International Business Times: Donald Trump spent $55,000 in campaign money to buy his own book
"He could end up turning a profit if he repaid himself for the campaign loans," Paul Ryan, FEC program director and a campaign finance expert with the Campaign Legal Center, has told theNew York Times. "He could get all his money back plus the profit margin for what his campaign has paid himself for goods and services."
The circular books sales could end up being a problem. It could be illegal if Trump receives royalties from them.
It would be "impermissible to receive royalties from the publisher" in this case, Ryan told the Beast. "That amounts to an illegal conversion of campaign funds to personal use. There's a well-established precedent from the FEC that funds from the campaign account can't end up in your own pocket."
Federal campaign law dictates that campaign spending must not "result in the conversion of campaign funds to the personal use of the candidate or any other person."
Donating those royalties to charity "might be a permissible arrangement," said Ryan. "But the bottom line is, no money of this $55,000 from the book can end up in Donald Trump's pocket without violating federal law."