Mike Pence gets $720k of taxpayer funds for his failed campaign

Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Get our free Inside Washington email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Former Vice President Mike Pence is set to receive a total of $717,373 from taxpayer funds — certified by the Federal Election Commission — for his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination last year. Donald Trump quickly emerged as the front-running Republican candidate However, no major presidential candidate has used this scheme since Barack Obama opted out in 2008, so it may be somewhat surprising that Pence has chosen to recover taxpayer funds for a primary campaign which had little chance at success. But, months after his campaign ended, Pence’s campaign committee has retroactively applied for the public campaign finance matching program, under which two sets of taxpayer funding have now been authorized. Despite this, the Office of General Counsel said in application documents that it had “found little evidence that would indicate Mr. Pence is actively conducting his campaign.” “OGC is not aware of a public appearance in which Mr. Pence announced his candidacy was active or ongoing in the two months after publicly announcing the suspension of his campaign,” the counsel added.