Pro-Trump super PAC fined for election law violation
A Donald Trump-connected super PAC has been fined by the Federal Election Commission for failing to disclose $150,600 of in-kind donations in a 2022 public financial report, according to a review of federal records by Raw Story.
Make America Great Again, Again! agreed to pay a $6,075 fine and to distribute a policy to its staff on identifying in-kind contributions. The super PAC agreed to do both by May 24.
Representatives of the super PAC told the FEC that the error was discovered during an internal audit.
Because of that audit, the super PAC is amending nine other FEC filings from 2022.
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“Upon discovery, the Committee undertook on its own volition the lengthy and expensive process of identifying all unreported in-kind transactions so that they could be properly disclosed,” the super PAC said in its defense.
It added that “these amendments were not triggered by any media or Commission inquiry and were instead self-reported as a result of the Committee's own internal policies."
Trump’s presidential campaign did not immediately respond to an inquiry from Raw Story.
The super PAC rebranded in 2021 from “Make America Great Again Action” to “Make America Great Again, Again!”
Pam Bondi, the former Florida attorney general and close Trump ally, served as Make America Great Again, Again!’s chairwoman during its rebranding. She said the super PAC was “thrilled to continue to support America First candidates in the midterms and beyond."
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At the time of its rebranding, the committee declared itself the "ONLY Trump approved Super PAC," Newsweek reported.
The organization’s most recent FEC filing reported that it had $1.3 million of cash on hand at the end of March.
It’s exceedingly rare for the bipartisan FEC to take a formal action against Trump’s political campaign apparatus and supportive super PACs despite dozens of complaints lodged against them collectively.
The FEC’s six-member commission may have no more than three members from one political party. As such, commissioners often deadlock on high-profile matters, unable to attain a required four votes to take action against a political committee accused of violating federal campaign finance law.
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One commissioner, Republican Trey Trainor, supports minimal campaign finance regulations and served as a Trump 2016 campaign lawyer.
Anti-Trump nonprofit watchdog organization Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington has chronicled 29 instances where Republican commissioners have blocked investigations of Trump-related committees recommended by the FEC’s professional staff.
Trump, who is facing 88 felony charges across four separate criminal trials, is the presumptive nominee for the 2024 presidential nomination.