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A campaign adviser to Hillary Rodham Clinton was involved in an off-the-books operation to help the former first lady's 2008 presidential campaign in four states and Puerto Rico, according to federal court documents.

Thompson pleaded guilty Monday to two conspiracy charges in a case that has engulfed Mayor Vincent Gray, who allegedly was the beneficiary of a "shadow campaign" organized by Thompson that helped Gray get elected in 2010.

Prosecutors have said they have no evidence that Clinton was aware of the get-out-the-vote operation.

Dewey Square, the public affairs firm where Moore works, said in a statement that Moore had "fully cooperated with the government's investigation and the facts make clear that she was entirely unaware of any inappropriate activities." The firm said Moore always conducted herself, "as she always has, not only in full compliance with the law but in accordance with the highest ethical and professional standards."

Dewey Square said Moore asked Thompson "to contribute and raise money directly for the campaign so the campaign could afford to execute a field program in constituent communities. Her actions were legal."

Polls put Clinton, the former secretary of state and New York senator, as the leading Democratic contender for president should she seek the White House again. Clinton has not said whether she will run for president but her decision has been the subject of intense speculation. Any connection to the case could provide fodder for Republicans who already are mobilizing to undercut another Clinton campaign.

Moore served as a senior adviser to Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign and is a member of the Democratic National Committee, where she once worked as chief executive officer. During President Bill Clinton's administration Moore served as political affairs director and public liaison for the White House.

Moore's purported role in the case emerged in September when Troy White, a New York marketing executive, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor for failing to report the income received by his company, Whytehouse Marketing Inc., in the scheme.

Court documents released in White's case said the marketing executive approached a top Clinton campaign staffer about using his "street teams" to help the campaign. The staffer was Guy Cecil, Clinton's national political director in 2008, according to a person familiar with the investigation who spoke on condition of anonymity because of Cecil's limited involvement in the case.

Moore pressed Cecil to hire White in an email but Cecil declined, according to the documents and people familiar with the investigation.

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Feds: Hillary Clinton aide involved in 2008 campaign finance scheme

In this July 26, 2012 file photo, President Obama speaks alongside Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as he holds a Cabinet meeting at the White House. SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images

President Barack Obama is bolstering his party's campaign coffers, joining an ally of former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to help the Democratic National Committee climb out of a worrisome deficit. It's the latest alignment of the Obama and Clinton orbits, as the former first lady considers a White House bid in 2016.

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While the 2016 presidential election may be two years away, some prospective contenders have been getting a bit of media attention. Anthony Salva...

The event illustrates the overlapping fundraising draw that Obama and the former first lady, senator and secretary of state represent for the party at a crucial time for the cash-strapped DNC. It also helps bridge some internal party tensions between donors who are merely interested in presidential politics and the Democrats' needs during this year's midterm elections.

Patricof wrote in a February email to contributors that he and his wife, Susan, had been "relatively quiet on the political front" following Clinton's loss to Obama in the 2008 Democratic primary.

"The most effective way that we all can be helpful to Hillary, and the Democratic Party in general, is to make sure that the Democratic National Committee is as strong as possible if Hillary should decide to run in 2016 and, for that matter, if any other good candidate appears on the scene if she decides not to be in the race," Patricof wrote in the email, first reported by Politico.

He called the fundraiser with Obama a "fireside chat" that would include 13 couples - 26 people - paying $32,500 per person.

The DNC has been trying to pare down millions of dollars in debt accumulated during Obama's re-election campaign; through the end of January the DNC owed more than $15 million.

Obama, who will also raise money at a Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee fundraiser while in New York, has been making a sober fundraising pitch of late, warning that Democrats run the risk of losing control of the Senate if the party doesn't have the resources to motivate voters this November.

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Obama, Hillary Clinton fundraising orbits align

Washington (CNN) - With every passing month, the campaign to encourage Hillary Clinton to run for president grows.

And supporters at the Ready for Hillary Super PAC say they're turning up the heat.

The group, whose goal is to lay the groundwork for a Clinton campaign in 2016, currently boasts about 2 million supporters but a Ready for Hillary source hopes that number will swell to roughly 5 million by the end of year.

The early collating and cataloguing of a base of supporters, largely through e-mail, comes after then-Sen. Barack Obama trounced the Clinton campaigns social media efforts in the race for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination.

Ready for Hillary is also raising money for the campaign they hope to see.

They are bracing for an expensive campaign cycle, should Clinton choose to run. Craig Smith, a senior adviser for Ready for Hillary, has made an educated estimate that a 2016 campaign could cost $1.7 billion including spending by outside groups, the source confirmed.

The numbers were first reported by Time Magazine's Mark Halperin.

Stuart Rothenberg, the editor of the the non-partisan Rothenberg Political Report, said Smith's fundraising figure is both part real and part motivation.

"I can see them picking a figure that is at the outer edge of their estimates because they want to set a goal that is both reachable but also a bit of a stretch," Rothenberg told CNN. "You want your fundraisers to feel like they have to work hard and you want your contributors to feel like they need to reach."

During the 2012 election, Democrats including outside groups and the Obama campaign spent around $1.1 billion dollars to win reelection for Obama. Rothenberg said because of the 2012 spending, "you have to assume every campaign can spend at least 1.1 billion, they know how to do it."

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A Hillary Clinton 2016 campaign could cost $1.7 billion?

