Trump Pick Duffy Dipped Into Old Campaign Cash to Pay Ritz Tabs

Sean Duffy, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for Transportation secretary, tapped his old campaign funds to pay expenses to the Ritz-Carlton, raising questions of whether he ran afoul of campaign finance rules.

Duffy, a former GOP congressman, held $2.1 million in his principal campaign committee as of Oct. 16, money that he has drawn on since leaving office in 2019, according to a Bloomberg Government analysis of Federal Election Commission documents. Duffy for Wisconsin, his campaign committee, disclosed paying the Ritz-Carlton more than $5,700 in March for what it described as “travel,” $2,800 in 2021, and $3,300 in 2020, FEC records show.

“Using campaign funds to pay for travel or meals or various other charges in connection with a campaign or official duties would not be permitted for someone long after they’ve left office because they are no longer serving or seeking elected office,” said Saurav Ghosh, director of federal campaign finance reform at the Campaign Legal Center. “The nexus that’s required to use campaign funds simply isn’t there.”

While ex-lawmakers regularly and legally use their old campaign money to make political and charitable donations, other payments, including to the luxury hotel chain, may raise questions about potential violations of the prohibition of the use of such money for personal expenses, some campaign finance lawyers and ethics watchdogs said. Even in cases where the FEC has found wrongdoing, fines are the typical penalty.

Lee Goodman, a former chair of the FEC and partner at the firm Wiley, said during an interview arranged by the Trump-Vance transition, that at least one of the Ritz-Carlton bills was to attend a fundraising retreat of the National Republican Congressional Committee, along with possibly family members of the former lawmaker. He said that would be deemed “permissible.”

“The dollar figures at issue here are not large, and the circumstances are all defensible,” Goodman said, adding that “even if there were questions about personal use” that “I’m certain the Federal Election Commission would not pursue enforcement action over them.”

Karoline Leavitt, Trump-Vance Transition spokeswoman, said in a statement: “Sean Duffy will be a phenomenal Secretary of Transportation. This is a non-story.”

While such campaign finance issues may not draw the same attention as some of the controversial claims against other Trump nominees, they could still provide grist for questioning at his confirmation hearings. Duffy, a former participant in the MTV “Real World” television series, represented Wisconsin’s 7th congressional district from 2011 to 2019. He most recently was a co-host of the Bottom Line at Fox Business.

“Former members of Congress can use their excess campaign funds to make contributions to candidates, political parties and non-profit organizations, but they cannot convert those funds to personal use,” said Brett Kappel, a campaign finance lawyer at Harmon Curran. “Several former members have been fined by the FEC for using excess campaign funds to pay for personal travel.”

The FEC chided former Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.) for using his old campaign funds for hotel stays, club dues, and meals and came to a “conciliation” agreement over the matter in 2019.

Spreading the Wealth

Duffy’s campaign committee also used money, since he left office, to donate to lawmakers and candidates, including to senators who would vote on his confirmation to the Cabinet post.

The Duffy campaign’s donations this cycle went to Sens. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), the incoming chairman of the Banking panel and the National Republican Senatorial Committee; Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.); and Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), disclosures show.

During the 2021-2022 election cycle, when Duffy was a registered lobbyist at BGR Group, a firm he joined after leaving Congress, the campaign donated to Sen. Ted Budd (R-N.C.), who is on the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee.

Sparking Questions

The FEC has previously asked questions about the Duffy campaign’s expenditures.

The campaign reported paying Google-owned Nest Labs Inc. $230 in 2022 for “residential security” and subsequent regular payments to Google. The campaign wrote in a message to the FEC last year that the “disbursement to Nest Labs was for an automatically recurring security services subscription, initiated while Mr. Duffy was a federal officeholder and candidate” but then canceled the subscription. The regular payments to Google were for “maintenance of the Committee’s web domain,” the campaign’s treasurer, Michael Masterson, wrote to the FEC.

Duffy reimbursed the campaign for an Amazon expense, Masterson wrote.

The Duffy campaign has also paid for annual holiday cards sent to political supporters, according to the memo.

Tiffany Muller, president of End Citizens United, a campaign finance overhaul group that aligns with Democrats, said the expenditures raised concerns about Duffy’s selection to lead the Transportation Department.

“If Sean Duffy can’t resist the urge to use his old campaign account as a personal slush fund, how can he be trusted to manage the Department of Transportation’s budget with integrity?” Muller said in an email. “His judgment is compromised and his ethics are questionable.”

Money in the Bank

Duffy’s campaign reported income of about $550,000 in the 2023-2024 cycle through Oct. 16 from Edward Jones, a financial services and investment firm.

The committee has made annual tax payments, totaling more than $65,000, to the Internal Revenue Service each April since 2021, according to disclosures. Campaigns have to pay taxes on income they generate, Goodman said.

Lawmakers-turned-lobbyists like Duffy routinely tap their old political money when setting up on K Street. Former Lawmakers Spread Leftover Funds to Expand Lobbying Edge

Duffy was registered to lobby for clients in the investment and banking industry, including Gramercy Funds Management LLC and S&P Global, according to lobbying disclosure filings. He and other BGR lobbyists represented Partnership for Open Skies, which paid the firm $70,000 in 2020, according to disclosures.

Duffy stopped lobbying in 2022 but remained on BGR’s advisory board until Monday’s announcement that he was Trump’s pick for Transportation.