Trump's team challenges Biden fund transfer to Harris
10:21 AM EDT, July 24, 2024, updated: 11:09 AM EDT, July 24, 2024
Donald Trump's campaign team filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) regarding funds transferred by Vice President Kamala Harris that President Joe Biden raised, reported the British newspaper "Guardian" on Wednesday. Harris is likely to be the Democratic candidate in the next presidential election.
The newspaper explained that Trump's lawyers' complaint is not a formal lawsuit but a way to call on the commission to investigate the legality of this fund transfer under election law.
Biden, who endorsed Harris, announced on Sunday that she would take over both his campaign team and budget. By the end of June, the team had raised nearly $96 million.
The battle for resources
American media reported on Monday that Trump's lawyers might start a legal battle to prevent the vice president's team from taking over these funds.
The complaint was filed by Trump's chief legal advisor, David Warrington, who argued in his application that the committee named "Biden for President" cannot simply change its name to "Harris for President," and the fund transfer constitutes a "little more than a thinly veiled $91.5m excessive contribution from one presidential candidate to another, that is, from Joe Biden’s old campaign to Kamala Harris’s new campaign. This effort makes a mockery of our campaign finance laws."
It is unclear, said the British newspaper, whether the FEC will initiate any proceedings related to the Republican complaint. In any case, according to "Guardian" sources, Trump's team is implementing a strategy of initiating multiple legal battles to hinder Kamala Harris from obtaining Biden's campaign budget.
The vice president's campaign team announced that the Republican complaint is baseless, considering the funds raised for the election campaign have always been designated as support for the Biden-Harris tandem.
The campaign team also reported that within 36 hours of Biden announcing he would not seek re-election, $100 million was donated to Harris's campaign.