Politics Hillary Clinton Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton leaves an event at the U.N. in New York City on March 7, 2014 Andrew Burton / Getty Images

Far from being just another aide to Hillary and Bill Clinton, Craig Smith is something of an adopted son. He worked for the pair in Arkansas, was the very first hire for Bills 1992 presidential run, followed them to the White House and then advised both the 1996 and 2008 campaigns. But in recent months, Smith and his mentors havent been talking. Look, Ive known these people for over 30 years, he says. Being in a situation where I cant talk to them is a little odd. But, you know, it is what it is.

The reason for the distance is Smiths current role as a senior adviser for Ready for Hillary, a super PAC that has been set up to organize the grassroots for a 2016 Clinton presidential effort should she run. Super PACs cannot under federal rules coordinate certain types of spending or fundraising with candidates. Smith has interpreted this broadly, cutting off all direct ties to the former First Couple. Our goal is to build the Ferrari of grassroots operations, Smith says. All we need is a driver ready to hit the gas.

Its not wholly as hands-off as all that; the back-and-forth is just carefully choreographed. In recent weeks, Clinton has told friends she is grateful for the Ready for Hillary effort, follows its activities closely and believes it is building exactly the kind of foundation she never erected but discovered she needed in her race against Barack Obama in 2008. The super PAC, meanwhile, has been telegraphing messages to Clinton in plain sight. When people without obvious ties to the Clintons are hired for the group, they are often announced in press releases containing testimonials from someone in the Clintons orbit a move intended to ensure that Hillary will be comfortable with the choice.

(MORE: Clinton Super PAC Ready for Hillary Gets Readier)

As far as Smith is concerned, all systems are go: in the next few months, the group plans to sign up supporters in every state. Should Clinton personally offer endorsements in midterm contests and it would be unusual if she did not Ready for Hillary plans to rush in with fundraising assistance and foot soldiers. In other races, Clinton fans will be urged to promote Democrats up and down the ballot, fostering goodwill and, just as important, gaining practical experience that can be reprised later if Clinton jumps in.

There is now talk among Ready officials about finishing 2014 with 5 million supporters and 2 million active volunteers, numbers that would likely dwarf the assets of all the GOP wannabes combined. If realized, that would be substantially more than the piddling grassroots effort that Clinton mounted against Obama six years ago. Could anyone, Democrat or Republican, catch the Clinton machine this time? I dont know, Smith says. I think it takes a long time to build a grassroots operation. These things dont pop up overnight.

Indeed, they do not, and there is little that is spontaneous about this one. Smith estimates that the entire Clinton effort including all the current super PAC projects and an actual campaign will cost a cool $1.7 billion in total. That back-of-the-envelope calculation is based on his observation that in each presidential campaign the victor ends up spending about 150% of what the winner spent four years before.

The other boost for Ready for Hillary has come from Obamas political machine. Inside Obama world, the battle scars of the 2008 nomination fight have faded, and there is widespread excitement about a Clinton candidacy; her service in the Administration has made her the clear, if unofficial, legatee. I have yet to meet anybody grassroots, donor or elected official who is not enthusiastically for her, says one of Obamas top strategists. The loyalty thing has played a huge role in the difference between support and enthusiastic support.

(VIDEO: Hillary Clinton Kicks Off International Womens Day at the U.N.)

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The (Not Very) Quiet Campaign for Hillary Clinton

(CNN) -

A close adviser to Hillary Clinton courted and procured money that was later used to fund illegal get-out-the-vote operations during the former secretary of state's hotly contested 2008 presidential bid, according to allegations formally laid out Monday by federal prosecutors.

The information became public as part of a plea agreement for Jeffrey Thompson, a Washington, D.C. businessman who on Monday pled guilty to conspiracy for masterminding a nearly $670,000 illegal "shadow campaign" for D.C. Mayor Vince Gray's successful mayoral bid in 2010. But within the documents, Thompson told federal prosecutors that Clinton adviser Minyon Moore approached him to raise funds for the Clinton campaign that would end up amounting to more than $600,000.

There is no evidence in the documents that Clinton was aware of the off-the-books effort. Nor is there any indication within the court filing that Moore knew, as well.

A spokeswoman for the Dewey Square Group, Moore's current employer, said in a statement to CNN that the Clinton confidant "fully cooperated with the government's investigation and the facts make clear that she was entirely unaware of any inappropriate activities."

According to the documents, Moore's contact with Thompson began in February 2008 when the Clinton adviser asked Thompson to organize "street teams" in support of the Clinton's primary campaign. At first, these street teams only aimed to help before the Texas primary on March 4, 2008.

The court documents show that Moore introduced Thompson to "INDIVIDUAL C," someone who a government source said was a Clinton supporter in Texas, and Troy White, a New York marketing executive who pled guilty for his work on the street teams last year.

The group also included Luis Vera, the general counsel for the League of United Latin American Citizens, according to a government source, whose task was to help turnout Hispanic voters ahead of the primary. In the court documents, Vera is identified as "INDIVIDUAL B."

After Clinton won the most votes in the Texas primary, the effort continued and Moore worked with Thompson, according to the documents, to deploy teams to Pennsylvania, Indiana, North Carolina and Puerto Rico in an effort to boost Clinton's standing in the lead up to each state's primary.

Federal campaign finance rules outlaw people working for a campaign from soliciting off-the-books contributions and Moore's work with Thompson could be considered in violation of those laws.

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Feds: Clinton adviser tied to illegal campaign