In more proof that anything can happen in politics, it seems possible that due to a very large sum of money, former President Donald Trump may no longer possess the most famous hair in the Republican Party.
Indeed, new allegations make it possible that Trump may not even have the most famous hair in his own marriage — because, due to its eye-popping and perhaps dubiously compensated maintenance costs, that coif would belong instead to Melania Trump. A new report at Fox News details how care for Melania’s hair in 2022 easily exceeded $100,000 — and was paid for by a Trump PAC.
The former president’s Save America PAC footed Melania’s hairstyle bill, a cost which it reported to the Federal Elections Committee as required. The PAC reportedly paid hair artist Herve Pierre Braillard “at least $132,000” and perhaps more than double that amount since Trump left office. It categorized the payments as “Strategy Consulting.”
That designation and the staggering amount of money have triggered renewed allegations of Trump campaign finance fraud.
Trump’s PAC has already expended enormous amounts of campaign donations — reports put the figure at $50 million — for his legal bills, the validity of that usage largely unchallenged. But the bills for Melania’s hair care, paid for largely with donations from Trump’s “patriots,” is harder to square with the MAGA mission, as frustrated Republican Peter Heinlein expresses below.
Trump has used his PAC to pay Melania Trump's hairdresser over $370K, and he has designated those payments as 'strategy consulting'.
— Peter Henlein (@SwissWatchGuy) February 1, 2024
– That's open fraud and should be treated as such.
– The same pundits on the right who demanded DeSantis not run for president because "every…
Politicians and their families need to look the part, of course, and are expected to spend money on style care that enhances their optics.
But some are pointing out the potentially relevant fact that Melania Trump was a rare site on the campaign trail with her husband during the period when her hair care was being paid for by the PAC. Also notable is the question — if indeed Melania’s hair is part of Trump’s legitimate re-election bid costs — of how effectively those services are rendered: a 2016 article in Vanity Fair was titled: A Guide to “Melania Hair,” and How to Avoid It.
Some observers believe Trump may also be vulnerable to campaign finance fraud charges surrounding donations to the Stop The Steal fund, after Rolling Stone reported, in an article titled ‘Trump Scammed Supporters Out of $250 Million for Nonexistent Fraud Fund‘, that “supporters who thought they were donating to ‘election integrity’ instead saw some of their money funneled to Trump hotels.”
The FEC will never be able to do it's job under its current format. It has 6 commissioners (3 GOP, 3 Dem).
— Todd Versteegh (@TLVersteegh) February 1, 2024
You have to have 4 voting to start any official FEC action (ie investigations etc)
There needs to be a 7th commissioner who is an Independent for the FEC to be effective
