CLC Alleges Foreign Billionaire Seeking Pardon Funneled Millions to Trump Super PAC

On February 17, 2026, Campaign Legal Center (CLC) filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) alleging that Julio Herrera Velutini, a Venezuelan billionaire, used an illegal “straw donor” scheme to funnel $3.5 million to the super PAC MAGA Inc. through his daughter Isabela Herrera. CLC’s complaint alleges that this straw donor scheme was part of Herrera Velutini’s successful bid to obtain a pardon from President Donald Trump: Herrera Velutini, charged in 2022 with violating federal bribery laws, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge in July 2025 as part of an extraordinarily lenient plea agreement, before being pardoned by Trump in January 2026, months after the contributions to MAGA Inc. CLC’s complaint alleges that the facts and circumstances of these contributions provide reason to believe Herrera Velutini made these contributions in his daughter’s name because he, as a foreign national, was legally barred from doing so in his own name.