The tycoons behind Clinton's billion-dollar campaign fund.

Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign fund has reached over one billion dollars, far surpassing her Republican opponent Donald Trump.

Democratic US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton at a campaign rally. Photo: LATimes

A few weeks before Hillary Clinton announced her candidacy for the White House, worries about campaign funding were causing her considerable stress, according to the Washington Post.

"Can we discuss the fundraising plan for the first quarter?" Huma Abedin, a close advisor to former U.S. Secretary of State, wrote in a letter to senior campaign staff in March 2015, emphasizing Clinton's anxiety.

Campaign manager Robby Mook asked what Clinton was concerned about. Abedin replied succinctly: "Jeb Bush."

At the time, donors to former Florida Governor Jeb Bush were pouring millions of dollars into a super political action committee (PAC) supporting him. Stacks of seven-figure checks piled up, even before Bush announced his presidential candidacy, creating tension in the conversations between Clinton and her team, according to campaign emails released by Wikileaks.

But the former US Secretary of State also possesses a powerful financial weapon of her own: the network of political supporters that she and her husband, former US President Bill Clinton, have cultivated over 40 years.

Wealthy sponsor

Determined not to lose the fundraising race, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton focused on wealthy donors while also making efforts to remove the restrictions that President Barack Obama had imposed on his fundraising team.

Despite concerns about Clinton's excessive close ties to wealthy interest groups, aides agreed to allow lobbyists, including some representatives from foreign governments, to fund the campaign. Senior advisors began urging large donors to pour money into Clinton's super-action councils.

These efforts finally paid off. Funding from the party and its super-councils supporting Clinton reached $1.14 billion by the end of September 2016.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, who only began fundraising in late May 2015, had only $712 million in hand, of which $56 million was his own money.

From left to right, clockwise, Clinton's top donors include: S. Donald Sussman, JB Pritzker, Cheryl Saban, S. Daniel Abraham, Fred Eychaner, George Soros, Haim Saban, and James Simons. Photo: Washington Post

According to an analysis by the Washington Post, more than one-fifth of the donations to Clinton came from 100 wealthy individuals and labor unions. Many of these individuals have long-standing support for the Clintons.

The top five donors include: investment fund manager S. Donald Sussman ($20.6 million), Chicago venture capitalist JB Pritzker and his wife ($16.7 million), Univision chairman Haim Saban and his wife, Cheryl ($11.9 million), billionaire investor George Soros ($9.9 million), and Slim Fast founder S. Daniel Abraham ($9.7 million).

However, relying on wealthy supporters also puts Clinton in a difficult position. If elected, Clinton would enter the White House with a large debt to the benefactors who have supported her and her husband for decades.

During a discussion last May about possible campaign funding proposals, Dan Schwerin, the lead speechwriter, expressed concern about the accusations of "hypocrisy" that Clinton had faced.

Super Political Action Committee

At the same time, the campaign for the former US Secretary of State also faced the reality that the political world had changed significantly since Clinton last campaigned. Super-committees are now a crucial element of a campaign, and Republican opponents are doing a great job of leveraging these types of committees.

A political action committee is an organization that solicits contributions from its members, which it then uses to fund campaigns supporting or opposing presidential candidates, voting initiatives, or legislation.

The eagerness of the Republican candidates put Clinton on high alert. In early May 2015, the former US Secretary of State sent an article to her advisors about the lack of oversight by the Federal Election Commission, the body responsible for overseeing election regulations.

"Do you have any suggestions on what we should do?" Mrs. Clinton asked.

Campaign manager John Podesta responded that the campaign for the former U.S. Secretary of State needed to expand its fundraiser network and "make Priorities work effectively." Podesta referred to Priorities USA Action, a super political action committee supporting Clinton.

Clinton's campaign declined to confirm the authenticity of the emails published by WikiLeaks, which are believed to be the result of a cyberattack on Podesta's account.

These emails show that Clinton immediately decided to accelerate her fundraising schedule, even though at one point her advisor Huma Abedin remarked that it was "a little crazy."

She removed the fundraising restrictions that had been in place since the Obama administration. The campaign at that time not only allowed lobbyists to write checks for donations but also permitted foreign government representatives to contribute.

Clinton and her team of advisors also sent clear signals that they wanted people to support Priorities USA Action.

The Democratic presidential candidate also received encouragement from another super political action committee, Correct the Record, headed by David Brock, a close ally of Clinton. Correct the Record directly collaborated with the campaign, conducting research on strategies to counter opponents.

Support groups, meanwhile, are often presented as part of a business or corporation.

Four days before Hillary Clinton officially entered the race for the White House, former Golden West Financial Group executive Herb Sandler received an email from a Washington-based fundraiser working at Priorities USA Action, who identified himself as "the chief financial officer for Hillary Clinton's super political action committee." Two months later, Sandler transferred one million dollars to Priorities.

According to leaked emails, Podesta was tasked with traveling across the country to persuade major donors to support both the campaign and the Priorities committee. After a trip to San Francisco in December 2015, Podesta reported that Sandler was willing to contribute the maximum amount to the joint fundraising committee between the Clinton campaign and the Democratic Party.

"He is also preparing to double his donations to Priorities," Podesta added.

Labor union

The emails also reveal that Clinton's advisers were highly focused on securing support from labor unions and often struggled with the question of how to retain these organizations.

In April 2015, after attending a meeting of independent donors, senior policy adviser Ann O'Leary noted that "some of our friends," including the Self-Defense International Union of Workers (SEIU), wanted Clinton to support a minimum wage campaign initiated by the organization.

"Is there anything more creative we can do to garner support besides just presenting numbers?" Clinton asked.

Two months later, the former US Secretary of State attended a conference of fast-food workers and received a huge round of applause when she thanked them for "taking to the streets to fight for a living wage."

SEIU President Mary Kay Henry immediately sent a message to Podesta with the subject line "It worked!".

"I looked around the stage and saw that most of the fast-food industry leaders were in tears," wrote Mary Kay Henry.

"Great," Abedin replied after an employee forwarded her the message.

In the fall of 2015, SEIU voiced its support for Clinton, donating one million dollars to Priorities and spending tens of millions of dollars on efforts to persuade voters in battleground states to vote for Clinton.

On the other hand, Clinton's wealthy supporters also made demands or offered advice.

According to leaked emails, one of the most frequent interlocutors was Saban, an Israeli-American citizen. He repeatedly proposed ideas to appeal to Latino and Jewish voters.

After Trump called Mexican immigrants "rapists" last year, Saban urged Clinton's campaign to respond more forcefully.

He suggested that aides to the former US Secretary of State should urge Senator Bernie Sanders to speak out and urged Clinton to "clarify the differences in their positions on the Israel issue."

Saban also added that Clinton should speak out strongly against antisemitism or reaffirm America's commitment to Israel's security.

As Clinton widened her lead in delegate votes over Sanders in the primary election today15/3/2016Saban sent Podesta, Mook, and Abedin an excited message.

"Cheryl and I are both very happy... relieved... and looking forward to further successes," he wrote. "Moving forward."

"Thank you for making it happen," Mook replied.

"Clinton is the one who made it all happen, along with you all and the ever-present support team," Saban wrote. "Thank you for your kind words, but we are just outsiders."

According to VNE