Citizens United, GOP State Parties Challenge Biden-Harris Campaign Funds in FEC Complaint

A conservative group, accompanied by several Republican state parties, filed a Federal Election Commission (FEC) complaint on Thursday against Vice President Kamala Harris. They accuse her of improperly taking control of Biden campaign funds following his exit from the presidential race.

The FEC complaint demands immediate action to prevent Harris from using these funds in the remaining time leading up to the November general election. The vice president gained access to approximately $96 million in campaign funds after President Joe Biden suspended his reelection campaign and endorsed her as the Democratic nominee. As a result, the Biden campaign officially rebranded to the Harris campaign.

Charles Kretchmer Lutvak, a spokesperson for Harris’s campaign, dismissed the complaint as baseless. “Republicans may be jealous that Democrats are energized to defeat Donald Trump and his MAGA allies, but baseless legal claims – like the ones they’ve made for years to try to suppress votes and steal elections – will only distract them while we sign up volunteers, talk to voters, and win this election,” he remarked.

The FEC did not provide any comments on the matter. Citizens United, a conservative group known for its role in a pivotal 2010 Supreme Court case reversing campaign finance restrictions, supported the complaint along with the Virgin Islands and 16 state GOP parties. These states include Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, and Wyoming.

The Harris campaign reported raising $100 million between Sunday, when Biden announced his withdrawal, and Monday evening. These campaign records will be available to the public by mid-October, coinciding with the quarterly FEC reporting deadline.

The Trump campaign filed a similar complaint with the FEC on Tuesday, according to CNN. Sean Cooksey, the FEC chair appointed by Donald Trump in 2020, indicated on social media that Harris’s access to the funds might be restricted, citing a specific regulation. “If the candidate is not a candidate in the general election, all contributions made for the general election shall be either returned or refunded to the contributors or redesignated …, or reattributed …, as appropriate,” Cooksey noted.

Given that Harris was Biden’s vice-presidential candidate, her name was on his presidential campaign committee. However, the FEC is still tackling cases from the 2016 election, making it improbable that this complaint will be resolved before the November elections.