Law denies Kamala Harris access to Biden’s election campaign funds
Date
7/23/2024 7:39:20 AM
(MENAFN) According to the Washington Post, Vice President Kamala Harris, who has been endorsed by President Joe Biden to take over his presidential bid, is not legally permitted to access the funds raised by Biden’s election campaign. Finance lawyers aligned with the Republican Party (GOP) have indicated that any attempt by Harris to utilize these funds could lead to legal action.
Following Biden’s announcement of his withdrawal from the presidential race on Sunday, he endorsed Harris as his successor on the ballot. His campaign committee promptly submitted paperwork to the federal Election Commission (FEC) to re-designate the campaign as “Harris for President.” However, the Washington Post reports that GOP finance lawyers have raised concerns about the legality of this move, arguing that Harris does not have the authority to control the funds accumulated during Biden’s campaign.
The Biden campaign had reported a substantial balance of USD95 million as of the end of June. Democratic lawyers and operatives had hoped that reassigning the campaign to Harris would be a straightforward solution, given that her name was already associated with the campaign materials and the funds were raised with her in mind, alongside Biden. Nonetheless, according to the GOP lawyers, the reallocation of these funds to Harris is likely to face challenges either before the FEC or in court.
An alternative under the current campaign finance laws would be to refund the donations to contributors. This would necessitate new presidential candidates to start their fundraising efforts from scratch with just over three months remaining until the election. The legal disputes surrounding the use of Biden’s campaign funds highlight the complex and contentious nature of political campaign finance regulations as the election approaches.
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