The campaign for Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) outlined in a new Friday filing with the Federal Election Commission how their latest statement came to have $362.04 in combined fraudulent charges to Apple.
"In regards to the F99 filed on 1/19/23, the committee wishes to clarify that the fraudulent charges on the committee debit cards were a result of an external source, and not due to any internal staff or negligence on the behalf of the campaign," wrote campaign treasurer David Cole. "As noted, the charges were immediately disputed, the card cancelled, and all funds have been fully returned to the campaign. Remaining credits will be reported on the April quarterly report."
This comes after a previous filing by Friends of Matt Gaetz earlier this week first notified the FEC to the fraudulent activity.
"The committee discovered a series of charges on the campaign card that they believe to be fraudulent, and disputed these changes with the card provider," said the filing at that time.
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No details have been made public about either what was fraudulently purchased from Apple on the thief's shopping spree, or the actual identify of the thief.
Gaetz, a controversial far-right lawmaker who helped lead the charge to try to block House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) from being elected to the gavel, is not the first member of Congress to fall victim to a similar identity theft scheme.
Last month, Raw Story exclusively reported that the FBI was investigating a cybertheft of hundreds of thousands of dollars from the campaign account of Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS). Two other members of Congress, Reps. Neal Dunn (R-FL) and Russell Fry (R-SC), have also both reported fraudulent activity that cost them campaign money.
Dozens of other prominent political committees and politicians' campaigns, including that of President Joe Biden, have also experienced thefts.
