FEC chair suggests Biden may be breaking campaign finance law by giving donor funds to Kamala—Dem lawmaker tries to shut him up

Democrats are reportedly attempting to silence Federal Election Commission Chair Sean Cooksey after he quoted an FEC law on his social media, suggesting that the donations that have gone to Joe Biden's campaign cannot be transferred to Kamala Harris' campaign now that the president has dropped out of the 2024 race.  

A letter from Rep. Joe Morelle (D-NY) sent to Cooksey read, "I write to clarify a possible misrepresentation that appeared on your recent social media activity that may sow misguided doubt and confusion about the state of the presidential election and the Commission's impartiality." Cooksey had simply quoted a portion of the FEC laws regarding what happens when a candidate leaves the race during a general election.  

"Failing to provide important information about our campaign finance laws will fuel uncertainty and mistrust in our campaign finance system specifically and our democracy generally," the letter added. 

Morelle said that an X post of Cooksey quoting FEC code 11 CFR section 110.1(b)(3) did not have "explanation or analysis." The law Cooksey quoted says, "If the candidate is not a candidate in the general election, all contributions made for the general election shall be either returned or refunded to the contributors or redesignated in accordance with 11 CFR 110.1(b)(5), or reattributed in accordance with 11 CFR 110.1(k)(3), as appropriate."  

"House Democrats are now trying to silence me as FEC Chairman for raising questions about President Biden giving VP Harris all of his campaign cash. All I did was quote federal regulations. Why are Democrats afraid of the law?" Cooksey said of the letter.  

The FEC regulations regarding the transfer of donations from Biden's war chest to Harris raises questions about the legality of the process. Cooksey has contended that the situation is “really complicated,” and noted the “unprecedented” nature of the situation in an NPR interview. The outlet had suggested that the Harris campaign could just take the money and pay fines later.  

"I mean, we take a step back to consider the situation—this is really unprecedented in terms of modern political history, and certainly in terms of campaign finance law. We have a presidential nominee or a presumptive nominee dropping out just weeks before his party convention," Cooksey said in the interview.  

"What [Biden's] attempting to do is to give his entire committee, the cash and all the assets, over to another person," Cooksey added. "I think it's gonna have to go through a process, through the FEC. I expect, there's probably going to be challenges to that at the agency, probably in the courts as well."