Sen. Amy Klobuchar, an outspoken campaign finance reformer, is facing questions from federal regulators about a $42,000-plus transaction between her Senate and Minnesota gubernatorial committees.
“It appears that your committee has received money from the sale of campaign assets,” Lauren Schleyer, a senior Federal Election Commission campaign finance analyst, wrote in an Aug. 27 letter to the Minnesota Democrat’s Senate committee.
Minnesotans for Klobuchar, her gubernatorial committee, paid Klobuchar for Minnesota, her Senate campaign committee, $42,695.14 for an “asset transfer” on March 31.
A Klobuchar spokesperson told NOTUS the transfer involved a website domain and email list.
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The FEC’s reporting guidelines require committees to provide “a brief explanation about the nature of the assets sold and whether or not the assets were sold at fair market rates,” but it appears that Klobuchar’s committee did not describe the transaction aside from labeling it “asset transfer” on its filing.
The FEC has asked Klobuchar’s federal campaign committee to amend its April quarterly report to include additional information about the “nature of the assets sold.” The commission also wants to know “whether or not these assets were sold at fair market rates.” Klobuchar has until Oct. 1 to respond.
“When Senator Klobuchar launched her campaign for governor, the gubernatorial campaign purchased a website domain and email list from the Senate campaign at fair market value and in full compliance with state and federal election law, a normal part of running for state office after previously being a federal candidate,” a Klobuchar campaign spokesperson said. “FEC Requests for Additional Information are extremely routine — the FEC sends thousands of them every year — and this one is no exception.”
There are strict rules and limits governing contributions between federal and state campaigns.
Under the FEC’s regulations, a candidate’s state campaign could generally donate up to $2,000 to their federal committee — though Minnesota law prohibits the contribution or transfer of federal funds to a candidate’s state campaign. A candidate’s federal campaign would generally be allowed to sell assets to their state campaign as long as the sale was made at “fair market value.”
The FEC has sent more than 12,000 formal request for additional information letters, or RFAIs, to committees since 2025 — though the requests can range from federal regulators asking about simple corrections or clarifications to accusing committees of improperly accepting funds.
The FEC continues to flag candidates and committees for suspected campaign finance violations or filing mistakes despite not having enough commissioners to tend to its higher-level duties, such as conducting investigations, formalizing audits and issuing penalties.
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