Following Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the presidential contest, any contributions given to him for the November election “must be either returned or reimbursed” or redesigned “as appropriate,” according to Federal Election Commission (FEC) Chairman Sean Cooksey’s announcement.
In an X post on Sunday afternoon, Cooksey made the following claim following Biden’s announcement of his intention to withdraw, citing the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR):
The full text of that specific CFR rule states, “All contributions made for the general election shall either return or refund to the contributors, redesignate in accordance with 11 CFR 110.1(b)(5), or reapply in accordance with 11 CFR 110.1(k)(3), as appropriate.”
The regulations also addressed the exclusions and gaps regarding the redesignation or redistribution of the money.
Biden has not yet received an official nomination from the Democratic Party, so there have been concerns over whether he can lawfully give Vice President Kamala Harris, whom he backed to succeed him when he withdrew on Sunday, his $100 million war chest.
Charlie Spies, an election lawyer, claims that Biden will not be able to accomplish it.
Last week, he wrote in the Wall Street Journal:
“Mr. Biden’s campaign is restricted to giving $2,000 to the Democratic nominee—Gavin Newsom, Gretchen Whitmer, or Ms. Harris—before the nomination is formally awarded to him.”
“In August 2023, the Biden for President campaign revised their FEC Form 1, stating on Line 5 that the organization served as Mr. Biden and Ms. Harris’ primary campaign committee. Nobody had any cause to doubt that move at the time, and if Mr. Biden and Ms. Harris won their party’s nominations at the Democratic convention, there wouldn’t be any need to contest the early designation. However, should Mr. Biden withdraw from the race prior to his nomination and attempt to provide Ms. Harris with an unprecedented, potentially illegal, unrestricted cash transfer, the courts would likely interpret the statute’s clear language to prohibit such a gift.”
“If President Biden is committed to transferring leadership to his vice president and desires to seed her campaign with the current Biden for President campaign war fund, he must first establish himself as his party’s official nominee.” The Democratic National Committee’s expected roll call vote would allow him to withdraw. Ms. Harris could take over the wheel with ease. That’s a dangerous tactic since it calls for upholding a blatant lie for an additional six weeks while coming under heavy public scrutiny.”
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