Rep. Braun seems to have told media he raised nearly $100,000 more in Q4 contributions from other donors compared to FEC filing, part of a series of discrepancies
INDIANAPOLIS – Rep. Braun bragged over the weekend about the “amazing” number of people who’ve given to his campaign, but he has very little to show from outside contributors, and even less after examining his FEC report instead of the amounts he previously reported to the media.
During an interview with Dan Spehler on IN Focus yesterday, Rep. Braun claimed he “knocked it out of the park” in terms of fundraising, but it’s unclear whether that’s a reference to the fundraising numbers he gave to the media or those he actually listed on his FEC report. Rep. Braun seems to have publicly misstated several key numbers in his fourth quarter fundraising, including overstating the amount he raised from donors other than himself.
In fact, only 6.6% of what Rep. Braun raised last quarter came from sources other than his own bank account. According to his FEC report, Rep. Braun only brought in $166,000 from outside contributors last quarter, a number he falsely suggested was $250,000. He has yet to give a public explanation for the difference.
Rep. Braun’s entire Q4 fundraising outside of that $166,000 came from a loan to himself. So in spite of bragging yesterday about both his total fundraising and the amount he raised from donors, he still had $70,000 fewer in contributions than his nearest opponent.
“Rep. Braun’s campaign seems to have a shocking case of financial amnesia. He began by forgetting to give accurate fundraising numbers to reporters, and then apparently forgot to correct himself when his FEC report showed something different. Now, he seems to have forgotten that he’s self-funding his primary campaign and has mistaken his own money for grassroots support,” said Michael Feldman, spokesman for the Indiana Democratic Party. “For a man who touts his business acumen, his inability to do basic arithmetic seems troubling, and running away from his woeful record of contributions is what we’d expect from a career politician. What’s he hiding?”
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