Trump is ‘off the hook’ for allegedly misusing $2.8M donated to veterans for political purposes

Former president Donald Trump won't be investigated by the Federal Elections Commission for an alleged campaign finance violation in which he used $2.8 million in charitable donations to veterans for political purposes.

Last month, the FEC "let Trump off the hook" by voting to close the case — despite an opinion from the commission's legal counsel saying Trump broke the law, Insider reported Thursday.

"At stake was whether Trump violated laws prohibiting 'soft money' spending — using unregulated, non-campaign funds for political purposes — in connection with his 2016 presidential campaign," the report explains. "Specifically, Trump funneled roughly half of the $5.8 million he raised at the Des Moines veterans event on January 28, 2016 to his now-defunct Donald J. Trump Foundation. The Trump campaign then steered how the foundation, a separate entity, spent $2.8 million in charitable funds just ahead of the Iowa Republican caucuses."

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The FEC deadlocked 3-3 along party lines in a vote on whether to pursue the case, with all Republicans voting against an investigation. Two Democratic commissioners slammed their Republican colleagues over the decision, which also drew criticism from the Campaign Legal Center, an ethics and government watchdog,

"The FEC failing to enforce campaign finance laws is nothing new, but the latest deadlock may be a new low," said the Campaign Legal senior director for campaign, Erin Chlopak of the Campaign Legal Center, senior director for campaign finance at Campaign Legal Center. "The Commission's non-partisan, career attorneys found reason to believe the Foundation was illegally used to benefit Trump's presidential campaign. The Republican Commissioners voted not to pursue the matter. It is time for the FEC to do its job."

Democratic FEC commissioner Ellen Weintraub said Trump could have faced a "pretty hefty fine" in the case, which was originally referred to the commission by the New York Attorney General's Office in 2018.

"Emails and other documents uncovered by the New York Attorney General's investigation revealed that Trump's then-campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, gave Allen Weisselberg, then the Trump foundation's treasurer, a list of Iowa veterans organizations that the Trump campaign intended to target in order to drum up political support in the state ahead of the February 1, 2016 caucuses," Insider reports.

In 2019, "under pressure from a lawsuit brought by the New York Attorney General's Office taking aim at both the veterans-related political contributions as well as other instances of possible fraud — Trump dissolved the foundation, later admitting to the facts of the case as part of the settlement," according to the site.

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