Andrew Yang To Give $1,000 A Month To 10 Families As Part Of His Campaign

Some campaign finance experts have said the monthly gifts, dubbed "Freedom Dividends," walk a very fine line in terms of campaign finance laws that prohibit the personal use of campaign funds. Former FEC lawyer and Senior Director of Campaign Legal Center Adav Noti told ABC News that Yang's plan appears to violate the federal law on its face, though it's hard to say with 100% certainty without additional details of the payouts. "The only way I can think of even potentially justifying it would be if the campaign were to condition the payments on recipients giving their time to the campaign -- essentially as payment for services," Noti said. "Even then, to be legal, the payments would have to be at the fair market value of the services provided in exchange. Otherwise, the campaign funds are just going to pay the day-to-day expenses of the recipients, which is exactly what the law prohibits. The personal use ban is an important anti-corruption and donor-protection law, and the Yang campaign shouldn’t be violating it so cavalierly."

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