Indiana Democrats Charge Braun 'Stole' Senate Seat With Illegal Funding

@jeisrael
Indiana Democrats Charge Braun 'Stole' Senate Seat With Illegal Funding

Sen. Mike Braun

Photo by Office of Sen. Braun

Sen. Mike Braun (R-IN) relied on millions of dollars in seemingly illegal loans for his 2018 campaign, according to an audit released by the Federal Election Commission on Wednesday.

Braun may have violated federal law by taking in more than $8.5 million in illegal campaign contributions, the audit found.

In 2018, Braun unseated incumbent Sen. Joe Donnelly (D-IN) by a 50.7 oercent - 44.8 percent margin — less than 135,000 votes out of nearly 2.3 million votes cast. Braun's campaign reported spending $18,358,687 on the race — outspending Donnelly's campaign by about $1.26 million.

The Federal Election Commission found Braun's 2018 campaign may have violated multiple campaign finance laws, including reporting errors and illegal loans, the Daily Beastreported.

Most notably, the auditors said Braun's campaign received $8,549,405 in "apparent prohibited loans," including $1.5 million in what looked like illegal corporate loans from his own transportation company. Corporations are not permitted to directly fund federal campaigns.

Indiana Democrats called on state and federal agents to investigate Braun's campaign finances and argued that the ill-gotten funds "made his campaign much more competitive."

"It's clear from the reporting that came out this morning that Mike Braun broke the law and stole a United States Senate seat in 2018," Indiana Democratic Party Chair Mike Schmuhl said in a press release on Thursday. "Today, Hoosiers need to ask themselves a sobering question: Do we have an illegitimately elected U.S. senator?"

Schmuhl called for "all jurisdictions to investigate potential criminality related to Braun's campaign, businesses, or personal finances," including the U.S. Department of Justice, the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Indiana, and the Indiana Attorney General's Office.

A spokesperson for Braun did not immediately respond to an inquiry for this story, but his campaign told the Daily Beast that it had done nothing wrong and that the money received from his company was really just misreported stock sales.

In October, President Joe Biden nominated Donnelly to be Ambassador to the Holy See in Vatican City. Braun has raised about $1.5 million so far for his 2024 re-election race.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.

Start your day with National Memo Newsletter

Know first.

The opinions that matter. Delivered to your inbox every morning

How A Stuttering President Confronts A Right-Wing Bully

Donald Trump mocks Joe Biden’s stutter,” the headlines blare, and I am confronted (again) with (more) proof that the presumptive Republican presidential nominee hates people like me.

Keep reading...Show less
Trump at Trump Tower

Former President Donald Trump at Trump Tower in Manhattan

NEW YORK, March 25 (Reuters) - Donald Trump faces a Monday deadline to post a bond to cover a $454 million civil fraud judgment or face the risk of New York state seizing some of his marquee properties.Trump, seeking to regain the presidency this year, must either pay the money out of his own pocket or post a bond while he appeals Justice Arthur Engoron's February 16 judgment against him for manipulating his net worth and his family real estate company's property values to dupe lenders and insurers.

Keep reading...Show less
{{ post.roar_specific_data.api_data.analytics }}