Herschel Walker’s campaign receives notice flagging 'apparent violations' including 'recount' fund

23 February 2023

The Federal Election Committee (FEC) sent Herschel Walker's 2022 Senate campaign a notice indicating several violations, including "tens of thousands of dollars" sitting in an apparent "recount fund" designated to house excess donations, The Daily Beast reports.

Election expert and deputy executive director of the watchdog group Documented, Brendan Fischer, told The Daily Beast the recount fund can be considered a "dumping ground for excess contributions."

According to The Daily Beast, the main violation included in the FEC's notice — which identified "tens of thousands of dollars" dumped into a "recount fund," with "some as late as 11 days after Walker conceded" — was unfamiliar to all experts interviewed by the publication.

After Fischer examined The Daily Beast's "independent review" of Walker's campaign fundraising, he concluded, "It does not appear that Walker expressly fundraised for a recount or spent any recount funds seriously exploring a potential election challenge. Instead, the Walker campaign just allocated excess contributions to a recount fund."

However, the FEC notice states, “It appears neither a recount was held nor did the committee disburse these funds for recount activities.”

Furthermore, The Daily Beast reports:

The notice, addressed to Walker campaign treasurer Sal Purpurra, added that if the campaign didn't 'participate in a recount or recount activities,' then those donations 'must be refunded or redesignated within 60 days from the date it becomes known that a recount will not occur.' All subsequent reports 'should disclose the refund or redesignation of any recount donations,' the letter said, adding that 'failure to remedy these donation[s] may result in impermissible contributions.'

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In its review, The Daily Beast's team discovered additional irregularities, such as "hefty sums hauled in after the election, an in-kind private flight donation for the 'recount' from Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL), as well as a mysterious six-figure payout two weeks after the election to a family friend whom the campaign had previously described as a 'dedicated volunteer.'"

Not only that, but the Senate hopeful ended the campaign with a whopping $5 million in cash, which includes a donation from the now in-debt National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), spearheaded by Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL).

"Recount funds have been abused for far too long, and the FEC may finally be finally drawing some hard lines," Fischer said.

Saurav Ghosh, former FEC attorney and director of federal reform at Campaign Legal Center, an election transparency-centered nonprofit, described the notice as "striking," and told The Daily Beast, "I don't think I've seen anything like that."

Ghosh continued, "It’s almost like they read our blog or the recent press reports talking about the issue of recount funds not getting enough scrutiny and potentially being used for things other than a recount. Maybe we’re pushing the needle in the right direction."

The Daily Beast's full report is available at this link (subscription required).

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