In an exclusive phone interview on Tuesday, former Rep. Allen West (R-FL) confirmed to Breitbart News that every committee slot on Capitol Hill for members, especially committee and subcommittee chairmen, comes with a fundraising price tag.
“There’s a huge focus [on fundraising for the party],” West said. “Every member got assessed dues and there were freshman colleagues of mine that they so wanted to be on an ‘A’ committee, in which some of them are listed as, like Ways and Means or Financial Services, and of course their dues were higher to be on an ‘A-list’ committee."
"The committees that I was on, Armed Services Committee and Small Business Committee, were not ‘A-list’ and so I think my dues per year were around maybe the $50,000 or $60,000 range," he continued. "It wasn’t a big thing for me, I guess, because of who I am and I guess my stature. I was able to easily raise the money to support the team. I had no problems with supporting our team. But I think the issue is when you start to tie it to the positions that you could have. I mean that becomes a bit of cronyism in and of itself.”
As Government Accountability Institute President and Breitbart News Senior Editor-at-Large Peter Schweizer exposes in his new book Extortion: How Politicians Extract Your Money, Buy Votes, and Line Their Own Pockets, there are never-before-seen documents printed in the book that show committee assignments—and leadership slots on those committees—come with a price tag. The system in place works in both parties, too, with Republicans and Democrats involved. “Many of my colleagues in my freshman year that wanted to be on those ‘A-List’ committees, like I said some of those I mentioned are Ways and Means and Financial Services, and a couple others, and then all of a sudden when they got their dues assessment, they were kind of shocked,” West said in his interview with Breitbart News.
