Campaign Finance Scandals

Diverted more than $25,000 in campaign contributions to an entity that he was the sole proprietor of and was located at his home address by falsely claiming the money was used to pay rent on office space for his political campaign

Illegally transferred $91,000 from his political campaign and a nonprofit organization to an authorized federal campaign committee supporting his candidacy using money not subject to reporting regulations to help his 2016 bid for US Congress and then hid the transactions from the FEC

Illegally transferred $82.5 million from his state political action committee to a super PAC supporting his Presidential bid in violation of a federal campaign finance law that prohibits candidates from spending money that was obtained by people and groups not subject to strict federal requirements

Defrauded a donor who gave him $535,200 to use on his campaign which he diverted to his personal business accounts instead and broke campaign finance laws by not disclosing it in a scheme multiple campaign finance experts called “unprecedented,” “stunning,” and “jaw-dropping”

Illegally spent over $100,000 in campaign contributions on personal expenses and then tried to cover it up by filing numerous false tax returns

Illegally accepted over $25,000 in campaign contributions from a single family member far exceeding the $5,600 legal limit per person

Broke state law barring PACs from coordinating with local and state political parties by encouraging a Republican state PAC to pay $52,000 for an investigation into the Democratic candidate for governor

Suspiciously listed 37 campaign expenses on purchases like a hotel stay in Miami and other travel expenses as costing $199.99 -- one cent below the legally binding $200 threshold that required itemized receipts -- on his campaign finance forms

Made illegal campaign contributions and filed false financial reports to cover it up to promote an independent "ghost candidate" who got 4,800 votes likely swinging the election to the Republican who won by a narrow 300 votes

Spent $3,147.06 in campaign funds to pay for an extravagant dinner at a private social and dining club that the nonpartisan Office of Congressional Ethics reported was likely a personal expense and not a fundraising event as he claimed

Used $1,929.07 in campaign funds to pay for 11 months' worth of dues to gain "unlimited access" to a private social and dining club located in Texas

Spent roughly $100,000 in campaign donations on personal expenses that included a down payment on a home, luxury cars and childcare expenses

Accepted a $30,200 campaign contribution from Nigerian billionaire Gilbert Chagoury through three "straw donors" and then lied to federal authorities after they confronted him about it

Funneled $25,000 of a Russian oligarch's money to the Trump 2016 campaign in exchange for a ticket and access to Trump during a Republican National Committee event

Snorted cocaine with a paid escort he also presumably had sex with inside an Orlando hotel room he paid for with campaign funds

Donated nearly $45,000 to a fake independent candidate who shared the same last name as the Democratic nominee for a state senate race to confuse voters and siphon votes from the incumbent in an election which was won by Republican Ileana Garcia by just 32 votes

Spent over $200,000 in campaign funds on personal expenses including his mortgage and cars

Funneled hundreds of millions of dollars through two shell companies connected to his son-in-law to hide its spending during the 2020 Presidential campaign

Illegally funneled $40,500 in campaign contributions from an Indiana casino through "straw donors" who were reimbursed through faked consulting fees

Violated campaign finance law by coordinating with a Super PAC that ran political attack ads against his opponents without reporting the ads as a gift as required by state and federal law and was fined $178,000 by The Missouri Ethics Commission

Illegally paid adult film star Stormy Daniels $130,000 in hush money to keep her from going public about an extramarital affair they had by directing his personal lawyer Michael Cohen to pay her off and agreeing to reimburse him in monthly installments one month before the 2016 election in violation of campaign-finance laws

Stole $159k from his election campaign and spent it on personal expenses by routing funds through a political consulting firm that in turn paid him over a series of transactions

Violated campaign-finance laws by paying former Playboy Playmate of the Year Karen McDougal $150,000 in hush money to keep her from going public about an extramarital affair they had by orchestrating a convoluted payment scheme involving his lawyer Michael Cohen and the tabloid National Enquirer a week and a half before the 2016 election

Illegally paid Iowa state senator Kent Sorenson $73,000 to switch his 2016 Presidential candidate endorsement from Michelle Bachmann to Ron Paul and then falsified campaign reports to cover it up

Stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from his campaign to spend on everyday personal expenses like family vacations, private school tuition and jewelry so he could live the opulent lifestyle his taxpayer funded salary didn't provide

Lied about the origins of a $355,000 loan to his 2010 congressional campaign that his parents gave him by falsely asserting the money came from earnings he made working in the private sector

Illegally accepted more than $30k from her husband who used four "straw donors" to conceal that the money came from him

Fraudulently concealed a $500k campaign contribution from her husband by falsely reporting the money came from her personal accounts and illegally used her husband's business resources to help her campaign by having his employees moonlight as unofficial campaign staff

Illegally paid a convicted felon $35,000 under the table to work on her 2012 Republican congressional campaign instead of using campaign funds as required by law

Received nearly $50,000 he was not entitled to after he lied about driving 90,000 more miles than he actually did in reimbursement forms he filed with the government and his campaign

Illegally used his family, employees and friends as "straw donors" to donate $100k each to two political candidates and later interfered with the criminal case by attempting to influence a government witness

Secretly siphoned hundreds of thousands of dollars in unreported campaign donations to his personal accounts and used the money on a myriad of personal expenses including his personal credit card and only escaped charges because he exploited a little-known loophole in Florida's campaign finance laws

Funneled $400k in insurance premiums from a company he owned to his congressional campaign and then later transferred ownership of the company to his wife