Trump's campaign filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission alleging the transfer of funds from the president to the vice president was improper, CBS News reported. Vice President Kamala Harris is running in place of President Joe Biden after the elderly Democrat dropped out of his reelection campaign.
Despite several assurances that the 81-year-old would remain in the presidential race, Biden announced over the weekend that he was stepping aside. He endorsed Harris, who has become the presumptive Democratic nominee in his place.
The FEC complaint named Harris, Biden, and their campaign treasurer, Keana Spencer. The dispute concerns millions of dollars raised for the Biden/Harris campaign while the president was still in the running, which is now under Harris's discretion.
The complaint alleges that they are "seeking to perpetrate a $91.5 million dollar heist of Joe Biden's leftover campaign cash — a brazen money grab that would constitute the single largest excessive contribution and biggest violation in the history of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, as amended (the "Act")." This comes after an unprecedented candidate swap.
Former President Donald Trump's campaign attorney, David Warrington, accused Biden and Harris of "filing fraudulent forms with the Commission purporting to repurpose one candidate's principal campaign committee for the use of another candidate." It's as if Harris simply crossed out Biden's name and wrote her own instead of filing a Statement of Candidacy as is required.
"There is no provision in federal campaign finance law for Kamala Harris to take over Joe Biden's candidacy now by quite literally attempting to become him via an amendment of his Form 2, assuming control of his campaign by amending Form 1, and making off with all of his cash," Warrington wrote in legal filings. The Harris campaign will likely disagree.
The rationale is that the original campaign was filed naming the "principal campaign committee" with both Biden and Harris. The original fundraising committees have changed names to reflect Harris' new role, such as Harris for President and Harris Victory Fund.
Trump's case also seems questionable in light of FEC commissioner Dara Lindenbaum's statement to X, formerly Twitter. "I agree with @HvonSpakovsky, if @KamalaHarris becomes the Democrat Party presidential nominee, she gets access to the @JoeBiden campaign funds," Lindenbaum wrote on Sunday.
I agree with @HvonSpakovsky, if @KamalaHarris becomes the Democrat Party presidential nominee, she gets access to the @JoeBiden campaign funds. @FEC https://t.co/53HAXugefl pic.twitter.com/oxCp1KwUVM
— Dara Lindenbaum (@DaraLind) July 21, 2024
The Harris campaign experienced a fundraising bonanza in the days after she became the de facto nominee. From the time Biden dropped out Sunday until Monday night, Harris reportedly received $100 million in campaign contributions.
However, Warrington argued that the transfer of campaign funds from Biden to Harris also amounts to a donation and should be treated as such. "This is little more than a thinly veiled $91.5 million excessive contribution from one presidential candidate to another, that is, from Joe Biden's old campaign to Kamala Harris's new campaign," Warrington said.
"This effort makes a mockery of our campaign finance laws," he added. "Contributions by federal candidate committees to other federal candidates are limited to $2,000," Warrington pointed out.
"Yet, Biden for President is seeking to make an excessive contribution over approximately $91 million dollars — more than 45,000 times the legal limit," he added. Warrington also asserted that since Biden dropped out before transferring the money, he technically should have had to return it.
Democrats think just because their voters accepted this switcheroo that, the FEC will, too. However, the matter will have to be litigated as this is an unprecedented situation involving millions of dollars in campaign funds.
