According to a report from the Daily Beast's Roger Sollenberger, a Wisconsin Republican fresh off a losing campaign for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives used leftover donor funds to pay for his trip to the "Stop the Steal" rally in Washington D.C. that turned into a riot at the U.S. Capitol.
Derrick Van Orden, a former Navy SEAL who is once again running for the seat he failed to win -- this time with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy's blessing -- has previously admitted he attended the rally and stated that he was appalled at the violence he saw as insurrectionists breached the Capitol building.
He has also denied using campaign funds to travel to D.C., however, the Beast is reporting a campaign travel expenditure of $4,000 around the time of the riot is raising eyebrows.
According to Sollenberger, "As for Van Orden's campaign expenses surrounding Jan. 6, it's unclear how they relate to Van Orden's attendance. Federal Election Commission regulations state that travel expenses must be 'directly related to the campaign.' Van Orden—who wrote off roughly $4,000 in transportation and D.C. hotel costs around Jan. 6 for him, his wife, and a campaign staffer—lost his race in November and didn't declare his 2022 candidacy until April."
Jordan Libowitz, communications director at Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), stated the expenditure should be investigated.
"Campaign accounts are not personal slush funds. They must be used for campaign-related activities. Attempting to overthrow an election you just lost is not a proper campaign activity," Libowitz explained. "If he did use his campaign to pay for travel for him and his staff to attend the rally-turned-insurrection, it would raise serious questions about his compliance with campaign finance laws."
Van Orden's claims that he was disgusted by the riot are also being questioned based upon comments made by a friend of his.
'In a Facebook Live video shared earlier that afternoon from the Washington Mall, one of the candidate's friends said he was heading to meet Van Orden, who, according to the friend, was 'on the wall' and had told him he 'got a great spot to watch,'" the report states.
"I got off the phone with Derrick Van Orden. He and a bunch of his frogman buddies are on the wall," the friend says in the video, according to Sollenberger. "He said he got a—they got a pretty good vantage point on the wall to the left side of the building. So that's where I'm aiming for. He said, 'Come on up. We got a great spot to watch.' So that's kind of where I'm shooting for."
According to the report, Van Orden did not respond to requests for comment on the story.
