Bobbie Hollowell Blog: BREAKING: Latest Campaign Filing Reveals More Dirty – And Possibly Illegal

A $55K Retail Purchase Of Trump’s Own Book May Be Illegal Campaign Activity

Unlike his tax returns or video depositions, Donald Trump is powerless to hide his campaign spending from public view. Further scrutiny of those records, however, may prove to be eminently more damaging than anything the GOP nominee is attempting to hide in the countless documents he’s fought to suppress or failed to release. According to the filings, a $55,000 purchase made earlier this year could be an illegal violation of campaign law. As The Daily Beast points out:

Donald Trump used his campaign funds to buy thousands of copies of his own book at retail cost, simultaneously diverting donor money back into his pockets while artificially boosting his sales figures. It’s a tactic that may be illegal, campaign finance experts say.

On May 10, the Trump campaign paid Barnes & Noble $55,055, according to a filing with the Federal Election Commission. That amounts to more than 3,500 copies of the hardcover version of Crippled America: How to Make America Great Again, or just over 5,000 copies of the renamed paperback release, Great Again: How to Fix Our Crippled America.

Buy purchasing the books at a retailer, Trump may have been attempting to provide an artificial boost to his book’s sales. Raw Story notes:

The bulk purchase may have been an unsuccessful attempt to put Trump’s book on the New York Times bestseller list, which calculates retail purchases from brick-and-mortar shops like Barnes & Noble but not sales made through Amazon or directly from the publisher.

The Artificial Inflation Isn’t The Legal Problem

While using unethical means to inflate book sales is uniquely “Trumpy”, that’s not the potential felonious activity in the purchase. The Campaign Legal Center’s Paul Ryan told The Daily Beast:

“It’s fine for a candidate’s book to be purchased by his committee, but it’s impermissible to receive royalties from the publisher,” Ryan said. “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.”

The Trump campaign referred The Daily Beast’s inquiry about royalties to the book’s publisher, Simon & Shuster. The publishers ignored repeated requests for clarification.

This is merely the latest example of Candidate Trump enriching Businessman Trump. The closer we get to Election Day, the more obvious it becomes. This is not a man with a vision for “Making America Great Again”. Quite the contrary. The man is a huckster, playing his legions of devotees for fools — a Jimmy Swaggart for the 21st Century. But as apparent as that is to most of us, he may have finally overplayed his hand this time. If he collected the same royalties for the mass-purchase that he would have collected if you or I bought his book (perish the thought!), that’s a felony beyond any shadow of a doubt.

Maybe it’s time for a special prosecutor immediately, immediately, immediately!