Let’s be clear about this. Nikki Haley has not personally solicited funds from major Democrat donors for her primary campaign to win the GOP’s presidential nomination. Even the super-PAC supporting Haley’s campaign didn’t solicit funds from Democrats’ institutional donor class.

But the Haley-linked SFA Fund didn’t turn Reid Hoffman away either, as the New York Times reported a couple of hours ago. The LinkedIn billionaire co-founder offered $250,000, and the SFA Fund said thankyewverahmuch:

When Jamie Dimon, the chief executive of JPMorgan Chase, urged Democratic donors last week to rally behind Nikki Haley to provide Republican voters an alternative to former President Donald J. Trump, it seemed a far-fetched plea.

But at least one of the Democratic Party’s biggest financiers has already done exactly that. …

The pro-Haley super PAC, SFA Fund Inc., was asked specifically by Mr. Hoffman’s political team if it would take money from Mr. Hoffman, given that he is a Democrat who actively supports President Biden, Mr. Mehlhorn said. The super PAC, he added, said yes.

Remember Rush Limbaugh’s ‘Operation Chaos’ in 2008? Hoffman took a page out of Rush’s playbook, although for different reasons. Rush wanted to extend the primary fight between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton to help Republicans gain traction in the general election.

That’s not what Hoffman’s aiming for here. If Hoffman’s name sounds familiar, it’s because Hoffman is committed to stopping Donald Trump — very committed. In April, the Daily Beast reported that Hoffman has been underwriting the legal fees for E. Jean Carroll’s lawsuit against Trump over her sexual-assault allegations. Hoffman purportedly spent $100 million in the 2020 cycle to defeat Trump, but ended up crosswise with the Democrat establishment for his attempts to eclipse them in their fundraising and spending.

In this context, $250,000 is small potatoes for a man like Hoffman. That’s such a modest investment for a man who spends so freely that one has to wonder whether Hoffman has tried to boost anyone else in the GOP primary. And the answer to that is  … not directly, but yes:

But a nonprofit group with close financial ties to Mr. Hoffman, Defending Democracy Together, did publicly report making a $500,000 donation in June to the pro-Christie super PAC, Tell It Like It Is PAC. Mr. Mehlhorn said that Mr. Hoffman had given even more to Defending Democracy Together since then.

The NYT doesn’t mention whether Hoffman has tried to kick any cash in the direction of Ron DeSantis, but the Florida governor doesn’t fit the mold very well for Hoffman either. Haley is more of a movement conservative, while Chris Christie represents the more moderate, Northeastern wing of the GOP. DeSantis has a more populist mien and a similar track record to boot, which doesn’t create much room for a Democrat institutional donor to gain any influence, not even in an Operation Chaos project like this.

This raises a few questions about Haley and Christie too, for that matter, in relation to accepting the funds. But let’s ask one about Hoffman first for an entrée to the other questions that follow. Two years ago, Hoffman demanded a boycott on donations to politicians that backed any kind of voter-fraud reform that would ‘restrict’ access to the ballot box. That includes voter-ID requirements as well as specifically targeting Georgia’s election reforms that Joe Biden called “Jim Crow 2.0,” among other demagogic bon mots.

Has Hoffman repented of that position? Or have Haley and Christie decided to oppose such legislation in the future? I’m betting on the former, since the supposed “Jim Crow 2.0” system produced record midterm voter engagement in Georgia’s 2022 election, but it’s still worth asking. If Hoffman has repudiated it, he should say so and publicly admit he was wrong.  And to reverse the question: What other concessions got made by Haley in exchange for Hoffman’s donation, if any? Haley should be asked to answer that question too.

As of the writing of this post, Donald Trump has not yet responded to the report … but you can bet he will. MAGA World had already turned its rhetorical guns on “Neocon Nikki,” and the news that she accepted funds from a Trump bete noire like Hoffman will go over like a John Kerry emission in church. If the reaction pops up quickly, I’ll update the post.

Update: I expected Trump to get out in front of this first, but DeSantis beat him to the punch, according to Newsmax:

“It makes perfect sense that liberal Democrat billionaires would support Nikki Haley’s bid for the White House, because she is a liberal,” DeSantis for President press secretary Bryan Griffin wrote in a statement Tuesday, pointing to The New York Times report that top Democrat donor Reid Hoffman, a co-founder of LinkedIn, gave $250,000 to the Haley-aligned PAC.

“She would let corporations set immigration policy, roll out the red carpet for China, hike taxes on hardworking Americans, and require social media users to register with the government.”

Still nothing on Truth Social from Trump about this, but it won’t be long, one presumes. This is too easy a target to hit.