Government accountability groups filed a complaint against Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio with the Federal Election Commission on Wednesday, accusing him of multiple campaign finance violations.
The Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT) is investigating whether Mr. Brown, 71, and other entities associated with his campaign illegally raised excessive campaign contributions during the 2024 election cycle. We asked the FEC to investigate.
Sen. Bernie Moreno, a Republican businessman backed by President Trump, and a senator from a battleground state who is running to retain his Senate seat, announced that the primary election “long after the Ohio primary was held.” He is said to have solicited donations for the cause. complaint.
FACT noted that Brown, who was unopposed in the Democratic primary and had a cash surplus of about $16 million after the election, had no “obvious” primary campaign debt that he could have properly used donations to pay off.
The watchdog group also found that some donations to the Ohio Democratic Party were improperly “allocated” to the Brown campaign or were intentionally earmarked for spending on Brown’s behalf in the 2024 general election. It is also claimed that
The complaint names as defendants Brown, Friends of Sherrod Brown (his primary campaign committee), the Ohio Grassroots Victory Fund (a joint fundraising committee), and the Ohio Democratic Party.
“We have reason to believe that donors to the Brown JFC were donating to the Ohio Democratic Party knowing that the funds would be used for the party’s ‘turnout operation’ on behalf of Sherrod Brown,” the complaint alleges. are doing. “This means that all amounts donated to the state party through the Brown JFC must be considered general election contributions to Sherrod.”
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FACT cited language on the Ohio Grassroots Victory Fund’s donation page that says all donations to the joint fundraising committee will be used to fund the state Democratic Party’s “vote deadline and turnout efforts to get Sherrod to the finish line this November.” “This will provide funding for
“The Commission should seek appropriate sanctions for any violations against Brown and his agents, including civil penalties sufficient to deter future violations,” FACT demanded.
Brown’s campaign did not respond to The Post’s request for comment.
Because Ohio is trending to the right, it is thought that Republicans may gain control of the Senate this term.
Voters in the Buckeye State have supported Republican candidates in four of the past six presidential elections since 2000, with former President Donald Trump defeating President Biden by 8 points in 2020.
Republicans only need to flip two seats to take back the Senate in November.
Brown was one of the Senate’s most liberal Democrats and served three terms in the Senate.
