Trump campaign filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) on Tuesday challenging the legality of transferring funds raised for President Joe Biden’s reelection to Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign.
The complaint, submitted by Trump campaign general counsel David Warrington, argues that such a transfer would effectively constitute a $91.5 million excessive contribution from one presidential candidate to another.
“Kamala Harris is 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 complaint says, according to CNN.
The complaint targets Biden, Harris, the Biden campaign (now the Harris campaign), and campaign treasurer Keana Spencer, alleging “flagrant violations” of the Act by making and receiving an excessive contribution and filing fraudulent forms to repurpose Biden’s campaign committee for Harris.
Responding to the complaint, Harris campaign spokesperson Charles Kretchmer Lutvak accused Republicans of jealousy, and added that Democrats are united in their efforts to defeat Trump.
“The Harris campaign is in the process of committing the largest campaign finance violation in American history and she is using the Commission’s own forms to do it,” Warrington said in the complaint.
“Republicans may be jealous that Democrats are energized to defeat Donald Trump and his MAGA allies, but baseless legal claims—like the ones they’ve made for years to try to suppress votes and steal elections—will only distract them while we sign up volunteers, talk to voters, and win this election,” he said.
Given the FEC’s historically slow pace in resolving enforcement issues, it is unlikely that any action will be taken before Election Day.
But Republican FEC Chair Sean Cooksey, appointed by Trump, has already expressed skepticism about allowing Harris to access the funds.
Speaking on NPR’s ‘Morning Edition’, Cooksey said: “I think it’s really complicated, is the short answer. What he’s attempting to do is to give his entire committee, the cash and all the assets, over to another person.”
He predicted that the issue would likely be contested both within the FEC and in the courts.
However Democratic Commissioner Dara Lindenbaum, who chaired the FEC last year, refuted the notion that Harris would be barred from accessing the funds.
“It’s quite clear, Vice President Harris can continue using the campaign committee and its funds,” Lindenbaum told The Hill.
Harris’s campaign has broken fundraising records since launching Monday, raking in more than $80 million in its first 24 hours.
