A bipartisan commission of ethics regulators in Wisconsin believes one of former President Donald Trump‘s fundraising groups and state GOP officials committed felonies by allegedly dodging campaign finance laws to donate money to take out the state’s top Republican lawmaker.
The Wisconsin Ethics Commission recommended felony charges against the Save America Joint Fundraising Committee, state GOP Rep. Janel Brandtjen, the campaign of Adam Steen — who lost to Speaker Robin Vos in the 2022 primary — several state and local GOP officials, and two donors, according to records obtained by the Washington Examiner that were made public on Friday.
The heart of the problem stems from efforts between Steen’s campaign and three county GOP parties to bypass campaign finance laws and send donations to the Republican Party in Langlade County, per the commission’s records.
The groups are accused of circumventing campaign finance laws to steer at least $40,000 to Steen’s campaign. Vos is a vocal opponent of Trump who refused his calls to try to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in Wisconsin. Supporters of the former president, who promote his false claims of election fraud, launched a recall effort against him in January.
Under state law, individual donations for Assembly candidates cannot exceed $1,000, but arms of political parties can give an unlimited amount. Steen and several campaign aides told donors who wanted to give more than the $1,000 limit to send the additional contributions to the Langlade County GOP and write a “63” in the memo line.
The “63” refers to the district that Vos represents and served as a signal to the Langlade County GOP to funnel the funds to Steen’s campaign or his vendors, the documents stated.
The ethics commission did not identify any people associated with the Save America Joint Fundraising Committee, which is the primary fundraising organization for Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign. Instead, the ethics regulators found enough evidence to warrant charges that the committee and its “agents” violated Wisconsin’s campaign finance laws.
Other people listed in the records as intentionally violating the campaign finance laws are donors Adam Blair and Julie and Bryan Knutson, Steen’s father Kevin Steen, Langlade County GOP Vice Chairman Leonard Boltz, Langlade County GOP Chairman Terry Brand, Florence County GOP Chairman Brian Jennings, and Chippewa County GOP Treasurer Amanda Radle.
Save America donated $15,000, $5,000 each to the GOP parties in Chippewa, Florence, and Langlade counties.
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Steen raised $174,129 in 2022, and an analysis of state campaign finance records by WisPolitics found the Langlade County party contributed $44,702 between July 7 and Nov. 8, 2022.
The ethics commission, which is made up of three Democrats and three Republicans, sent the recommendations for charges to the “appropriate district attorneys.” If the district attorneys do not act within 60 days, the commission can then refer its request for prosecution to Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul.
