FEC Chairman: Biden Donations ‘Shall Be Either Returned or Refunded’ After Drop Out

[mystery-ak]

FEC Chairman: Biden Donations ‘Shall Be Either Returned or Refunded’ After Drop Out

Olivia Rondeau 21 Jul 2024

Federal Election Commission (FEC) Chairman Sean Cooksey has announced that all donations made to Joe Biden for the November election “shall be either returned or refunded” or redesignated “as appropriate” following his departure from the presidential race.

Citing the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Cooksey made the statement in a Sunday afternoon X post after Biden announced his decision to drop out:

https://x.com/SeanJCooksey/status/1815089842365321563

The full text of that particular CFR rule states, “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 in accordance with 11 CFR 110.1(b)(5), or reattributed in accordance with 11 CFR 110.1(k)(3), as appropriate.”

The exceptions and loopholes for redesignating or reattributing the funds were also covered in the regulations:

    The treasurer of an authorized political committee may request a written redesignation of a contribution by the contributor for a different election if—

    (A) The contribution was designated in writing for a particular election, and the contribution, either on its face or when aggregated with other contributions from the same contributor for the same election, exceeds the limitation on contributions set forth in 11 CFR 110.1(b)(1);

    (B) The contribution was designated in writing for a particular election and the contribution was made after that election and the contribution cannot be accepted under the net debts outstanding provisions of 11 CFR 110.1(b)(3);

    (C) The contribution was not designated in writing for a particular election, and the contribution exceeds the limitation on contributions set forth in 11 CFR 110.1(b)(1); or

    (D) The contribution was not designated in writing for a particular election, and the contribution was received after the date of an election for which there are net debts outstanding on the date the contribution is received.

    …

    A contribution shall be considered to be reattributed to another contributor if—

    (1) The treasurer of the recipient political committee asks the contributor whether the contribution is intended to be a joint contribution by more than one person, and informs the contributor that he or she may request the return of the excessive portion of the contribution if it is not intended to be a joint contribution; and

    (2) Within sixty days from the date of the treasurer’s receipt of the contribution, the contributor provides the treasurer with a written reattribution of the contribution, which is signed by each contributor, and which indicates the amount to be attributed to each contributor if equal attribution is not intended.

Since Biden had not yet formally been nominated by the Democratic Party, questions have arisen on if he can legally transfer his chest of $100 million to Vice President Kamala Harris, who he endorsed to take his place after dropping out Sunday.

According to election lawyer Charlie Spies, Biden will not be able to do that.

more
https://www.breitbart.com/2024-election/2024/07/21/fec-chairman-biden-donations-shall-either-returned-refunded-after-drop-out/

[Smokin Joe]

 

[Fishrrman]

EGADS.

All $94 million or so of it?
It's... the bidens.
Good luck on getting all that back.

You might just as well have asked the taliban to return the pallets of cash that were left behind when we bugged out of Afghanistan...

[DefiantMassRINO]

... they'll spend it rather than give it up.  $94 million campaign consulting fees for Biden Inc Consultants.

[mystery-ak]

FEC commissioner says Harris campaign going to take millions in Biden donations ‘and run’

The presidential campaign for Vice President Kamala Harris hasn't reached out to to elections officials about the handling of millions of dollars in donations that were given to then-candidate President Biden.

Federal Elections Commission Chairman Sean Cooksey said candidates would normally give back contributions if they drop out of a race.

“That doesn't seem to be what's happening here,” Cooksey told “The Ingraham Angle” on Monday. “It seems like, instead, what the Democrats are going to do is take the money and run, give it to the Harris campaign, not bother to get any FEC guidance and just deal with the consequences of that after the election."

Candidates can have the FEC conduct an expedited review within 20 days and get a “thumbs up or thumbs down” from the agency about whether keeping certain financial donations are acceptable, Cooksey said.

“It looks like they're about to spend all that money and deal with any enforcement matters or lawsuits later,” he said.

The FEC is an independent agency of the U.S. government that enforces campaign finance laws. It doesn't have the ability to issue restraining orders, Cooksey said.

Posted by Louis Casiano

[Smokin Joe]

IMHO, the reason Harris is the heir apparent is that she was on the ticket, and can perhaps deep any/all of those funds, which would at least provide more opportunity to siphon some of those monies off.

[Maj. Bill Martin]

IMHO, the reason Harris is the heir apparent is that she was on the ticket, and can perhaps deep any/all of those funds, which would at least provide more opportunity to siphon some of those monies off.

She isn't on the ticket because there was not yet a ticket.

I think the argument would be a lot stronger if it was after they both had been formally nominated and were actually on the ticket together.   Legally, there was no requirement that the Convention choose her to be on the ticket, and the primary doesn't choose running mates.