A newly formed super PAC, The Fellowship, has made its first financial disclosure, revealing a $300,000 expenditure on advertising for Georgia Republican Clay Fuller through Nxum Group, a firm co-founded by Bo Hines, the chief executive of Tether's US arm and a former adviser to President Donald Trump. The PAC, which claims to be rooted in transparency, has not responded to questions about its formation, funding, or the payment that may benefit Tether's US CEO and his relative. According to Michael Beckel, a political reform expert, setting up a super PAC and paying for services is not against US campaign-finance rules as long as the services are provided at fair market value. The Fellowship PAC's advertising effort for Fuller is its first major expenditure, and the funds were spent just as Fuller won his special election.
The PAC's disclosures do not show a significant stockpile of contributions to support other candidates, despite an announcement last year that it would be established with pledges of $100 million. An outside spokesperson for Tether stated that Tether International has no affiliation or oversight over the Fellowship PAC. The PAC's first recipient of financial support, Fuller, is an incoming Republican member of the House of Representatives and will need campaign support for the upcoming primary and general election. The money spent by the Fellowship super PAC was an independent expenditure, meaning it had to be handled without strategizing with Fuller's campaign.
The firm paid by the Fellowship PAC, Nxum, was co-founded by Hines, who filed ethics disclosures last year as a White House official. It is unclear whether financial ties remain between Hines and Nxum. The PAC's treasurer, Mitchell Nobel, is an executive at Cantor Fitzgerald, a firm that manages assets for Tether's global operation.
When the Fellowship PAC was announced last year, it was presented as a contrast to previous political engagement, aiming to help the broader crypto ecosystem and not narrow or individual interests.