dollars in outstanding bills stemming from police and other security protection for campaign events for President-elect Donald Trump, Bernie Sanders and Clinton. That’s according to a report released Wednesday by theCenter for Public Integrity, which analyzed campaign disclosures and municipal invoices, and interviewed dozens of city officials. Philadelphia authorities say Clinton’s campaign still owes them $2,678 for police protection at an April 25 rally in the courtyard of City Hall. Officials said they sent the Clinton campaign an invoice for security surrounding the rally. Attempts by the city to collect the debt have gone unanswered, officials contend. Clinton owes more than $25,000 to three cities in Wisconsin, according to the Center for Public Integrity’s report. Trump owes nearly 10 times that amount: $204,000.
In Philadelphia, officials have already attempted to follow up with a debt collection letter. Their next step is a “final collection letter.”
If that fails, the city’s legal department will take up the issue “for collective action at the appropriate time,” said Ajeenah Amir, a spokesman for Mayor Jim Kenney.
According to the report, campaign debts to municipalities are difficult to settle. Neither Trump nor Clinton lists these debts in their federal campaign financial disclosures; Sanders’ campaign, by comparison, reports in campaign documents that it owes $449,409 to more than 20 police departments for security at events. But that’s no indication of Sanders’ willingness to pay.
In Pennsylvania, Upper Providence Township Police Department in Montgomery County settled a debt with Sanders’ campaign for 10 percent of what the Vermont senator owed.
“They said [the bill] was exorbitant and too high, and that they didn’t ask for the manpower,” PoliceChief Mark Toomey said of a $25,620 invoice relating to a primary event in April. “What if I said, ‘Look, you’re on your own, have fun,’and a fight breaks out, or something terrible happens? I’m the one who gets skewered — the negatives are endless.” Ultimately, Sanders paid just $2,250 of the debt — an agreement struck between both sides.
Clinton campaign still owes Philadelphia for months-old security bill: Report
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