‘So blatantly illegal’: Liam Madden admits to funneling money through family to inflate campaign finance numbers

By Sarah Mearhoff
Oct 28 2022

Liam Madden, the Republican nominee in the open race for Vermont’s lone seat in the U.S. House, during a radio interview Thursday morning described in detail a self-funded scheme to inflate his campaign donations during the primary cycle in order to qualify for candidate debates.

Appearing on WVMT’s talk radio program Morning Drive, Madden claimed to have “drained” his wife’s business’s bank account and distributed roughly $25,000 amongst family members — including his toddler son, June — who then donated the money to his campaign. Madden said he is now recouping the money by collecting a salary from his campaign.

Saurav Ghosh, who works as director for federal campaign finance reform for the Campaign Legal Center in Washington, D.C., told VTDigger on Friday that Madden’s self-described scheme “is so blatantly illegal.”

“He just appears to be ignorant of the fact that he's just confessed on an interview on air to breaking campaign finance laws,” said Ghosh, an attorney who previously worked for five years in the Federal Election Commission’s enforcement division.

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