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Nearly $1 million in contributions were deposited into the B.C. Liberal partys bank account just three days after the May 9 election, reinforcing the perception that this province is the wild west when it comes to its unfettered political donations.

The most recent donors are the whos who of corporate B.C. with real-estate developers leading the way followed by construction and forestry companies, big oil, big banks and big law firms.

And, amid a slew of $25,000 donations, theres one from an unnumbered company. A corporate search turned up no information on the B.C.-registered company, not even a mailing address.

No doubt, Liberals are anxious to restock their campaign war chest before the new government rewrites legislation governing both contributions and campaign spending.

Campaign financing reform was one of the non-negotiable demands of the B.C. Green party, which holds the balance of power and has agreed to support a minority New Democratic Party government.

The other reason is that a government with a one-seat majority is at daily risk of toppling, despite the brave words from John Horgan and Andrew Weaver that their alliance is intended to last 4 years.

Its unlikely that the Liberals bank account was empty post election. By the end of 2016, it had already raised $7.6 million more than enough even with B.Cs unusually high spending limit of $4.9 million. Of course, individual candidates are also allowed to spend up to $77,675.

Still, its clear from the Liberals online donor disclosures that in the past month Christy Clarks party has been doing what it does best raising money.

May 12 was a bountiful day for the bank account, according to the Liberals disclosure for the week ending May 19. Just over $900,000 from 437 donors was deposited. Of those, 84 donors gave more than $1,000.

Seven of the 10 largest donations came from developers, led by Richmonds Rick Ilich at $100,000. Norman Cressey gave $75,000 in $25,000 increments through three numbered companies, while Wesgroup Properties (owned by the Weesik family) also donated $75,000.

Maple Ridge Plaza Properties gave $50,000 and three other developers donated $25,000 each BlueSky Properties, Bosa Properties and Reliance Properties. Shato Holdings gave $20,000.

Other notable donors are: law firms Fasken, Martineau, DuMoulin LLP and Farris, Vaughn, Wills and Murphy LLP, Seaspan, Neptune Terminals, Toronto-Dominion Bank, CIBC Head Office, Chevron Canada, Encana, Enbridge, Canadian Pacific Railways, Buron Healthcare (which runs care homes in partnership with Interior Health) and the B.C. Professional Fire Fighters Association.

The following week, there were more deposits 856 in all. Most were under $100, which added up to roughly $60,000. The exception was a $5,000 donation from A&W Canada CEO Paul F.B. Hollands.

Its not clear whether these reported donations were made before or after the election. Party spokesman Emile Scheffel said contributions are only recorded by deposit date.

He noted in an email, All contributions we receive of more than $250 are reported to Elections B.C. as part of our Annual Financial Report and, if applicable, our Election Financing Report, which covers contributions deposited during the writ period up to and including May 9.

Aside from that reporting requirement, there is no rule about how much can be raised either during a campaign or between campaigns.

While the Liberals voluntarily disclose their donations online, the other parties dont. So, well have to wait to see how they fared in the money sweepstakes.

Still, what we do know is that as soon as the NDP forms government, it will likely put at least as much energy into ending 16 years of the Liberals pay-for-play system and reforming the election spending laws as it does raising money.

Exactly how theyll do that hasnt been determined. But it will be one of the first issues that the Green-backed New Democrats will tackle.

Meantime, it bears pointing out that for a political party to deposit a million bucks a few days after an election is impressive at anytime and especially following a defeat. But in the coming weeks, there may be fertile ground for the Liberals to raise even more among the free-enterprisers who are deeply suspicious of socialist New Democrats, let alone tree-hugging Greens.

Those fears were likely stoked with the release of the NDP and Greens ambitious and sweeping alliance agreement that includes: doing everything possible to stop construction of Kinder Morgans Trans Mountain pipeline expansion; a review of both Site C dam and a Massey tunnel replacement; increasing the carbon tax; potentially raising the minimum wage; and adding new social programs including $10-a-day child care.

That potential for raising even more money may help explain why Christy Clark is in no hurry to hand over government. Her decision to recall the legislature and force the alliance to defeat the Liberals in the legislature buys the party more time for fundraising.

It may also buy Clark time. Shes a superb fundraiser, a skill that may keep the knives of disaffected Liberals sheathed at least for the short term.

dbramham@postmedia.com

twitter.com/daphnebramham

B.C. Liberals contributions of $1,000 or more in the week ending May 19

AmountDonor

100,000Rick Ilich

75,000Norman Cressey (through three numbered companies)

75,000Wesgroup

50,000Maple Ridge Plaza Properties

30,000Burnco Rock Products

25,000BlueSky Properties

25,000Bosa Properties

25,000Reliance Properties

25,000318219 BC Ltd.

24,000Fasken, Martineau, DuMoulin LLP

20,000Laurmel Holdings Ltd

20,000Shato Holdings

15,000Progressive Waste Solutions Canada

15,000Seaspan ULC

15,000The Arrow Group of Companies

15,000The Toronto-Dominion Bank

10,000Pacific Customs Brokers Ltd

10,000Quantum Properties

10,000Landcor Data Corporation

10,000Lake Excavating

10,000James A Allard

10,000In Re Capital Inc.

