Patrick Svitek
8/13/24
(Washington Post) The Democratic group End Citizens United has filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission arguing that Donald Trump’s interview with Elon Musk was an illegal corporate contribution to Trump’s presidential campaign.
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The FEC complaint, filed Tuesday, alleges that the interview violated a ban on corporate donations to federal candidates and that an exemption for the media did not apply to the circumstances.
“Here—the considerable resources of X to host Trump’s campaign event, including dedicating real-time staff to address technical difficulties specifically for the campaign event and the time of its owner to participate in the event—are of significant value to the Trump Campaign,” the complaint says. “The event itself included repeated express advocacy by Musk for Trump.”
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End Citizens United’s president, Tiffany Muller, said in a statement that the interview could “set a dangerous precedent for unfettered, direct corporate engagement in campaigns.” The group, which has long been focused on campaign finance changes, supports Trump’s Democratic opponent in the November election, Vice President Kamala Harris.