Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has finally retired the debt from her 2008 presidential campaign, paying off some $12 million owed to nearly 500 creditors.
According to a report Wednesday by CNN Politics, Clinton had amassed a debt of more than $25 million by the time she was defeated by Barack Obama in the Democratic primaries. About $13.2 million of that amount was money she borrowed from own personal accounts, according to Federal Election Commission records.
Clinton's campaign organization finally broke free of the debt on New Year's Eve by making three final payments totaling $73,000 to the Democratic polling firm of Penn and Schoen, according to FEC documents. At one point, the campaign had owed the firm $5.4 million.
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Clinton, however, was forced to write off, or forgive, the amount owed to her own personal accounts because she failed to pay it back by a certain deadline under campaign finance laws.
Over the past four years, Clinton has been prohibited by the Hatch Act of 1939 from soliciting or accepting contributions to pay off her debt because, as secretary of state, she has been a government employee. Federal employees are prohibited from raising political donations and campaign-related activities.
But former President Bill Clinton stepped in on his wife's behalf, sending out appeals for money to help retire her debt.
His efforts not only helped retire the old 2008 debt, but left $205,000 in her campaign fund, which could be used if she decides to run for president again or some other federal office.
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