Hillary still owes USD 5.9 million in debts from prez race

US secretary of state Hillary Clinton is still saddled with USD 5.9 million in debts left over from her unsuccessful 2008 presidential bid, records filed with the Federal Election Commission show.
    
America's top diplomat has been steadily chipping away at unpaid campaign bills since suspending her White House bid in favour of her rival, Barack Obama in June, when her debt peaked at USD 25.2 million.
    
That amount included both USD 12 million owed to vendors and the USD 13.2 million she loaned her campaign from personal funds.

Clinton's campaign was unable to repay that personal loan by the time the Democratic National Convention convened in Denver, Colorado, in August, the deadline mandated by the 2002 McCain-Feingold campaign finance law.

The former New York senator has since forgiven the entire loan amount, leaving only the USD 5.9 million owed to vendors on the campaign's books.

Clinton and her supporters had been in a race against time to pay off as much of the debt as possible by the time of her swearing-in as the secretary of state on January 21.

As of that date, Clinton became subject to a federal law known as the Hatch Act, which prohibits federal employees from personally soliciting or accepting political contributions.

Clinton's mother, Dorothy Rodham, sent out the last of a series of e-mail fund-raising pitches January 16, specifically asking for donations to help retire the debt before her daughter took her new post, CNN reported.

"Now I have to ask you -- for the very last time -- to give her your help. This is our last chance to help Hillary pay down the debt from her history-making campaign," Rodham wrote in a note distributed to Clinton's campaign distribution list.

"I know how much it would mean to her to have your help this one last time. Please take this opportunity to show Hillary your support by making a contribution today."

The Hatch Act does allow others to continue raising funds on Clinton's behalf, though without her direct involvement.

The Federal Election Commission report did not indicate how much debt the campaign carried as of January 21. That report will not be available for several months, the report said.
    
The USD 5.9 million in remaining campaign debt is owed to five creditors, down from 16 creditors a month earlier.
    
The bulk of this debt, USD 5.4 million, is owed to Penn, Schoen & Berland, a political consulting and polling firm that advised Clinton during her presidential bid.

The firm's president, Mark Penn, was Clinton's senior campaign strategist until he stepped down in April amid revelations that he lobbied on behalf of the Colombian government for a US-Colombia trade deal that Clinton opposed.