With President Joe Biden having dropped out of the 2024 race, Vice President Kamala Harris is now making moves to seize control of his re-election campaign as her own.
That includes formally renaming the campaign as "Harris for President" with the Federal Election Commission and filing paperwork to assume control of the estimated $95 million remaining in Biden's campaign coffers, Politico reported.
Yet, Harris' move to access that campaign cash may be easier said than done, as former President Donald Trump's campaign has filed an FEC complaint that, at the very least, could cause headaches for the Democrats and temporarily delay the transfer of control of those funds.
BREAKING: Newly Legalized Herb Relieves Pain - Available Without A Prescription
Harris attempting to gain control of Biden's campaign cash
There has been some speculation over the past few weeks about what would happen with the tens of millions of dollars raised in support of President Biden's re-election effort if and when he dropped out, and while questions remain about some of the technically unaffiliated super PACs and outside groups, the fate of the money donated directly to the campaign seemed uncomplicated if, as it turned out, VP Harris succeeded Biden as the presumptive nominee.
That is because, as numerous election finance laws experts have pointed out, Harris' name was attached to the campaign from the very beginning, granting her a claim to all of the donations that have been received.
Daniel Weiner, a former FEC counsel who now works as a lawyer for the Democrat-aligned Brennan Center, previously explained to Politico, "The campaign account, though we think about it as Joe Biden’s campaign account, actually belongs to both Joe Biden and Kamala Harris."
Likewise, a provision of the 1971 law that established the FEC states: "Any campaign depository designated by the principal campaign committee of a political party’s candidate for President shall be the campaign depository for that political party’s candidate for the office of Vice President."
Thus, it would appear that Harris should have little trouble legally inheriting the previously shared funds with her new solo campaign for the presidency.
Formal FEC complaint filed
However, The New York Times reported that the Trump campaign's general counsel, David Warrington, filed a formal complaint on Tuesday with the FEC that aims to block the transfer of the Biden campaign's cash to the sole control of Harris.
"Kamala Harris is seeking to perpetrate a $91.5 million dollar heist of Joe Biden’s leftover campaign cash -- a brazen money grab that would constitute the single largest excessive contribution and biggest violation in the history of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, as amended," Warrington wrote in the complaint.
He alleged that Biden, Harris, and the campaign treasurer were "flagrantly violating the Act by making and receiving an excessive contribution of nearly one hundred million dollars, and for filing fraudulent forms with the Commission purporting to repurpose one candidate’s principal campaign committee for the use of another candidate."
Harris campaign accused of "attempted fraud"
The Times reported that Warrington further asserted in the complaint that Biden should have to first "return or redesignate all of its general election contributions" or else "each and every general election contribution received by Biden for President is an excessive contribution" in violation of the law.
TRENDING: Doctors Can't Believe She Used This To Erase Her Wrinkles...
He also accused Biden, Harris, and the treasurer of "attempted fraud," suggested a criminal referral to the Justice Department was warranted, and urged the FEC to act swiftly on the matter because Harris "is in the process of committing the largest campaign finance violation in American history and she is using the Commission’s own forms to do it."
The Harris campaign rather predictably dismissed the complaint as "baseless" and little more than an expression of jealousy and a "distraction" from the VP's reported surge of financial and polling support since taking over the campaign on Sunday.
;void(0);){kind=link}