10,000Farris Vaughan, Wills & Murphy

10,000Chevron Canada Limited

10,000Buron Healthcare Ltd.

10,000BC Professional Fire Fighters Assoc

9,875North Shore Studios Management Ltd

9,500Horizon Construction Management Ltd

8,500London Air Services Ltd

8,000Intracorp Projects Ltd

7,500Carrier Lumber

7,500Joey Restaurant Group

5,000BA Blacktop

5,000Bayshore Healthcare

5,000Berezan (Juniper) Entrerprises Ltd.

5,000Burke Mountain Ltd Partnership

5,000Canadian Pacific Railway

5,000Canoe Forest Products

5,000Cascade Aerospace Inc

5,000Chalk Hill Investments Ltd.

5,000CIBC Head Office

5,000 Downie Timber Ltd.

5,000Encana Corp Ltd.

5,000Gorman Brothers

5,000Inwest Investments Ltd.

5,000Kirmac Automotive Collision

5,000Neptune Terminals

5,000Pageant Holdings Ltd.

5,000Persis Holdings Ltd.

5,000Steve Evans

5,000Triple E Ventures

5,000Wesbild Holdings

4,000Steelhead LNG

4,000Harbour Air

4,000Centra Construction Group

3,500Barry Marsden

3,400Wazuku Advisory Group

2,500Progressive Holdings Ltd

2,500Arin Industries Inc

2,500Sharon E White Law Corp

2,000Geoffrey Cowper

2,000BC Fresh Vegetables Inc

1,800William B. Fox

1,750Boralex Inc

1,500Yaletown Brewing Co.

1,150Bobleeco Family Holdings Ltd.

1,150Pencor Capital Corp

1,150Blue Grass Holdings Ltd.

1,150361036 BC Ltd

1,150502178 BC Ltd

1,000Portrait Homes

1,000Randy F Bartsch

1,000Nelson Management & Construction

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BC Liberals deposit close to $1 million in donations three days after election - Calgary Herald

Updated 1:22 p.m.|President Donald Trump on Wednesday accused Democrats of resisting testimony from Carter Page, his former campaign adviser, because he blows away allegations they have made.

Page told the top Republican and Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee last Tuesday that he would testify as part of their probe into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. But Trump now saysthe minority party has changed its mind about hearing from Page.

Trump alluded to uncited reports in tweeting that the Democrats, who have excoriated Carter Page about Russia, dont want him to testify.

The top Democrat on theHouse Intelligence Committee, California Rep.Adam B. Schiffsaid Wednesday that he and Texas Rep. K. Michael Conway, the investigations top Republican,have agreed to review relevant documents before interviewing witnesses, as you would expect in a comprehensive investigation. And while we anticipate interviews to begin shortly, we have agreed that the pace of those interviews will be dictated by the needs of the investigation and not the preferences of outside parties.

On Tuesday, Page said he learned from the Intelligence panelthat he might not be immediately afforded the opportunity to address the committee.

In two tweets, the president went on to say that this alleged change of heart by Democratic members comes because they have concluded Page blows away their ... case against him.

Trump, referring to the FBI director he fired and the Obama administrations last CIA director, wrote that his former adviser wants to clear his name by showing the false or misleading testimony by James Comey, John Brennan...

He ended his second tweeton the matter by again referring to several congressional investigations and the FBIs probe into Russia as a collective Witch Hunt!

Trumps latest tweetstorm came a day after his press secretary, Sean Spicer, refused to answer questions about whether then-candidate and President-elect Trump knew about back channel communications his son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner reportedly wanted to establish with Moscow before they enteredthe White House.

[Trumps Total Authorization to Military Gives Some Deep Concerns]

Notably, Spicer would neither confirm nor deny that Kushner attempted to go around the outgoing Obama administration.

Trumps tweets came just minutes before a new poll was released showing growing support among American voters for the House to start impeachment proceedings.

Forty-three percent of those surveyed by Morning Consult and Politico said they want the impeachment process against Trump to begin. Thats up from the previousversion of the same poll, which had the figure at 38 percent. Notably, however, most voters (45 percent) do not want impeachment proceedings.

Get breaking news alerts and more from Roll Call on your iPhone or your Android.

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Trump Says Democrats No Longer Want Carter Page's Testimony - Roll Call

There are lots of reasons Hillary Clinton didnt win last years presidential election.

One of the big ones, in her opinion (and the opinions of many others), is tied to media, specifically the medias obsession with Clintons private email server, and disinformation spread on Facebook by malicious actors in Russia.

The Democrats did a poor job controlling the narrative and telling their own story, Clinton said, which will be important as the party tries to take back control of Congress.

We [the Democratic party] are not good historically at building institutions and weve got to get a lot better, and that includes content, Clinton said Wednesday from Recodes annual Code Conference. We have a great story to tell. I found when I started the campaign that I had to say in practically every one of my speeches, Barack Obama saved the economy and he doesnt get the credit he deserves. I had to say that because people had been told differently.

