But if Trump announces he's running and spends $5,000 in furtherance of his campaign for office, restrictions kick in. In other words, the PAC money can be used for Trump's rallies around the country and other business expenditures. but there's no rule, law, or regulation restricting the use of those funds," Ken Gross, a former associate general counsel at the FEC, told NPR. He cannot put it into his campaign, that's one thing he can't do with it. "There's almost no restriction on it, because it's not campaign money. Since Trump has not formally announced whether he will run for president in 2024, his PACs are not subject to campaign finance restrictions - though they still have to disclose things like donor information. "I do worry there is now a new partisan tinge." Trump is teasing a 2024 run but not officially announcing Commissioners used to work harder at finding a path forward," Weintraub said, adding that the commission didn't always act in a partisan manner. "We used to work better at finding four votes to pursue enforcement matters. In some recent complaints that have not been pursued by the FEC, Republican commissioners argued that moving forward would not be "the best use of agency resources." Democratic commissioners, including Weintraub, argued their Republican counterparts are " damaging" the campaign finance process. Several former FEC officials who are now working at the Campaign Legal Center have also said current FEC guidelines are "ineffective" and they are advocating for legislative change. I don't think we're doing an appropriate job of enforcing the law." "I don't think we are doing the job that Congress set us up to do. "The stalemate on significant enforcement matters has been an ongoing concern for quite a long time," Democratic FEC Commissioner Ellen Weintraub told NPR. Four votes are required to move any finance violation claim forward, but in recent years the commission has been deadlocked along party lines, particularly in cases that involve Trump. The FEC comprises three Democratic commissioners and three Republican ones, all of whom are nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate. The commission is often split along party lines It's bringing up questions on whether Trump could be held accountable for any potential violations in the future. Since 2016, there have been upward of 40 complaints against the former president - the FEC hasn't acted on any of them, including the case of Trump's lawyer Michael Cohen paying off Stormy Daniels during the 2016 election. However, the money raised can't be used for a potential 2024 campaign if Trump decides he'll run again, experts say.īut Trump doesn't exactly have a history of following FEC guidelines, and there hasn't been much enforcement despite dozens of campaign finance complaints. Regulations from the Federal Election Commission and experts on finance law say that there are almost no restrictions on how Trump spends the PAC money while he is not a candidate for president. 8 FBI search added to the former president's massive war chest. Still, at the end of last month, the Save America PAC, Trump's largest PAC, had a whopping $99.1 million on hand - and the millions raised after the Aug. That haul, which was reported by The Washington Post, is a major boost to Trump's PAC fundraising, which was sagging in July. In the days after the FBI searched former President Donald Trump's residence at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida, his political action committees raised millions of dollars from supporters. In the days following the FBI search of former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago home, his political action committee raised millions of dollars.
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