Chippewa County GOP Accused of Campaign Finance Violations

The Chippewa County Republican party has been accused of violating campaign finance laws by the Wisconsin Ethics Commission.

According to the allegations, the Chippewa County, Langlade, and Florence County Republican parties were involved in a scheme to circumvent campaign finance laws to benefit Adam Steen’s bid to unseat Assembly Speaker Robin Vos in 2022.

Under state law, individuals are limited to donating up to $1,000 directly to a political candidate. People looking to donate more than that can also donate unlimited funds to county parties, but another state law dictates that individual can not direct the party where to send the donation.

According to the Ethics Commission, individuals were allegedly donating money to the county parties, and marking their donation check with the number 63. If the check was marked with the number 63, it was allegedly meant to go to Adam Steen’s campaign.

The Ethics commission flagged two alleged instances in Chippewa County. One included a $5,000 donation from former President Donald Trump’s “Save America” political action committee which was to be forwarded to the Friends of Adam Steen candidacy committee. That donation was returned in full after some in the county Republican Party raised concerns about campaign finance violations.

The second instance allegedly involved the number 63 in the memo line of the check, and investigators believe that money was sent to a vendor used by Steen’s committee.

The Wisconsin Ethics Commission has recommended felony charges for the violations, and referred the matter to Chippewa County District Attorney Wade Newell. District Attorney Newell, however, says he has a conflict of interest in the case as he is a registered member of the Chippewa County Republican Party.

The Ethics Commission will now either refer the matter to a neighboring county District Attorney or to Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul.