The Wisconsin Ethics Commission said it has found probable cause to believe a fundraising committee for Donald Trump criminally violated the state’s campaign finance laws.

The bipartisan commission of three Democrats and three Republicans has referred the case to one of the state’s District Attorneys for investigation and prosecution.

What You Need To Know

  • The Wisconsin Ethics Commission said it has found probable cause to believe a fundraising committee for Donald Trump criminally violated the state's campaign finance laws

  • The commission alleges the 2022 campaign for Wisconsin Assembly candidate Adam Steen worked with three counties' Republican parties to send excess funds

  • Trump's Save America political action committee donated $5,000 to each of the three Republican parties

  • The former president endorsed Steen, who lost to incumbent Robin Vos

The Commission said it first received a complaint in early December about a 2022 primary race involving Adam Steen, a Trump supporter and political novice who was challenging Republican incumbent Robin Vos for the Wisconsin Assembly. Vos’s complaint alleged Steen’s candidate committee colluded with several county parties and other groups to funnel money and services to his campaign that exceeded contribution limits.

Steen denied the allegations in early 2023, prompting the Commission to hire an independent investigator to look into whether campaign finance laws had been violated. The investigation firm sent its report to the Commission February 13, confirming the Friends of Adam Steen candidate committee had received contributions from individuals that exceeded the state limit of $1,000 and had also returned the excess amounts.

But the investigators also discovered an arrangement between Steen, his candidate committee and the Republican Party of Langlade County for individuals to send more money to his campaign by exploiting a rule that allows county parties to fund candidates in unlimited amounts.

In a public filing released Friday, the investigators said Steen and people working for Friends of Adam Steen told individuals who wanted to contribute more than the legally allowed $1,000 to send additional money to the Republican Party of Langlade County. The individuals were instructed to write “63” in the memo line of the check, indicating the funds were to be forwarded to Friends of Adam Steen.

The Langlade County GOP funneled more than $40,000 of cash and in-kind contributions to Friends of Adam Steen, the investigators’ report said. Langlade County Republicans also received excessive contributions from two other county parties that were distributed to Friends of Adam Steen.

Trump’s Save America political action committee donated $5,000 to each of the three Republican parties in Langlade, Chippewa and Florence counties and are criminal violations, according to the Ethics Commission's public filing. The Racine County District Attorney has 40 days to take action on the referral. If a prosecution is not initiated within 60 days, the Commission could refer the matter to another district attorney or the Wisconsin Department of Justice.

Prior to the 2022 primary election, Trump endorsed Steen, calling him a “motivated patriot, dedicated to making Wisconsin great again.”

Steen, who worked as an applications engineer, service engineer and welder, lost to Vos, a nine-term Wisconsin state representative who has served as Speaker of the Assembly since 2013. He is the longest-serving Assembly speaker in Wisconsin history.

Vos refused to decertify President Biden’s win in the 2020 election. Trump filed a petition last month to recall Vos because he has not impeached the nonpartisan head of the Wisconsin Elections Commission.

Wisconsin is a key swing state in this year’s presidential election. While Trump won Wisconsin in 2016, he lost to Joe Biden in 2020.

At Trump’s request, Vos called for an investigation into the 2020 election results, but the probe found no evidence that Trump had won.