Campaign Legal Center Files FEC Complaint Against WinRed, Seeking Increased Transparency into the Fundraising Conduit’s Operating Expenses

Despite earning at least $114 million in fee-based revenue, the political fundraising conduit has reported spending less than $2,700 on operating expenditures. The complaint alleges that WinRed has violated campaign finance laws by not completely and accurately reporting its expenses.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, Campaign Legal Center (CLC) filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) alleging that WinRed, a major fundraising conduit for candidates and committees affiliated with the Republican Party, has violated federal campaign finance laws by not completely and accurately reporting its operating expenditures.

Since being organized in January of 2019, WinRed has processed over $2.8 billion in earmarked contributions, earning at least $114 million in fee-based revenue by conservative estimates. Despite this sizable haul, WinRed has reported spending less than $2,700 on operating expenditures during this period, along with just $243,000 in “debt” to an affiliated company, WinRed Technical Services, for unpaid legal, consulting and insurance fees.

This reporting suggests that WinRed is either failing to report its operating expenditures or is failing to report “in-kind” contributions in the form of free goods and services.

“Voters have a right to know how political fundraising conduits like WinRed spend their money, so they can make an informed choice as to whether to support candidates and committees that use its service,” said Saurav Ghosh, director of federal reform at Campaign Legal Center. “As it stands now, all of us – from donors giving through WinRed, to the candidates who use its services, to those of us trying to follow the money – are in the dark about how WinRed operates. The FEC needs to investigate and set the record straight.”

WinRed is one of the the largest financial operations in our election system – offering a wide range of fundraising services to political candidates and committees. Yet it is currently concealing from the public how it is using the funds it earns from processing contributions, including who is providing the goods and services that allow WinRed to conduct its extensive operations, and how much WinRed is paying for those goods and services.

Transparency regarding the money raised and spent to influence our election system is essential to an open and inclusive democracy. The FEC must investigate WinRed. 

At Campaign Legal Center, we are advancing democracy through law. Learn more about our work.