The campaign arm for House Democrats is providing “strategic guidance, staff resources, training, and fundraising support” for repeat candidates in 2024 who were part of a little-known “fellowship” paying them between runs, records show.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee released a list Monday of 17 House hopefuls part of its “Red to Blue” program, which the DCCC said in a press release is “highly competitive” and “arms top-tier candidates with organizational and fundraising support to help them continue to develop strong campaigns.” In turn, at least three Democrats on the list double-dipped as participants in a separate progressive fellowship that, as the Washington Examiner reported, has raised eyebrows among legal experts.

“House Democrats have multiple paths to winning back the majority and this incredible slate of candidates are at the forefront of these efforts,” the DCCC’s chairwoman, Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-WA), said in a statement. “These candidates reflect the broad and diverse coalition that will be critical to Democrats’ success in 2024, and their commitment to solving the urgent problems facing everyday Americans stand in stark contrast to the MAGA fealty of their opponents.”

News of the roster for the DCCC’s Red to Blue program comes days after a Washington Examiner report detailed how 2024 Democratic candidates who ran unsuccessfully in prior years received cash from the New Politics Leadership Academy for a highly unusual fellowship. The charity has since moved on from the fellowship, which prompted at least one Federal Election Commission complaint in 2020; a newly-formed nonprofit group called Our American Future Foundation, which was incorporated in Washington, D.C., by an associate of Democratic superlawyer Marc Elias, recently took up the initiative.

The Elias-linked fellowship is through a project called the American Mainstream Policy Leadership Institute, an opaque left-wing organization that asserted to the Washington Examiner its participants in the fellowship resigned before becoming federal candidates for office in 2024. Conservative lawyer Paul Kamenar said last week there’s concern that such paid programs could “constitute political contributions,” noting that he’ll be watching the various players to ensure compliance with IRS rules.

The three Democrats who took part in the AMPLI fellowship and are now part of the DCCC program include Kirsten Engel, a University of Arizona law professor and ex-member of the Arizona state Senate, former federal prosecutor Will Rollins, and lawyer Josh Rollins.

Engel told the Washington Examiner on Thursday that she was not paid through the American Mainstream Policy Leadership Institute fellowship though did not reply to a follow-up question from a reporter asking if she could disclose who every fellow was in the AMPLI program.

Documents obtained by the Washington Examiner say the program is “nonpartisan” and offers 10 paid spots for those who “lost elections but intend to remain public advocates for mainstream American policies” or “have not yet run for federal office but are considering doing so in the future.” However, the vast majority of fellows through the New Politics Leadership Academy have been Democrats.

The fellowships help candidates pay for “rent or groceries or their mortgage,” New Politics founder and Executive Director Amy Cherniack previously said. Engel is running in 2024 against Rep. Juan Ciscomani (R-AZ), who was a senior adviser to former Republican Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey.

On the other hand, Rollins, who is running to unseat Rep. Ken Calvert (R-CA), disclosed in January that he received $10,789 from the New Politics Leadership Academy and $28,527 from Our American Future Foundation. This disclosure was made after the Washington Examiner asked the Rollins campaign why the candidate falsely reported in September of last year that he pocketed cash from the 527 advocacy group affiliate of New Politics Leadership Academy for the fellowship.

“The DCCC should be ashamed — rigging the system for candidates beholden to whoever funds the dark money group paying to support their lifestyle,” Will Reinert, press secretary for the National Republican Congressional Committee, told the Washington Examiner.

Meanwhile, Riley received $30,000 in 2023 from AMPLI for his fellowship, financial disclosures show. He is running to unseat Rep. Marcus Molinaro (R-NY) in a race that, like those involving Engel and Rollins, is viewed by the Cook Political Report as a “toss-up.”

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Reinert added that “Americans should question who will benefit on the off chance these extreme Democrats are elected — because it won’t be families and workers.”

In her Monday statement, Delbene said she looks forward to working with the DCCC program candidates “to defeat Republican extremism, grow the middle class, and defend reproductive freedom when Democrats take back the House this November.”