Kobach faces $30,000 FEC fine for accepting illegal donation in 2020 Senate campaign
The Federal Elections Commission is fining Kansas Attorney General-elect Kris Kobach for campaign finance violations that occurred during his failed 2020 run for the U.S. Senate.
According to FEC records, Kobach’s 2020 campaign accepted and did not report an in-kind donation from We Build The Wall, a non-profit Kobach worked for as general counsel and sat on the board of.
In a document submitted to the FEC earlier this month, the Kobach campaign acknowledged the campaign finance violation and agreed to pay a $30,000 fine.
His transition team declined The Star’s request for comment. Kobach will be sworn in as Kansas attorney general on Jan. 9.
Kobach resigned from We Build the Wall in September after the organization was indicted on money laundering, conspiracy and fraud charges.
New York State prosecutors accused the organization and Steve Bannon of defrauding donors to the organization, which raised money to construct strips of wall along the southern border. Both pled not guilty. Bannon, a former adviser to former President Donald Trump, and three other leaders of the organization were charged by federal prosecutors in 2020.
Trump pardoned Bannon of the federal charges in early 2021 as one of his final acts of president.
According to the FEC documents, Kobach’s 2020 Senate campaign paid $2,000 to use a fundraising mailing list developed by We Build The Wall. The rate, the FEC argued, was well below market price for similar lists and therefore should be considered an “in-kind” contribution from We Build The Wall.
The action, the FEC said, violated reporting requirements and federal law restricting donations directly to candidates by corporations.
At the time of the violation, Kobach was still general counsel and a board member for We Build The Wall.
The FEC’s investigation was spurred by complaints filed in 2019 by the Campaign Legal Center and Common Cause, a governmental ethics organization.
