It’s been a while since we heard from Herschel Walker. Much like fellow failed GOP candidate Dr. Oz, he at least had the decency to drop out of sight after losing in November. (But at least Dr. Oz helped out after the devastating Turkey earthquake, which is genuinely decent.) Walker was plagued with one creative scandal (or humiliation) after another. Now, some six months later, he’s embroiled in another.
The Daily Beast dropped a bombshell piece on Wednesday that unearthed emails showing Walker had asked representatives for a billionaire donor — with whom he had a long history, including family vacations — for over $500,000 in March of 2022. That donor, industrialist Dennis Washington, assumed they were political contributions. But they were actually for HR Talent, LLC, Walker’s personal company — a company never disclosed on his financial statements.
“In the best possible circumstances, legal experts told The Daily Beast, the emails suggest exponential violations of federal fundraising rules,” writes The Daily Beast. But “in the worst case, they could be an indication of more serious crimes, such as wire fraud.”
What’s more, the amount Walker was asking for — over half a million dollars — was far in excess of federal limits. That he was allegedly converting said campaign contributions to personal use is also in violation of federal law.
Legal experts seem baffled by the audacity of what Walker may have done. One said if Walker “used the campaign to funnel money into his own business, that’s one of the biggest campaign finance crimes I’ve ever heard of.”
There’s more in The Daily Beast’s report, including that Washington gave Walker another $500,000, this time going directly into his super PAC. Walker hit up Washington again that November, this time asking for another $100,000. And to think it all ended in an embarrassing defeat for the candidate who once admitted he wasn’t sure how many states were in the U.S.
(Via The Daily Beast)