Although some may feel that Donald Trump is being unfairly picked on, it makes me wonder if former Congressman Frank Guinta feels the same. Years ago, he was accused of misrepresenting campaign funds that he said were his, but weren’t. In the end, he had to return the $355,000 to his family and pay a $15,000 fine. In summary, complaints are filed as Matters Under Review (MURs) and investigated by the Federal Election Commission. The six commission members then vote to make a referral to the Office of General Counsel, or not. So looking back, it appears that many worthy MURs never made it to the Office of General Counsel.

Some are related to the 2016 election, where the Trump campaign hired a UK based company, named Cambridge Analytica. Campaigning 101 says that having foreigners working on your campaign is not allowed. Although complaints were filed, the related MURs were never acted upon. Perhaps it is because then president Trump got to appoint four of the six commissioners to the FEC. Kelly Ayotte strongly promoted Frank Guinta’s resignation back then, but has no similar condemnation of Donald Trump for having likely violated campaign funding laws. As of a June 15, 2022 letter written by two FEC commissioners, 24 of 40 potential violations against Trump, his campaign, or his family members had merit, but were not acted on due to the votes of Trump’s three Republican commission members. To be clear, Trump is getting a free pass, not being picked on.

Don Cavallaro

Rye