Herschel Walker might have made some serious campaign finance mistakes during his turbulent 2022 campaign for a Georgia Senate seat.
According to a new report from The Daily Beast, the University of Georgia football hero asked a high-profile donor to send a political contribution directly to his personal company, HR Talent, LLC, in March 2022, potentially violating campaign finance laws.
Emails obtained and vetted by the site reveal how Walker asked representatives for businessman Dennis Washington to wire $535,200 directly to the LLC, which was never disclosed to the Federal Election Commission.
After sending the money, a third party informed the businessman’s company, The Washington Companies, that the funds could not be used for political purposes.
Tim McHugh — executive vice president for Washington Corporations, an offshoot of Washington’s company — followed up with Walker’s team in a November 2022 email, reminding the campaign that political donations must go through the campaign, or through the Walker-affiliated super PAC, 34N22.
“We will need your assistance to get the prior contributions made to the HR Talent account in March corrected,” it read. Walker did not address the issue in his email response, according to records.
It is unclear if HR Talent returned the funds to Washington, but FEC documents and sources who spoke to The Daily Beast appear to show the money was never redirected to his super PAC.
According to FEC filings, the candidate did not make any personal contributions to his campaign, suggesting the funds were not rerouted to his campaign via HR Talent, either.
Legal experts who spoke to The Daily Beast called Walker’s actions “unprecedented,” “stunning,” and “jaw-dropping.”
Paul S. Ryan, a campaign finance specialist and deputy executive director at the Funders’ Committee for Civic Participation, told the site, “There’s no legal way that this could have played out.”
Walker’s scandal-plagued run for office ended in December 2022 when Rev. Raphael Warnock was reelected by a 2.8% margin, solidifying the Democrats’ 51-seat majority in the Senate.
During Walker’s campaign, multiple women accused the pro-life candidate of domestic abuse or paying for their abortions.