CLC Alleges Elise Stefanik’s Fundraising Committee Misreported Disbursements to WinRed

On July 23, 2025, Campaign Legal Center (CLC) filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) alleging that Rep. Elise Stefanik and her joint fundraising committee, Team Elise, violated federal reporting requirements. Between 2023 and 2025, Team Elise reported paying WinRed, a payment processing vendor, over $4.7 million in “credit card merchant fees,” which is vastly greater than the amount — less than $500,000 — that the committee would have likely owed WinRed to process its contributions (based on WinRed’s published fee structure). As such, CLC alleges that Team Elise has misreported the recipients and/or purposes of these payments, violating federal laws that require campaigns to disclose their disbursements completely and accurately.