The Federal Election Commission sent Donald Trump’s presidential campaign committee an 88-page list of contributions that it says appear to exceed federal limits.
The FEC letter to Donald J. Trump For President 2024, Inc., flags contributions from 72 individuals. As in the past with Trump, several people gave relatively small amounts so often — sometimes multiple donations on the same day — that they appear addicted to giving the former president their money.
Barbara Woods, listed in the records as being a retired person from Lombard, Ill., made 597 contributions from Nov. 11, 2022, to Sept. 30 of this year.
Of those, 74 donations were 10 cents or less. Her largest donation was $67.50.
James George, listed in the records as being a retired person from Lomita, Calif., made 159 donations from Nov. 18 of last year to Sept. 30 of this year.
That included two donations of one penny each on Sept. 15.
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Federal rules mandate that individuals aren’t allowed to give more than $3,300 per election to candidates for federal office. That includes multiple small donations that, taken together, exceed the limit.
Trump’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Accepting some level of excessive contributions — and having the FEC call them into question — isn’t unusual for a big-dollar presidential campaign, be it Republican or Democrat.
But the campaigns do have to correct the problems, often by issuing refunds or by the donor redesignating excess donations for a later campaign — for example, the general election instead of the primary.
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What’s notable for Trump is the number of MAGA supporters who exceed the federal campaign donation limits by making repeated small-dollar donations to Trump — a man who famously brags about wealth.
The New York Times reported in 2021 that Trump used aggressive fundraising techniques that caused donors to unwittingly give his campaign more money than they had planned. Trump’s committee had to return millions in campaign contributions because people intending to make a single payment didn’t understand that they had to opt out of recurring payments by unchecking a box on an online payment form.
Despite facing 91 felony counts across four criminal cases, Trump’s fundraising has continued at full speed with the former president using the legal troubles as fundraising fodder, Raw Story reported.
And he continues to easily lead his Republican rivals for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, meaning a strong likelihood of a 2024 rematch between Trump and President Joe Biden, who is all but certain to again win the Democratic nomination.
