Brendan Fischer

The same people who tried to overturn the 2020 election are now embedded in the machinery of government. "This creates substantial risk that the administration is laying the groundwork to improperly reshape elections...or even go against the will of the voters." -CLC's @brendanfischer.bsky.social

The same people who tried to overturn the 2020 election have only grown better organized and are now embedded in the machinery of government.

It raises concern that the administration is laying the groundwork to improperly reshape elections or even overturn the will of voters.

As I told the Times: this arrangement is likely legal, but it had the practical effect of disguising where tens of millions of dollars in pro-Trump political spending actually ended up. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/27/t...

If the PAC had made those payments directly, it would have had to itemize payees receiving more than $200.

Because the LLCs paid the costs instead, those recipients were never disclosed.

In effect, Musk’s LLCs appear to have paid vendors and petition signers directly — especially for the PAC’s petition incentive program — instead of the PAC cutting the checks itself.

The PAC reported these as in-kind contributions from the LLCs (attributed to Musk) with brief purpose descriptions — but it did not disclose where the money actually went.

During the 2024 election cycle, Musk largely financed America PAC through massive direct contributions.

But in other instances, Musk used LLCs to directly pay roughly $80 million of the PAC’s expenses.

Elon Musk’s Secret Web of Companies in Texas

I spoke to the @nytimes.com about how Elon Musk structured funding for America PAC in ways that obscured where tens of millions of dollars in spending supporting Donald Trump ultimately went. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/27/t...

Notably, this donation came nearly 16 years to the day after SCOTUS opened the door to unlimited contributions in Citizens United, with the Court promising that such spending won’t be “given as a quid pro quo for improper commitments from the candidate"

Wow. New FEC reports show billionaire Matt Moroun gave Trump’s super PAC $1 million last month.

A few weeks later, Moroun met with Trump officials, and the next day, the president came out publicly against a rival bridge project that would cut into Moroun’s profits. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/10/w...

Exclusive | Biden FBI, DOJ weighed campaign finance probe of Sen. Kyrsten Sinema after she left Democratic Party Sinema’s chief of staff Daniel Winkler said the probe was pursued for “partisan political reasons.”

Some DOJ officials under Biden also discussed opening an investigation into Sinema’s misuse of campaign funds. nypost.com/2025/12/19/u...

Usually a civil penalty (i.e., a fine), but a knowing and willful violation could result in criminal charges.

Former Rep. Duncan Hunter was sentenced to 11 mos for using campaign funds for personal expenses (but was pardoned by Trump before serving any time).

Former Senator Kyrsten Sinema Exploited Campaign for Personal Spending Spree, CLC Alleges On February 19, 2025, Campaign Legal Center (CLC) filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) alleging that former Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema violated federal campaign finance law...

Campaign money cannot be used for personal expenses. And Sinema cannot credibly argue that luxury hotels, meal expenses, and extensive air travel are connected to her candidacy or officeholder duties, given that she is no longer a candidate or officeholder. campaignlegal.org/update/forme...

Moreover, it appears that Sinema used campaign funds to buy a pair of vehicles for over $70K each, paid $30K to a company that outfits high-end camper vans, and then sold herself one of the vehicles (through an LLC) for just $17K.

Then there are the "security detail" expenditures--like payments for concert tickets and to premium clothing retailers like Faherty. Those expenditures were already questionable, made even more so by a lawsuit alleging Sinema had an intimate relationship with her security detail.

Sinema's campaign also paid $369K to five former Senate staffers for “payroll."

One of those staffers is now a lobbyist at her firm.

Another is alleged to have been in an intimate relationship with Sinema.

In the year after Sinema left office, her campaign spent:
• Over $169K on travel, including $750 for an American Airlines lounge membership

• Nearly $20K on meals, including $1,300 at a Michelin starred restaurant in London

• $44K on hotels, including 5-star resorts

@campaignlegal.org filed an FEC complaint alleging former Senator Kyrsten Sinema abused her donor money, spending at least $700,000 in leftover campaign funds on personal expenses--flights, high-end meals, luxury hotels, and even a vehicle--in the year after she left office.

Earlier megadonors framed their spending in neutral terms—like supporting free markets + deregulation generally (even if their true aims were more specific).

Big Tech firms like Meta aren’t pretending: they're spending millions to elect politicians who’ll boost their bottom line.

Administration Targets Noncitizen Voting, Despite Finding It Rare

Trump and his allies pledged to expose widespread noncitizen voting, poured huge resources into probes and a new database—and came up empty.

Now they’re scrambling to manufacture the illusion of fraud and to intimidate voters from participating in future elections. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/18/u...

The current person in charge of ICE's procurement for detention is a GEO Group executive who ran the company's immigration detention portfolio. He was granted an "ethics waiver" from DHS allowing him to hand out contracts to GEO in his new role.

@campaignlegal.org filed a complaint today alleging that the $3.5M contribution to Trump's super PAC violated federal law's ban on straw donations, and because the funds appear to have originated from a foreign source, additionally violated the ban on foreign money in elections.

The more likely explanation: the $3.5M did not come from the 25-year-old. It came from her billionaire father, who has the means to cover the donation--as well as the motive to route it through another person, because as a foreign national, he cannot fund a super PAC directly.

Gen Z gets a bad rap for financial decisionmaking. But are we really supposed to believe that, before buying a home, a 25-year-old with little demonstrated interest in politics is going to pour $3.5M of her own money into a geriatric lame duck president's super PAC?

The donor, 25-year-old Isabela Herrera, briefly worked in financial consulting and, according to public records, has been renting.

Her only prior political contribution? $20 to Pete Buttigieg’s presidential campaign.

Then suddenly: $3.5 million to Trump's super PAC.

Seeking Pardon, Foreign Billionaire Allegedly Funneled Millions to Trump Super PAC

Trump pardoned a billionaire who had pledged to illegally route foreign money into U.S. elections as part of a scheme to bribe Puerto Rico’s governor — after the billionaire's daughter gave $3.5M to Trump's super PAC.

But the facts point to another legal violation. campaignlegal.org/update/seeki...

Oh, the billionaire megadonor who keeps notching victories under Trump is the guy on the right.

It’s fair to ask: what else is Trump doing to serve his interests?

Trump might be uniquely willing to use his presidency to benefit a handful of wealthy elite megadonors, but the Fanjul family’s decades of influence indicate that the problems with money in our political system are systemic.

The other co-owner of Florida Crystals, Pepe’s brother Alfonso Fanjul, is a major Democratic donor.

He even had his name pop in the Monica Lewinsky scandal, as he pressured Clinton on sugar subsidies and taxes. fec.gov/data/receipt...

motherjones.com/politics/199...

Florida Crystals has substantially benefited from its millions in support for Trump, but it has played both sides for decades, routing millions to both Democrats and Republicans to protect federal subsidies and their bottom line.