You can watch Clintons entire conversation with Recodes Kara Swisher and Walt Mossberg here.

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Hillary Clinton says Democrats need to create more content to help win back the House - Recode

New York Times

Trump Lashes Out at Kathy Griffin and Democrats New York Times WASHINGTON President Trump assailed Democrats and a television comedian on Wednesday in his latest Twitter blasts since returning from an overseas trip in which he had largely abstained from the sort of combative social media postings that helped ... site rencontre taille - T.coT.co Kathy Griffin Beheads Donald Trump in Shocking Photo ShootTMZ.com Kathy Griffin on Twitter: "I am sorry. I went too far. I was wrong. https://t.co/LBKvqf9xFB"Twitter all 1,233 news articles »

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Trump Lashes Out at Kathy Griffin and Democrats - New York Times

Privately, though, Democratic leaders had long known their internal polling showed Republican Greg Gianforte on track to defeat their candidate, Rob Quist. The party had spent a modest $500,000 on the race -- paltry, compared to the $2 million more the DCCC's chairman had announced just a day earlier it would spend on a race in Georgia.

It has in some ways exposed rifts over the party's approach that are still lingering from the Sanders vs. Clinton contest, particularly after Sanders spent the weekend before the Montana contest campaigning alongside Quist.

"You have to ask yourself, could this have been different had we actually invested more resources in that race?" said Lucy Flores, a former Nevada assemblywoman and board member of the Sanders-aligned Our Revolution.

"We are dealing with the most disappointing and concerning government we've seen in my adult life -- and that results in a lot of pressure to win in races that are a stretch," said Tom Lopach, a Democratic operative who led the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee in 2016.

Markos Moulitsas, the founder of the liberal blog Daily Kos, said he is hesitant to criticize the DCCC because its job is to win back the House -- and that means tough decisions about where to spend limited resources.

"But I will say this: Part of winning next year will depend on an energized liberal base," Moulitsas said.

If Democrats can continue to narrow major gaps in the size of Trump's win compared to GOP congressional candidates' victories next year, he said, "a heck of a lot of Republicans are in serious trouble."

"And guess what? Showing you won't back down from a tough fight breeds loyalty and support," Moulitsas said. "Our readers and donors knew exactly what they were doing when they donated money for those long-shot races. And they didn't care, because we're putting serious pressure on the GOP, and they won't be able to outspend us 6-to-1 on every race next year."

New Mexico Rep. Ben Ray Lujn, the DCCC chairman, argued that Democrats are making "smart investments, specific to those districts."

Meanwhile, the Republican super PAC Congressional Leadership Fund pumped millions of dollars into the Montana race, easily outspending the left.

"Republicans should be worried that they've had to dump so many dollars in to try to defend a district that they shouldn't have had to spend a penny in," Lujn told reporters.

For the Democratic establishment, part of the struggle is that -- with progressives' eyes on a quartet of House special elections in traditionally Republican districts -- its investments are being closely watched, especially with what's expected to be a much broader than usual battlefield in the 2018 midterm elections.

Many Democrats see in 2018 a potential wave election similar to 2006, when then-President George W. Bush's declining popularity allowed the party to sweep into power in the House.

But in 2006, the Howard Dean-led Democratic National Committee had launched a "50-state strategy." New DNC Chairman Tom Perez has promised a return to that 50-state approach -- but he is in the early stages of rebuilding the DNC from the ground up.

That means the national party isn't well positioned to play a supporting role in the House special elections.

"The easiest decision to make in politics is to spend more money. The hardest decision in politics is where to cut it from," said Jesse Ferguson, a Democratic operative who led the DCCC's independent expenditure arm in the 2014 election cycle.

"It's a gut-wrenching decision to pull money away from a candidate who might win in favor of a candidate who has a better shot at winning. But that's what we have to do in order to end Trump and Paul Ryan's rule of Congress," Ferguson said.

Montana GOP candidate on why he's running 01:26

On the Senate side, Democratic incumbents in states Trump carried -- including Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill, Montana Sen. Jon Tester and North Dakota Sen. Heidi Heitkamp -- have already made a point locally of broadening their outreach as Trump's White House moves to appease the President's base, Lopach said.

"We as a party have got to get back to economic, pocketbook, kitchen-table issues -- because an economic issue affects you if you are a black voter, brown voter, white voter, if you're a woman voter, LGBTQ voter," Lopach said. "I think we've lost sight of the fact that economic issues are overarching."

The DCCC has invested much more heavily than in Montana in the June 20 runoff in Georgia, where Jon Ossoff will attempt to claim the seat in the northern Atlanta suburbs previously represented by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and current Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, both Republicans.

And the party has identified some rural districts, and others in the industrial Midwest, as top targets for next year.

But Democrats are wise to closely guard their resources with so many potentially competitive Republican seats on the map in 2018, Ferguson said.

"No one wants to be in a position in the fall of telling a promising candidate in a competitive district that the resources aren't there because they were spent 18 months earlier as part of a Pyrrhic victory," Ferguson said. "Pyrrhic victories don't get a vote for House speaker."

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Liberals say Democratic establishment needs to fight harder - CNN