Before she even held his first official White House press conference, Donald Trump's latest press secretary is facing questions after a last-minute FEC filing on Thursday reportedly showed she had been hiding debt related to her failed run for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2022.
According to a report from Claire Heddles from NOTUS, 27-year-old Karoline Leavitt submitted revised campaign disclosure paperwork that shows she owes more than $300k that must be paid back due to campaign finance violations.
The report states that approximately $200,000 must be repaid to contributors who appear to have made donations far beyond legal limits, adding, "Those excessive contributions went unreported for years."
ALSO READ: Fox News has blood on its hands as Trump twists the knife
According to the report, those 2022 illegal donations, by law, should have been returned within 60 days.
"Her congressional campaign committee amended 17 campaign finance reports on Thursday, noting that, over the course of three years, Leavitt took in a number of excessive contributions that she failed to report and has failed to pay back, essentially stiffing her donors," NOTUS is reporting, "The newly disclosed excessive donations essentially triples Leavitt’s campaign debt, bringing the total to $326,370 owed to vendors and contributors. (Leavitt had previously reported $105,605 in debt in a filing at the end of September 2024.)"
According to End Citizens United spokesperson Bawadden Sayed, "She took excessive contributions, which is against the law, and is just now reporting them — two years later. She ignored this violation until it became politically inconvenient, only addressing it because she’s in the public eye and under greater scrutiny."
The report notes that there are concerns over how Trump's spokesperson can rectify the situation, explaining that she can write a check to settle the debt or could fund-raise which could create another ethical quagmire.
She still needs to raise money to refund these contributions, potentially opening the door for wealthy donors and corporate special interests to curry favor with her, the administration or the president,” Sayed explained.
You can read more here.