Kanye West’s Failed Presidential Campaign Says It Was Defrauded of Thousands

Bill Donahue
·2 min read
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Kanye West’s 2020 presidential campaign reported to election regulators Tuesday that someone stole thousands of dollars from the group’s accounts in an act of “external fraud.”

The rapper’s failed campaign, which still exists as a legal entity called “Kanye 2020,” filed a disclosure with the Federal Election Commission, obtained by Billboard, that said it had accidentally given away $3,999 in cash across three separate transactions over the past six months.

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“After investigating, it was determined that an individual not connected with the campaign accessed a campaign account to pay his own credit card,” the group wrote. “It was reported to First Bank of Wyoming and a stop-pay was put in place to protect against future unauthorized charges. The bank was unable to reverse the transactions at issue.”

The disclosure came after the FEC regulators sent a “Request for Additional Information” to the campaign about the three transactions. The repercussions of the incident, for the campaign or for the individual who allegedly stole the money, are unclear. A rep for West did not immediately return a request for comment.

Launched in July 2020, West’s campaign for the presidency never quite got off the ground. He only qualified for ballot access in a dozen states and, despite urging fans on Twitter to cast write-in votes for him, the rapper only won roughly 70,000 votes on Election Day.

According to a February report by The Hollywood Reporter, Kanye spent $12.5 million of his own money on the campaign. But an investigation by the Daily Beast found that the campaign was linked to millions of dollars in services from a secretive network of Republican Party operatives.

FEC records show that as of March 31, the campaign still had $392,173 in its coffers – after the fraudulent withdrawals, that is.

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