White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt’s failed congressional campaign is still more than $320,000 in debt, according to campaign finance documents filed this week. But there are fewer debtors on the list now — like her own parents.
So far this year, the campaign paid back just five of the roughly 100 people and organizations it owes money to. But among the few people Leavitt did refund, the campaign paid $2,900 to each of her parents in January, the filing shows.
The only other refunds this year were $2,900 to an organization called “EMJ Holdings” — which has no listed address and no record of previously donating to the campaign — $100 to a former volunteer campaign finance committee member and $3,800 to the registered agent for a New Hampshire party bus company.
Dozens of other individuals and companies are still owed refunds, primarily because the campaign accepted more than legal contributions limits and accepted unauthorized donations from businesses, according to years of reprimanding letters from the Federal Election Commission.
The campaign’s payments to Leavitt’s family members, as other debts remain unpaid, adds another wrinkle to the ongoing scrutiny over her campaign finance issues including why the campaign failed to repay all its debts within the required 60-day window.
Notably, the campaign still hasn’t paid these donors back more than two years after her 2022 run. One of the only donors who received a refund before this year was her now husband.
In response to questions about why the campaign prioritized Leavitt’s parents first, Axiom Strategies, a communications firm responding on behalf of the campaign, said it was simply procedural. The five refund recipients were early campaign donors.
“Ax Capital is following FEC guidance to issue required refunds in the order contributions were received, consistent with standard practice. The candidate remains not personally responsible for the committee’s reimbursements,” Eric Brown, general counsel for Ax Capital, wrote in a statement provided by Axiom Strategies.
There’s no clear path forward for Leavitt to pay back the rest of more than quarter-million dollars in debt the campaign owes. Campaign finance reports show the campaign already spent the unauthorized funds.
Leavitt could fundraise to cover the debts, which would raise ethical concerns around her position in the White House, ethics experts previously told NOTUS. She could also pay back the debts out of pocket.
The only money the campaign reported adding to its coffers so far this year was an extra $4,000 for what it called a “bank adjustment.” Axiom did not respond to NOTUS’ inquiry about what that meant.
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Claire Heddles is a NOTUS reporter and an Allbritton Journalism Institute fellow.