Former US president Donald Trump’s campaign on Tuesday filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) arguing $91.5 million raised for President Joe Biden’s reelection bid cannot be transferred to Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign. The complaint argues that this transfer violates campaign finance rules.
Filed soon after Biden dropped out of the 2024 presidential race, the Trump FEC complaint targeted Biden, Harris, and campaign treasurer Keana Spencer. The Trump campaign’s general counsel, David Warrington, alleges that Harris replaced Biden’s name with her own on the campaign forms rather than filing a “statement of candidacy.” On the other hand, the Harris campaign argues that the committees into which money has been raised are the same, just renamed as Harris for President, Harris Victory Fund, and Harris Action Fund. At least one FEC commissioner has indicated that if Harris becomes the Democratic Party presidential nominee, she would have legal access to the campaign funds.
The New York Times had exclusive access to the complaint and reported that Warrington accused the president, Harris, and the campaign treasurer of “flagrantly violating the Act by making and receiving an excessive contribution of nearly one hundred million dollars.” The complaint also accuses the Harris campaign of filing fraudulent forms with the Commission.
As a remedy, the Trump campaign asks the FEC to “immediately open an enforcement matter, seek to enjoin this unprecedented illegal transfer, assess a civil penalty commensurate with the size and scale of this brazen violation, and refer this matter to the Department of Justice for prosecution as a knowing and willful violation of federal law.”
The FEC records confirm that the funds raised had been authorized for both President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. Under FEC regulation 11 CFR 113.2, there is no limit on transferring funds from a candidate committee to a party committee. Biden for President could, therefore, transfer all of its cash to the Democratic National Committee, Democratic congressional and senatorial committees, and state and local party committees, which could then use the money to support their federal, state, and local candidates. Additionally, under the regulation, it could make donations to state and local candidates subject to the provisions of each state law.
An election law expert, Brendan Fischer, wrote on X (formerly Twitter), “The fact that Harris has been consistently reported as the VP on committee filings since 2020 reflects how the rule has long been interpreted—that an incumbent president and vice president continue to share an authorized committee throughout their term.”
In a roundtable CNN discussion, legal experts agreed that the complaint would not be resolved until well after the election has passed and the $91.5M has most likely been spent.
