Obama tweeting from controversial campaign spin-off causes stir

Washington, Mar 23 (ANI): American president Obama has caused a stir by meeting with top fundraisers for a new independent spin-off of his campaign and he will also be tweeting under an account controlled by the group.

According to various media reports Obama might appear at quarterly meetings with Organizing for Action's top fundraisers, something Republicans and watchdog groups criticized as the kind of pay-for-play politics that Obama has in the past decried.

Facing tough questions, the White House at the time emphasized that the group, despite being an outgrowth of Obama's 2012 campaign, was independent, The Washington Post reports.

Organizing for Action claims it now controls the account, which has nearly 29 million followers and previously served as Obama's personal and campaign account.

The bio for @BarackObama says "This account is run by Organizing for Action staff. Tweets from the President are signed -bo."

Organizing for Action spokeswoman Katie Hogan confirmed that the feed would continue to feature Obama's tweets, as it did when it was run by his campaign.

Hogan said that statement on the official Twitter account still stands as it reads on the website.

Campaign finance law doesn't prevent Obama from raising money for or speaking to groups like Organizing for Action, but watchdog groups note that Obama has spoken out in the past against the influence of money in politics and groups like Organizing for Action (OFA) that can accept unlimited contributions without having to disclose donors, the paper said.

Fred Wertheimer, head of the Democracy 21 watchdog group said the fact that President Obama's Twitter account is being managed by Organizing for Action is one more example that shows that OFA is functioning as an unprecedented, privately funded arm of the presidency that accepts unlimited contributions from wealthy donors.

Wertheimer added OFA represents bad public policy and a terrible precedent for the future, as other federal officeholders can be expected to go down this dangerous path. ((ANI)