PolitiFact Iowa is a project of The Daily Iowan’s Ethics & Politics Initiative and PolitiFact to help you find the truth in politics.

If your time is short: 

• U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson said that opposing candidate Liz Mathis has received $30,000 from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
• Upon looking at donation records, Pelosi has made three direct donations to Mathis, totaling $4,000. However, she has donated $30,000 to a fund dedicated to supporting Mathis’ candidacy.

U.S. Rep Ashley Hinson, R-Iowa, is one of many Iowa Republican political candidates up for election this month who are touting the source and motives behind opponents’ campaign funding as well as ties to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. 

On Oct. 18, 2022, Hinson’s Twitter account posted that opposing Democratic candidate Liz Mathis received $30,000 from Pelosi. 

That’s $30,000 more from Nancy Pelosi to boost @LizMathis1’s campaign – she is bought & paid for by Nancy Pelosi!

Her first vote in Congress would be for Nancy Pelosi as Speaker, while @hinsonashley’s would be to fire her so we can put a check on the Biden Administration. pic.twitter.com/cVvEygWZ5i

— Team Hinson (@Team_HinsonIA) October 18, 2022

“That’s $30,000 more from Nancy Pelosi to boost @LizMathis1’s campaign – she is bought & paid for by Nancy Pelosi!” the tweet stated. 

PolitiFact previously has covered Twitter spats between Hinson and Mathis. We decided to see whether Mathis has received $30,000 in political donations from Pelosi.

Direct Donations

As the leader of her party in the House, Pelosi controls some funding for Democrats seeking a seat in the chamber. Republican congressional leaders do so, too, as it is the best interest of party leaders to support candidates who give them power in the House and Senate.

Looking through Federal Election Commission data, we found that Pelosi has contributed $30,000 to the Liz Mathis Victory Fund, an organization that donates directly to Mathis’ campaign. This donation was on July 25, 2022, and is the only one as of the last reporting deadline in mid-October that Pelosi has made to that fund. 

Pelosi also made two donations to Liz Mathis for Congress from Nancy Pelosi for Congress, for $2,000 on March 28, 2022, and another $2,000 on May 18, 2022, campaign finance disclosure records show.

Pelosi controls two other funds listed on the Federal Election Commission’s website — the Nancy Pelosi Victory Fund and Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s Majority Fund. Neither has donated to Liz Mathis for Congress or the Liz Mathis Victory Fund, records show. The House Majority PAC that is tied to Pelosi and Democratic House leaders has not given her any money, either, a look at that PAC’s documents on record at Open Secrets shows.

Looking through the FEC receipts for Kevin McCarthy, the U.S. House minority leader, we did not find direct donations to Ashley Hinson for Congress or the Ashley Hinson Victory Committee. 

Records from the Congressional Leadership Fund, a PAC that supports Republican candidates and is aligned with McCarthy and House leaders, show that PAC had spent $723,597 to oppose Mathis as of Oct. 19, the last FEC filing deadline. The total jumped to $1,783,048 as of Nov. 4, Open Secrets reported. The PAC had given Hinson $267,000 as of Nov. 4, Open Secrets reported.

McCarthy was not on an OpenSecrets list of donors who contributed $200 or more to the Congressional Leadership Fund.

ActBlue

ActBlue, which allows individuals to donate on their site and directly gives funds to the desired Democratic organization, has received donations from Pelosi. During the 2022 election cycle, she has spent $3,731,425 on campaign contributions as of July 26, 2022, with $1,050,930 going to ActBlue. 

Federal Election Commission records show that Mathis has received $2,130,328.61 from ActBlue donors since the start of 2021 but none was made under Pelosi’s name. 

PolitiFact Iowa reached out to the Hinson and Mathis campaigns for comment but did not receive one from either campaign.

Our ruling:

Ashley Hinson said Nancy Pelosi has donated $30,000 to support Liz Mathis.

Pelosi has donated $4,000 to Mathis’ campaign, plus another $30,000 to a separate entity with the exclusive role of electing Mathis.

We rate the statement True.

Our Sources:

Ashley Hinson’s campaign website

Liz Mathis’  campaign website

Ashley Hinson tweet, Oct. 18, 2022

The Daily Iowan, “The facts about Iowa’s 2nd District congressional candidates and abortion,” by Liam Halawith, Oct. 11, 2022

Mike Franken tweet, Oct. 25, 2022

Deidre DeJear tweet, Oct 26, 2022

Federal Election Commission web page

Federal Election Commission, Congressional Leadership Funds’ spending

Federal Election Commission, House Majority PAC spending

Federal Election Commission, Liz Mathis for Congress’ financial summary 

Federal Election Commission, Nancy Pelosi for Congress’ financial summary 

Federal Election Commission, donation receipts from Nancy Pelosi to Liz Mathis 

Federal Election Commission, Liz Mathis’ Victor Fund’s financial summary

Federal Election Commission, Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s Majority Fund’s financial summary 

Federal Election Commission, Nancy Pelosi’s Victory Fund’s financial summary 

Federal Election Commission, ActBlue disbursements to Liz Mathis for Congress 

Federal Election Commission, donation receipts from Nancy Pelosi to Liz Mathis 

ActBlue, How do I know my money is going to the candidate or organization I donated to?

Politico, “How ActBlue has transformed Democratic politics,” by Elena Schneider, Oct. 30, 2020

OpenSecrets’ mission page

Open Secrets, ActBlue’s Vendor/Recipient page

Open Secrets, Congressional Leadership Fund’s Vendor/Recipient page and donations to Ashley Hinson

Open Secrets, Nancy Pelosi’s expenditures in 2021-22 and Kevin McCarthy’s expenditures in 2021-22

Open Secrets, House Majority PAC expenditures