A complaint filed with the Federal Election Commission accuses Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign and its affiliated political committees of conducting much of the former president’s legal work, alleging that it may violate federal law. It is alleged that he was involved in a scheme to conceal who was being paid.
The complaint, filed Wednesday by the Campaign Legal Center, a nonprofit government watchdog, centers on a company called Red Curve Solutions, which is known to have committed a number of crimes between Dec. 7, 2022 and March 18, 2024. During that time, he allegedly received $7.2 million from the Trump campaign and four other affiliated political committees. , according to a CLC press release.
Red Curve Solutions supports political campaigns with a wide range of services, including “comprehensive budgeting, accounting and financial management, and compliance services,” according to the company’s LinkedIn page.
Campaigns often pay outside organizations to manage polling, consulting, and other needs. The Campaign Legal Center said in a release Wednesday that virtually all payments from the Trump campaign and committee are described as “reimbursement of legal costs” or “reimbursement of legal costs.”
However, the CLC noted that Red Curve “does not appear to provide any legal services,” while Red Curve is based on Bradley Crate, treasurer of the Trump campaign and four other committees. It was pointed out that it is managed by
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“This arrangement appears to be aimed at obscuring the true recipients of notable parts of President Trump’s bill and, in doing so, appears to violate federal law,” the group said. Stated.
“Red Curve appears to have been paying Mr. Trump’s legal costs since at least December 2022, and Trump-related committees have since reimbursed the company,” CLC said in a release. “This arrangement appears to violate FEC rules that require campaigns to disclose not only the entity receiving the reimbursement (in this case, Red Curve), but also the underlying vendor.”
These types of arrangements would prevent the public from knowing which law firms are being paid how much for many of President Trump’s legal work and also violate the federal ban on corporate political contributions. CLC argues that there is a possibility that As a limited liability corporation, Red Curve is legally prohibited from making in-kind contributions or advances to the Trump campaign or any other ‘hard money’ committee, even if such payments or advances are repaid in full. . ”
The Trump campaign did not respond to requests for comment.
The complaint also names the Trump Save America Community Chest Committee, the Save America Leadership Committee, the Trump Make America Great Again Committee, and the Make America Great Again PAC.
Campaign finance experts have questioned President Trump’s use of campaign funds to pay huge legal bills. Save America spent $76 million in legal fees, according to a USA TODAY analysis.
The Trump campaign also said it was pouring money into his businesses at a time when he was under intense legal scrutiny and in need of cash as he faces significant sentences in a civil suit and four separate criminal cases. There is.
According to an FEC report filed this month, President Trump’s Community Chest Committee issued three checks to the Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, in February and one in March, totaling He wrote a check for $411,287 and another in March for $62,337 to Trump National Doral Miami.
President Trump posted $91.6 million in bail in a defamation lawsuit filed by author E. Jean Carroll and $175 million in a fraud case involving falsification of business records.
President Trump is currently on trial in New York City on criminal charges for allegedly paying hush money to an adult film star to cover up an affair.
The FEC has a variety of powers, but typically imposes fines. But deadlocked partisan votes are common, meaning certain gray areas in the law are not being enforced.
Contributor: Erin Mansfield, USA TODAY
