The legal nonprofit Campaign Legal Center (CLC) said in the complaint that from December 2022 to March 2024, five political committees affiliated with the Trump campaign doled out $7.2 million in payments to the Massachusetts-based Red Curve Solutions, LLC, earmarked for reimbursements for legal fees.
Bradley Crate, named as the manager of Red Curve, also serves as treasurer for each of the five committees, according to the CLC.
Red Curve describes itself on its website as a nonprofit accountability firm set up to ensure that political organizations, political action committees, and state parties maintain compliance amid “the ever-evolving landscape of political fundraising and advocacy.”
‘Apparent Payment Scheme’
“This apparent payment scheme, however, violates the reporting requirements of the Federal Election Campaign Act (‘FECA’), which requires that committees provide detailed information about who they are paying for services, and how much they are paying for those services,” the complaint stated.The Trump campaign committees named are the Donald J. Trump for President 2024, Inc.; Trump Save America Joint Fundraising Committee; Save America; Trump Make America Great Again Committee; and Make America Great Again PAC.
“When federal candidates and committees spend money to influence elections, they have to disclose that spending in publicly filed reports, which creates transparency for voters trying to decide who to vote for and helps ensure accountability if donors’ money is misused,” the CLC said in a statement. “Federal campaign finance laws require candidates and committees to publicly disclose not only how much they’re spending overall, but who’s getting paid to provide campaign services, and how much they’re getting paid for those services.”
Despite these regulations, the Trump campaign committees “appear to have violated these federal reporting requirements,” the CLC stated, by making “108 disbursements totaling more than $7.2 million” to Red Curve.
“On their face, the Trump committees’ reports state that Red Curve isn’t being paid to provide legal services, it’s being reimbursed for legal services—suggesting that Red Curve paid or advanced money to the lawyers that actually provided those services,” the CLC stated. “The result of this setup is that the committees aren’t disclosing the lawyers and law firms providing legal services—or how much they’re being paid—which is what the law requires.”
CLC Demands Investigation
CLC Senior Director Erin Chlopak called for the FEC to investigate.“When campaigns and committees obscure that information from the public, not only do they make it difficult to determine if the law has been violated, but they deny voters the ability to make an informed choice when casting a ballot,” she said.
President Trump is currently facing four criminal indictments in four cities totaling 91 felony counts.
Steven Cheung, communication director for the Trump campaign, called the cases against the former president “witch hunts.”
“President Trump’s lawyers will continue to fight all of these Biden Trials, and they will continue to be appropriately compensated for their time and efforts,” he said.
The Donald J. Trump for President 2024 committee and Red Curve didn’t return requests for comment on the complaint by press time.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
