特朗普竞选团队向联邦选举委员会提交了一份投诉，声称副总统卡玛拉·哈里斯的竞选团队不能接管总统乔·拜登的竞选资金，称这违反了竞选资金捐款限制。
“卡玛拉·哈里斯正在寻求对乔·拜登剩余的竞选资金实施9150万美元的抢劫——这是一次厚颜无耻的抢钱行为，将构成1971年联邦竞选法案(经修订)历史上最大的一次超额捐款和最大的违反，”美国广播公司新闻(ABC News)周二提交的诉状称。
这份由特朗普竞选团队的律师大卫·沃林顿(David Warrington)撰写的诉状针对哈里斯、拜登、拜登竞选团队(现为哈里斯竞选团队)及其财务主管基纳·斯潘塞(Keana Schmidt)，称拜登竞选团队“通过向哈里斯竞选团队提供和接受近1亿美元的过度捐款，公然违反了该法案”。
哈里斯竞选发言人查尔斯·克雷奇默·卢特瓦克(Charles Kretchmer Lutvak)在一份声明中回应这一投诉时写道，“共和党人可能会嫉妒民主党人有能力击败唐纳德·特朗普和他的MAGA盟友，但毫无根据的法律主张——就像他们多年来试图压制选票和窃取选举的主张一样——只会分散他们的注意力，而我们会招募志愿者，与选民交谈，并赢得这场选举。”
7月20日，共和党总统候选人、前总统唐纳德·特朗普在竞选集会上讲话...显示更多
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多名竞选财务专家表示，哈里斯竞选团队可以合法使用拜登竞选团队的剩余资金——近9，600万美元，截至7月1日——因为根据联邦选举法，总统候选人和副总统候选人共享同一实体作为他们的联合竞选存管机构。
周日，拜登竞选团队正式更名为哈里斯竞选团队，将哈里斯列为副总统候选人。
但特朗普竞选团队争论的关键是，由于拜登和哈里斯尚未通过正式提名程序成为总统和副总统候选人，他们不能共享同一个委员会。
“为了2024年选举周期的目的，特别是对于仍在进行的初选，拜登竞选总统是拜登先生和拜登先生的授权竞选委员会，”诉状称，拜登竞选团队不能简单地修改其申请文件以改变其总统候选人。
“委员会必须立即找到理由相信并迅速结束这种持续的违规行为，”信中总结道，尽管联邦选举委员会不太可能在选举前解决此事。(美国广播公司新闻已经联系了联邦选举委员会进行评论。)
资深共和党选举律师查理·斯皮斯(Charlie Spies)最近在华尔街日报的一篇专栏文章中提出了类似的观点——声称哈里斯没有获得拜登竞选团队的资金，因为他们都没有经过正式的提名程序。
美国广播公司新闻采访的其他选举专家反驳了这一论点，称这不是联邦选举委员会对联邦选举法的解释。
“如果这是他们作为候选人的第一个周期，这可能会是一个问题，但根据联邦选举委员会的规则，自2020年以来，这也是哈里斯的竞选委员会-她现在没有被加入，”前联邦选举委员会律师Adav Noti说，他现在担任监督组织竞选法律中心的执行主任。
“自2020年以来，哈里斯一直被报道为委员会备案文件中的副总裁，这一事实反映了该规则长期以来的解释——基本上，在任总统和副总统在整个任期内继续分享一个授权委员会，”选举法专家兼监督组织Documented的副执行主任布伦丹·费舍尔(Brendan Fischer)附和道。
Trump campaign wants FEC to block Harris from accessing Biden's campaign money
The Trump campaign has filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission claiming that Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign cannot take over President Joe Biden's campaign's money, calling it a violation of campaign finance contribution limit.
"Kamala Harris is seeking to perpetrate a $91.5 million dollar heist of Joe Biden's leftover campaign cash -- a brazen money grab that would constitute the single largest excessive contribution and biggest violation in the history of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, as amended," the complaint filed Tuesday and obtained by ABC News, claims.
The complaint, written by Trump campaign's attorney David Warrington and targeting Harris, Biden, the Biden campaign (now the Harris campaign), and its treasurer, Keana Spencer, argues that the Biden campaign is "flagrantly violating the Act by making and receiving an excessive contribution of nearly one hundred million dollars" to the Harris campaign.
Harris campaign spokesperson Charles Kretchmer Lutvak in response to the complaint wrote in a statement, "Republicans may be jealous that Democrats are energized to defeat Donald Trump and his MAGA allies, but baseless legal claims – like the ones they've made for years to try to suppress votes and steal elections – will only distract them while we sign up volunteers, talk to voters, and win this election."
Multiple campaign finance experts have said the Harris campaign has lawful access to the Biden campaign's leftover money -- nearly $96 million as recently as July 1 -- because a presidential candidate and a vice presidential candidate share the same entity as their joint campaign depository under federal election law.
On Sunday, the Biden campaign officially changed its name to the Harris campaign, placing Harris, who was previously listed in its filing as the vice presidential candidate, to the top of the ticket.
Vice President Kamala Harris during the start of her nationwide "Fight for Reproductive Freedoms" tour...Show more
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But the crux of the Trump campaign's argument is that because Biden and Harris have yet to go through the formal nomination process to become the presidential and vice presidential nominees, they couldn't share the same committee.
"For purposes of the 2024 election cycle, and especially with respect to the primary election still underway, Biden for President is the authorized campaign committee of Mr. Biden and Mr. Biden only," the complaint argues, claiming the Biden campaign cannot simply amend its filing to change its presidential candidate.
"The Commission must immediately find reason to believe and quickly end this ongoing violation," the letter concludes, though the FEC is unlikely to resolve the matter before the election. (ABC News has reached out to the FEC for comment.)
Veteran Republican election lawyer Charlie Spies has recently made a similar argument in an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal -- claiming that Harris does not have access to the Biden campaign's money because neither have gone through a formal nomination process yet.
Other election experts ABC News has spoken with have refuted that argument, saying that has not been the FEC's interpretation of federal election law.
"That might've been an issue if this were their first cycle as a ticket, but under FEC rules it's been Harris's campaign committee too since 2020 -- she's not being added now," said Adav Noti, a former FEC attorney who now serves as executive director of watchdog group Campaign Legal Center.
"The fact that Harris has been consistently reported as the VP on committee filings since 2020 reflects how the rule has long been interpreted—basically, that an incumbent president and vice-president continue to share an authorized committee throughout their term," echoed Brendan Fischer, an election law expert and deputy executive director of watchdog group Documented.
