Democrats Alle in FEC Complaint Van Orden Stole Campaign Money | Local News

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MADISON The Wisconsin Democratic Party this week filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission alleging that Republican congressional candidate Derrick Van Orden abused campaign funds to attend the Jan. 6 rally preceding the insurgency on the U.S. Capitol. United.

Van Orden lost a close race to U.S. Rep. Ron Kind, D-La Crosse, in 2020 and declared his candidacy to run again against Kind in 2022 to represent the 3rd Congressional District, which includes Eau Claire.

The complaint alleges Van Orden used funds donated to his campaign to get to the Save America rally, which turned violent when protesters stormed the Capitol as the Senate and House of Representatives confirmed Democrat Joe Biden as President of the United States.

Van Orden said he went to the rally as a citizen but left before attendees stormed the Capitol, although a recent Daily Beast report cited social media posts alleging that Van Orden was on the Capitol grounds during the riot. Van Orden called the report inaccurate.

The Democratic complaint says Van Ordens’ self-reported campaign finance records show his campaign footed the bill for more than $ 4,000 for travel and accommodation in Washington, DC, around January 6.

Federal law allows money raised by campaigns to be used only for campaign-related expenses, and Democrats pointed out that on January 6, Van Orden’s 2020 campaign was over and he did not have yet launched its current campaign against Kind.

The Wisconsin Democratic Party called on the FEC to immediately investigate Van Ordens’ use of campaign donations.

“Derrick Van Orden not only lied about his involvement in a deadly attack on our democracy, but he appears to have violated federal law by funding his presence while standing on Capitol Hill during the insurgency on his campaigns.” , said the executive director of the state. Nellie Sires said in a press release. “Van Ordens’ misconduct is disturbing, unethical and confirms that he is unfit to represent Wisconsin.”

The Van Orden campaign responded with the following statement: “This is a frivolous complaint of a bad faith campaign. Two weeks ago Ron Kind missed votes in Congress so Joe Biden could buy him two scoops of ice cream and then claimed it was a meeting to talk about vaccination rates to cover it up. Anyone who thought Ron Kind was not a typical Washington DC politician is shown the opposite almost daily. The lies Ron Kind and his allies continue to push prove exactly what Derrick said about entrenched politicians like Ron Kind last year: They’ll do and say anything to keep their power. “

Van Orden was referring to Kind’s proxy voting as he attended an event on June 28 in La Crosse with the president.

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