The Trump campaign on Tuesday filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission arguing money raised for President Joe Biden’s reelection bid cannot be transferred to Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign.
The complaint was filed by the Trump campaign’s general counsel David Warrington and argues transferring the funds would amount to “little more than a thinly veiled $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, a copy of which was obtained by CNN, states.
Lets see if we can find a way to delay the complaint until after the election.
There’s no need to force a delay; the FEC moves at a snail’s pace. They’re still working on cases from the 2016 election.
The chairman trump stooge, Sean Cooksey said on Fox yesterday that Harris getting Bidens war chest is “fraudulent.”
Trump filled the complaint today. He basically signaled to Trump right on Fox, that trump could make the complaint and he will back him
I guarantee he will drop everything to “rule” on this.
Ellen Weintraub who is a democratic FEC commissioner said that what Harris is doing isn’t illegal but it doesn’t matter since the chairman who is above her is a fucking toadie to Trump since he gave him the job.
There are 3 Democrats and 3 Republicans (all nominated by Trump) so it’s likely the vote will be gridlocked and therefore Harris not being able to get the money since the decision will be “on hold.”
What’s funny is that Cooksey’s term expired in 2021 but he gets to keep serving until a replacement is appointed by the Senate. If MAGA gets the Senate, they will get 2 MAGA replacements for the expired Democrats making any vote 4 -2.
A gridlocked decision means nothing happens. That’s why nothing happens for all the legitimate stuff before the FEC.
The FEC chair could spin it and say that because a decision has not been made of is allowed or not, access to the money will be frozen
Based on what? The chair isn’t a tiebreaking vote, they don’t just get to make policy choices on an even split. The FEC needs 4 votes to act. There’s no spin involved, if they don’t have 4 votes, they can’t make an action. The chair doesn’t get to define the default result.
Well that is a relief. Although that relies on the chairman not pulling the “bullshit” card for Trump and saying the rules are different for this. MAGA does not respect precedent or the law.
They just don’t have that power. That’s not what a chairperson is. They can say whatever they want, it doesn’t make it real. You don’t have to rely on Republicans to not spontaneously manifest new authority. They aren’t magic.
Trump filled the compliment today
trump could make the compliment and he will back him
I’m guessing “compliment” was supposed to be “complaint”?
Yes
Working is a strong word. It’s more regulatory capture and violators release.
Presidential action, so it’s legal!
Right, Clarence?
“If the facts are against you, argue the law. If the law is against you, argue the facts. If the law and the facts are against you, pound the table and yell like hell”
If you have the facts on your side, pound the facts; if you have the law on your side, pound the law; if you have neither the facts nor the law, pound the table.
That’s the adage as i remember it.
I heard that he can’t remember that he’s not running against Biden anymore. Many people are saying it
Isn’t Trump the one using campaign funds for his personal legal battles?
Hypocrisy has never been an obstacle for Republicans.
Didn’t he just get in trouble for using a large sum to pay a porn star to be quiet he slept with while his pregnant wife was at home?
It wasn’t about the payout, it was about keeping her quiet in order to influence the election that the trial focused on.
No problem, start the Kamala Harris SuperPAC and you can give however much you want.
I just have to verbally declare that it now exists, right?
This was pretty expected and will go nowhere useful for them. They’re literally just wasting time and money. Not only is there not a leg to stand on legally speaking, even if some Trump-sucking judge agreed to this, then the money could just be dumped into a Super PAC, and we all know how good they are at staying “independent.”
You would get a swell of people donating to Harris in protest if the original funds were blocked by a Trump judge.
They’re literally just wasting time and money.
They’re also muddying the waters.
This is what I’ve thought of a lot of Trumps legal strategies in recent months, but here we are - the guy is never gonna face consequences.
What part of the act does it violate exactly?
Also, hope those lawyers got their money up front (j/k, I don’t care if they get stiffed)
I hope to fuck they counter sue and tack on lawyers fees and damages… this is such frivolous bullshit.
Cool. Transfer it all to a PAC. Then the PAC can give to Harris. All legal.
IANAL, but I don’t think the PAC can give money to the candidates/campaign. However, they can (independently, and without coordinating) work on the candidates’ behalf.
That works.
Controls on coordination are a complete joke, though. I’m pretty sure she could literally publicly release a script with directors notes and say “I want this PAC to make this commercial and air it in these markets and timeslots” and it would be legal.
Stephen Colbert did a whole series of bits back on The Colbert Report where he formed a PAC, then a Super PAC, and pointed out numerous loopholes in the whole system. So basically, yep.
Pretty much, yeah. The big thing is that they wouldn’t have access to the candidates’ strategy. But most of that is pretty public. We already know a few of Harris’ talking points. We also know some of the things they will steer away from. What we don’t know is if there are any planned pivots later on, like an October Surprise
Old Sleepy Don. It’s what you do when your own weak campaign can’t raise cash like the Dems.
Oh no! She might be denied a day and a half’s fundraising.
The way I understood it is that the Biden campaign was basically renamed and Harris is the candidate, so the war chest is deeper than since she announced.
Proud to be the only one providing actual analysis of legality in these comments so far 🫡
“I don’t think most campaign finance lawyers believe that this is a best reading of the law,” Rick Hasen, an election law expert at UCLA’s law school, told CNN on Tuesday of the Trump campaign’s argument. But, he added, “that doesn’t mean it can’t get tied up in FEC proceedings for years.”
Veteran Republican election lawyer Charlie Spies, who briefly served as the RNC’s general counsel earlier this year, argued recently that the Biden-Harris team must be formally nominated by their party before any money could be shifted.
“If President Biden is committed to passing the torch to his vice president, and wants to be able to seed her campaign with the current Biden for President campaign war chest, he’ll first have to become his party’s legal nominee,” Spies wrote in an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal before Biden’s exit from the race.
But other campaign finance experts disagree. And Federal Election Commissioner Dara Lindenbaum, a Democrat viewed as a swing vote on the evenly divided commission, has said Harris could access what Biden raised through the campaign committee because it is registered for both the president and vice president.
I’m going to reach way back in my meme collection:
Cry moar!
Edit: for my next trick, I need “Get in loser, we’re going losing” with face swaps to Trump, Vance, and idk Boebert or something.
Trump is still wearing the ear diaper I see. Man up, you got a small scratch.
Very old people heals slow.
I think it’s because of how tiny the wound is. He doesn’t want to let on how minor his injury is
He forgot he was wearing it it just feels like part of his comb over.
Oh no citizens United bite me!
CU has nothing to do with this situation but I agree with the statement none the less
Oh I guarantee they’re going to wrap it in because of they’re successful it gains more power and standing for a bullshit ruling.
Has 0 to do with CU as its not more donations but the transfer of already made donations to the biden campaign to Harris and since Harris was already Biden’s running mate well it’s technically the same campaign so… Trump is just trying the shotgun method, put a lawsuit against anything you don’t like…
It’s held by a business entity, they’re going to try. I never said they would succeed, the shear amount of abjectly stupid legal arguments republicans have made in the last 6 years is astounding.
