Tulsi Gabbard seemingly bought her way onto the NYT bestseller list: report

Tulsi Gabbard apparently bought her way onto the New York Times best-seller list using money raised by her leadership PAC, according to reporting.

The former Democratic congresswoman and Donald Trump's nominee to oversee the nation's intelligence services launched Defend Freedom, Inc., in March 2024, and it reported no cash on hand until two weeks before the April 30 release of her book For Love of Country: Leave the Democrat [Sic] Party Behind, which debuted the following week on the newspaper's hardcover nonfiction bestseller list, reported Forbes.

However, the book was flagged on that list for bulk purchases, which indicated that large orders may have influenced its bestseller status, and it remained on the list for only one more week.

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Defend Freedom then made the first of four disbursements July 11 for "printing" to Tennessee-based wholesaler BulkBooks, which specializes in large orders, and the PAC eventually directed more than $33,000 in donor funds to the business.

“For a limited time, Defend Freedom PAC supporters who gave $100 or more received Tulsi Gabbard's NYT bestselling book For Love of Country,” said spokeswoman Erika Tsuji.

The PAC also packaged the book with tickets to an event in Tulsa, Oklahoma, that promoted Gabbard as a "bestselling author."

Tsuji claimed that BulkBooks was able to fulfill and expedite the orders more efficiently, but authors typically receive royalties from books purchased wholesale, which means Gabbard might have personally profited more by purchasing the books that way rather than through the publisher.

Gabbard's spokeswoman pointed out that she wasn't a candidate for elected office at the time, and an attorney specializing in campaign finance agreed the sales weren't illegal.

“She is not a federal candidate or an officeholder, so she is allowed to personally profit when his PAC buys his book with donors’ funds,” said attorney Brett Kappel.

The book has sold 46,000 copies through Nov. 23, according to Circana BookScan, which only tracks retailers, so the BulkBooks purchases aren't included.

Defend Freedom has raised $1.9 million and spent $1.4 million through mid-October, according to FEC records, and most of its money outside of book purchases have gone toward card fees incurred when processing donations, direct mail and digital consultants.