Donald Trump’s insatiable greed may cause legal problems for his campaign.
Donald Trump Used Campaign Donations to Buy $55,000 of His Own Book
By OLIVIA NUZZI, BEN COLLINS
Donald Trump used his campaign funds to buy thousands of copies of his own book at retail cost, simultaneously diverting donor money back into his pockets while artificially boosting his sales figures. It’s a tactic that may be illegal, campaign finance experts say.
On May 10, the Trump campaign paid Barnes & Noble $55,055, according to a filing with the Federal Election Commission. That amounts to more than 3,500 copies of the hardcover version of Crippled America: How to Make America Great Again, or just over 5,000 copies of the renamed paperback release, Great Again: How to Fix Our Crippled America.
In 2014, the FEC issued an advisory opinion allowing GOP Rep. Paul Ryan to buy copies of his book The Way Forward from his publisher at a “discounted bulk rate”—provided there were no royalties paid to the Congressman.
For as long as Trump has been a presidential candidate, he has been finding ways to patronize his businesses and write it off as a political expense.
In recent days Trump has characterized Hillary and Bill Clinton as ‘Grifters’. But the Trump campaign’s purchase of thousands of copies of Donald’s book, and Trump jacking up the rent on his own campaign headquarters by 478% once donors were paying the costs, shows that pocketing campaign donations is a consistent priority for Trump.