Executive Director Nick Pigeon joined WJR’s ALL Talk with Tom Jordan and Kevin Dietz to discuss the legality of campaign funds being transferred.
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MCFN: HARRIS UNLIKELY TO FACE OBSTACLES IN USING BIDEN'S CAMPAIGN FUNDS
By Nicholas Pigeon
Michigan Campaign Finance Network
Lansing (July 24th, 2024) – On Sunday, incumbent President Joe Biden withdrew from the presidential race with only 107 days until voters cast their ballots. Biden announced the unprecedented decision on X (formerly known as Twitter) ([link removed]) and expressed his support for Vice President Kamala Harris to become the Democratic nominee.
The move reportedly blindsided staffers and high-ranking Democrats, with senior staff being informed only one minute before his statement was issued at 1:46 PM. ([link removed])
Harris’s team quickly submitted an amended Statement of Candidacy for the campaign account ([link removed]) and a Statement of Organization for the Harris Victory Fund,formerly the Biden Victory Fund, at 4:53 PM and 4:56 PM, respectively. ([link removed])
The Harris Victory Fund is a Joint Fundraising Committee that collects contributions and distributes them to other state Democratic committees and can cover fundraising expenses. As of June 30th, it has disbursed over $418 million and has over $40 million cash on hand. ([link removed])
Questions arose during this rapid transition regarding whether Harris could legally take control of the Biden campaign fund and associated committees. Nick Pigeon, Executive Director of the Michigan Campaign Finance Network, joined WJR’s Tom Jordan and Kevin Dietz to clarify the situation.
“For all intents and purposes, it does seem that Vice President Harris is the only one who’s going to be able to access these funds, and that is going to stand,” Pigeon stated. “Any challenge that goes to the FEC will take 60 days to respond, and then it would take a judge to file an injunction, which would put us in October. It’s very doubtful that a judge would take such action so close to the election, so they may have to fight this battle in the future but not before the election. The Vice President will have these funds.”
The law is unclear on this issue. Although campaign committees have one authorized candidate, a Vice Presidential nominee falls under the Presidential nominee’s committee since they can’t have one for themselves. This is the argument for Harris being able to take over Biden’s campaign committee.
Dietz asked Pigeon about other Democratic hopefuls who want to make their case during the Democratic National Convention: “Any transfer from a federal candidate committee to another would be subject to contribution limits, so they would have access to about $2,000 of that amount. However, candidate committees can make unlimited transfers to state and local party committees or to the Democratic National Committee. The only way they can use that money is through independent expenditures, which are not coordinated with the Harris campaign. Additionally, candidate committees get the lowest rates for television ad spending, but party committees do not have that same access and would have to pay higher prices.”
Furthermore, the Democratic National Committee and state and local party committees could receive the funds and donate $5,000 to another Presidential candidate. However, this would leave most of the cash in the hands of independent expenditure committees, which cannot coordinate with the campaign and pay higher rates for television advertisements.
When asked if there is any legal recourse for donors who do not approve of their contributions going to the Vice President, Pigeon said there isn’t anything they can do.
With or without Biden’s $95 million campaign account, Democrats announced a historic flood of contributions—over $250 million—to the Harris campaign and independent expenditure campaigns supporting the presumptive Democratic nominee. ([link removed])
Watch Nick Pigeon on WJR’s All Talk with Tom Jordan and Kevin Dietz here. ([link removed])
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