‘Amnesty Dan’ hits back at challenger Smiley, calling her a ‘debt-ridden, double dealer’

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Tiffany Smiley made a compelling pitch to political donors, but her opponent says those donors have been misled.

Appearing on a Sunday afternoon FOX News program in April 2023, the failed candidate for U.S. Senate announced a new fundraising effort aimed at elevating fledgling candidates who were focused on “fiscal restraint, limited government and individual freedom.”

“ Endeavor PAC will focus on giving candidates the boost, giving them an infrastructure that allows them to get across the finish line,” Smiley told Steve Hilton at the time. “We are looking for compelling candidates with compelling stories, who are in the real world who are fighting under policies that are hurting the American dream.”

Over the next 15 months, a consortium of Smiley-operated political action committees (PAC), including her Endeavor PAC, raised nearly $700,000 in cash donations, according to FEC filings.

But only a slim fraction of that money — about $28,100 — went to fund outsider candidates.

That spending is highlighted in recent ads paid for by Dan Newhouse for Congress , the reelection campaign for the Sunnyside farmer who’s hoping to earn a sixth term later this year representing Washington’s 4th Congressional District.

One TV a d claims Smiley “deceived her donors” by using the PAC donations to pay down a $1 million debt from her Senate run instead of backing more candidates.

Another mailbox flier from Newhouse labeled Smiley a “Two Faced, Debt-Ridden, Double-Dealer in Disguise!”

It’s all part of a massive mud-slinging campaign orchestrated by Newhouse and Smiley, both of whom are hoping to make it past the crowded Aug. 6 primary election.

A previous TV ad from the Smiley camp labeled Newhouse “Amnesty Dan” and a “Creature of the Swamp,” prodding him on his immigration positions.

But the two candidates first have to best six other candidates, including Trump-endorsed Prosser businessman Jerrod Sessler .

In a statement, Smiley’s campaign shot down insinuations her run for the U.S. House was being used as a vehicle to pay off her previous debt and said Endeavor PAC donors are well aware how their money is being used.

“Dan Newhouse is running scared and lying because he voted to impeach Donald Trump and is going to lose,” a campaign spokesperson told the Tri-City Herald. “When running for Senate, Tiffany left everything out in the field because saving our country is that important. Everything she has done since has been to help elect more conservatives into office and any insinuation otherwise is politics as usual and a lie.”

Newhouse’s ad also claimed Smiley used donor money for “luxury travel.” A review of Endeavor PAC receipts since its creation shows more than $13,000 worth of “travel” expenses — mostly for flights — with stays at Marriott hotels in Tampa and Washington, D.C., such the The Mayflower Hotel.

Smiley’s campaign declined to respond to the ad’s allegations that was “luxury travel.”

The fine print

Political fundraising conducted by the Pasco veterans advocate has come under increased scrutiny ever since the Seattle Times examined the flow of contributions to Endeavor PAC in a May 2023 story.

The fine print listed on Endeavor PAC’s online portal reportedly tells contributors that donations will flow to a joint-fundraising committee, the Smiley Victory Fund, and earmarked first to pay off debt owed by the 2022 Smiley For Washington campaign.

Between the end of 2022 and June of this year, Smiley has paid down her debt by $553,000 .

The debt her campaign owed to Virginia-based marketing firm Targeted Victory peaked at more than $1 million, leaving an outstanding balance today of more than $447,000.

The Times reported at the time that the first $2,900 of “any individual contribution” and the first $5,800 of “any contribution from a couple” to Endeavor PAC would go to pay down the debt. Only donations above those thresholds would go to Smiley’s new PAC.

That likely explains the large fundraising discrepancy between Smiley’s three active PACs: Endeavor PAC, Smiley Victory Fund and Smiley for Washington.

Since January 2023, Smiley for Washington has reported nearly $154,000 in individual contributions — mostly labeled for “general debt retirement” and from WinRed, the Republican Party’s fundraising platform — as well as nearly $149,000 worth of in-transfers, all from the Smiley Victory Fund.

The Smiley Victory Fund, meanwhile, has reported more than $441,000 in individual contributions since January 2023 and has reported no transfers in from outside PACs.

Endeavor PAC has reported a mere $61,000 worth of individual contributions since January 2023, most labeled as earmarked transfers from WinRed.

Combined, the three committees currently have nearly $238,000 of cash on hand — and that doesn’t include the more than $577,000 Smiley raised in the first two months of her campaign for Newhouse’s congressional seat.

Experts interviewed in last year’s Seattle Times story say Smiley’s fundraising with Endeavor PAC appeared to fall within federal election guidelines, even if it seemed misleading. It’s a technique that’s been used on both the right and left, with candidates and committees shifting money between funds or using contributions for unstated or otherwise understated reasons.

But Smiley’s campaign argues money raised to cover the debt was placed into separate accounts and solicitations were fully transparent.

Smiley was plucked from political obscurity in 2022 to challenge three-decade incumbent Patty Murray for her seat in the U.S. Senate. Smiley’s campaign raised $20 million but lost to Murray by 15 percentage points in a year that saw Democrats fend off a midterm red wave.

Who received Endeavor PAC donations?

Since its January 2023 establishment, Endeavor PAC has made 10 political contributions worth $28,100 to several different congressional candidates and causes.

The largest beneficiary of its political dealings has been Leslie Lewallen , the mainstream Republican running for Congress in Southwest Washington, who received $6,600.

A former King County prosecuting attorney and sitting Camas City Council member, Lewallen is running to unseat Democratic U.S. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez.

Endeavor PAC also made two contributions last fall totaling $5,000 to Tim Sheehy, the recent winner of Montana’s Republican primary for the U.S. Senate.

He’s looking to unseat three-term Sen. Jon Tester, the last statewide Democratic officeholder in Montana , in a race that could decide the balance of the U.S. Senate.

Donations of $3,300 a piece also were made to Republican candidates Alison Esposito in New York, Dave McCormick in Pennsylvania, George Logan in Connecticut and Hung Cao in Virginia.

Esposito and Logan are running in competitive House districts in suburban New York City and Hartford currently occupied by Democrats. McCormick and and Cao are challenging incumbent Democrats running for reelection in the Senate.

Endeavor also donated $3,300 to a PAC affiliated with Republican Senator Joni Ernst , called Jobs, Opportunity and New Ideas PAC.

Race for WA 4th District

Ballots have been mailed to voters across Washington state for the Aug. 6 primary election.

Newhouse won election to the U.S. House in 2014, succeeding former Congressman Doc Hastings. He currently serves on the House’s Appropriations Committee.

Sessler and Smiley are challenging him over his 2021 vote to impeach former President Donald Trump for his role in fomenting the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. Sessler is mounting his second campaign against Newhouse after falling short in the 2022 primary.

Newhouse is also facing challengers from the left.

Yakima Valley entrepreneur Mary Baechler and Tri-Cities Democratic Party leader Birdie Jane Muchlinski appear on the primary ballot as Democrats. They said they’re running to right Congress’ wrongs on abortion access, housing, public safety and climate change.

Washington’s 4th Congressional District stretches from the U.S.-Canada border down to the Columbia River, and includes the Tri-Cities, Omak, East Wenatchee, Moses Lake, Yakima and the Yakama Indian Reservation.