An unprecedented burst of spending by outside groups is heralding the start of President Trump's re-election campaign. "Independent expenditures for multiple hybrid-PACs advocating for Trump's candidacy totaled over $1.27 million since the start of this year," the Center for Responsive Politics reports, while at a similar point in President Obama's re-election campaign such spending totaled a few hundred thousand dollars.
And the three outside spending groups dominating this effort are all linked to Dan Backer, a prominent attorney advocating for a loosening of campaign finance rules: the Committee to Defend the President, the Great America PAC and America Fighting Back PAC.











Americans across the political spectrum have continued to ask about the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s connections among the political elite. (Angela Weiss/AFP)







