On Tuesday, two FEC complaints were filed against Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign over the funds transferred from President Joe Biden’s now-defunct campaign.
While some commentators and analysts assumed that it would be simple to transfer the Biden campaign’s funds to Harris’ new campaign, as Biden’s campaign was technically called the “Biden-Harris campaign,” many speculated that there could be a serious problem with the transfer — the fact that it could lead to Harris technically receiving donations from individuals effectively doubling the legal donation limit. Commentators like Tim Pool pointed out that if one person donated the maximum to Biden, their donation was transferred to Harris, then they donated the maximum to Harris, their actions could be a violation of Federal Election Commission (FEC) rules.
Now, former President Donald Trump’s legal counsel and at least one other entity have filed FEC complaints attempting to block Harris from accessing the Biden campaign’s war chest.
“Kamala Harris is seeking to perpetrate a $91.5 million 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,” Trump campaign counsel David Warrington wrote in the eight-page filing, according to reporting from The Hill.
Trump’s legal team is requesting the FEC conduct a criminal investigation into the effort to transfer campaign funds, arguing that renaming the campaign and transferring the money to Harris would constitute fraud. The FEC filing also argued that the donations should be immediately “disposed of” — referring to giving the money back to the donors — because of Biden’s decision to drop out of the race.
“Federal candidates are prohibited from keeping contributions for elections in which they do not participate,” the filing stated, The Guardian reported. “Biden for President 2024 has shown no intention to properly refund or re-designate the general election funds it has already received. This makes them all excess contributions.”
“If Mr. Biden will not seek the Democratic party’s nomination, then he will never participate in the general election and all general election contributions received by Biden for President are excessive and must be disposed of,” the filing continued.
The organization “Former Feds” has also filed an FEC complaint against Harris’ campaign for the same reason, according to a post made on X.
“Today http://formerfeds.org filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission against Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, and their campaign committees. The complaint alleges that the Biden for President campaign committee, which holds significant funds, cannot legally transfer those funds to support Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign. This reorganization violates federal campaign finance laws. The funds were specifically raised for Biden’s campaign and cannot be repurposed without proper authorization. Our foundation, dedicated to ensuring transparency and integrity in government, is calling for a thorough investigation to uphold the integrity of the electoral process and prevent misuse of campaign funds amidst a crisis in failure of government systems and institutional protections of Americans,” the post read, sharing an image of the complaint.
Today https://t.co/pt38w6ERNf filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission against Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, and their campaign committees. The complaint alleges that the Biden for President campaign committee, which holds significant funds, cannot legally transfer… pic.twitter.com/NKyBbj8MnD
— FormerFeds.org (@FormerFeds) July 24, 2024
