Scoop: Trump campaign boosted by unsuspecting state GOPs

by Lachlan Markay, Axios, April 11, 2021 (excerpt)

 …  Federal regulators are probing financial reporting discrepancies stemming from an effort to funnel $75 million through state Republican parties to the national GOP effort to reelect Donald Trump, Axios has learned.

Why it matters: In comments to Axios and filings with the Federal Election Commission, some state party officials seemed unaware of their roles….

The Hawaii Republican Party amended multiple FEC filings in February to note for the first time that it was a Trump Victory beneficiary — and to disclose nearly $1.7 million it received months earlier and immediately passed on to the RNC. It hasn’t responded to the FEC’s request for a more detailed explanation.

The intrigue: It’s not clear mechanically how such large transfers could have taken place without explicit buy-in from state parties ostensibly responsible for them.

• One clue might lie with the Hawaii GOP. In addition to noting its Trump Victory participation, it told the FEC in February it had a previously undisclosed bank account — not in Hawaii, but at Chain Bridge Bank in McLean, Va.
• That same bank is used by the RNC, Trump Victory and other GOP state parties.
• In making its acknowledgment, the Hawaii party told the FEC the bank account was “associated” with Trump Victory. Acting state party chair Boyd Ready would not speak on the record about the nature and use of the account….

read … Trump campaign boosted by unsuspecting state GOPs