Sign up for the meadowlakeNOW newsletter

Pro-Trump super PAC deploying $10 million in new TV ads

Nov 1, 2016 | 10:30 PM

WASHINGTON — Donald Trump is getting a $10 million advertising boost from a super PAC attacking Hillary Clinton as too scandal-plagued for the White House.

With this late ad buy, Future 45 and a companion non-profit group are now the top big-money helper to the Republican presidential nominee.

An ad set to debut nationwide on Wednesday morning calls it “a new bombshell” that the FBI disclosed it is again looking at Clinton’s email practices. The 30-second commercial opens with Richard Nixon saying “people have got to know whether or not their president’s a crook.” It concludes with the question: “How can we elect someone who is under FBI investigation?”

Future 45 is led by billionaire TD Ameritrade founder Joe Ricketts and Las Vegas casino billionaire Sheldon Adelson is its largest donor.

Brian Baker, president of the super PAC, said the ad highlights that voters must choose between Clinton, “whose entire public career has spawned nothing but federal investigations,” and Trump, a businessman “who will bring real and needed change to Washington.”

The super PAC had about $10 million in the bank at the end of September, fundraising reports show. It landed another $2 million in early October and has picked up still more donations since then, Baker said. He declined on Tuesday to name any specific new donors or contribution amounts.

Until now, Future 45 had spent about $2.8 million on presidential ads that aired nationally, according to Kantar Media’s political ad tracker. The 45 Committee, a non-profit arm that does not make public any of its donors, has aired another $5 million in commercials, Kantar shows.

The super PAC plans to hit Clinton on her email practices in additional commercials. Trump has been making a similar argument from the campaign trail since the FBI disclosed the new twist on Friday. Investigators looking into former New York Rep. Anthony Weiner in an unrelated case found Clinton emails on his laptop. His wife, Huma Abedin, is a top Clinton aide.

Clinton used a private email server while secretary of state — a decision that has drawn intense scrutiny throughout the presidential race.

The Future 45 ad comes as the Trump campaign announced on Tuesday that it would spend $25 million on ads this week as the Republican rushes motivate voters ahead of the Nov. 8 election.

Julie Bykowicz, The Associated Press