Former president Donald Trump’s campaign has filed a Federal Election Commission (FEC) complaint against the Washington Post, accusing the publication of making “illegal corporate in-kind contributions to Harris for President.”
The FEC complaint cites a Semafor report on how the Washington Post pays to boost stories “critical of Trump as subscribers flee,” a story that mentions how the Washington Post “aggressively ramped up its paid advertising campaign, boosting dozens of articles related to the election,” starting Monday, Oct. 28. The Post was boosting generally positive stories about Kamala Harris, the report says.
“The facts support a reasonable inference that The Washington Post made, and Harris for President accepted, an illegal corporate contribution in the form of coordinated communications,” the complaint states. “Therefore, the Commission should find reason to believe a violation has occurred, conduct an immediate investigation, and assess an appropriate sanction for this corporate interference in our elections.”
In a letter sent Oct. 31, Trump deputy general counsel Gary Lawkowski writes that “on the eve of the 2024 general election,” the Washington Post is reportedly “conducting a dark money corporate campaign in opposition to President Donald J. Trump — pretextually using its own online advertising efforts to promote Kamala Harris’s presidential candidacy.”
“There is reason to believe that the Washington Post violated the Federal Election Campaign Act and Federal Election Commission regulations by making illegal corporate in-kind contributions,” he wrote. “Therefore, we call upon the Commission to immediately investigate expenditures by The Washington Post.”
The Washington Post has drawn backlash from its readers and writers after it announced last week that it would not endorse a presidential candidate. Owner Jeff Bezos defended the announcement, saying that “presidential endorsements do nothing to tip the scales of an election.”