A Democratic megadonor has suggested that the huge amount of money donors poured into Vice President Kamala Harris' presidential campaign may have been "legally" stolen through mismanagement.
Attorney John Morgan criticized the Harris campaign's spending during an appearance on NewsNation's CUOMO on Monday, suggesting "a lot of people got rich" through careless spending, running ads in states like Florida—which Trump won handily.
Asked by former CNN host Chris Cuomo, if he believes the campaign money was stolen, Morgan said: "Well, maybe legally."
"All of a sudden, everybody's got the keys to the candy store, ad buyers, talent, consultants. There's 100 days to do it, and the money started pouring in," Morgan said.
"She had all this money coming in. She had all these consultants, and if you don't run the ads, you don't get paid for the buy. They were running ads in Florida, where I live, nonstop. And I'm like, why? I mean, are they running in Alabama and Idaho, too? And I'll tell you why. If you don't run the ads, the buyer doesn't get paid."
Morgan made no suggestion of any criminality.
Morgan and the Harris campaign have been contacted for further comment via email.
Ishanee Parikh, the creative director of Future Forward, a Harris-affiliated super PAC which unleashed more money on TV ads in the final weeks of the 2024 race than the Harris campaign, has also been contacted via email through her nonprofit Blue Sky Strategy.
Harris and the Democratic Party's fundraising operation brought in more than $1 billion, but reportedly spent more than it raised and ended the election cycle $20 million in debt.
The Harris campaign has denied the campaign had outstanding debts. Patrick Stauffer, the campaign's chief financial officer, said on November 16 that there "will be no debt" for the campaign nor the party on their next financial disclosures, due in December.
However, the vice president has continued pushing donors for money even after her loss to President-elect Donald Trump.
'Disqualifies Her Forever'
Morgan suggested that "ego" and consultants seeking commissions on placed ads had driven spending.
"I was at a dinner at the White House on Friday night, talking to a lot of people and I'm telling you man, there's a lot whispering, there's a lot of names about who got paid this, who got paid that," he said. "A lot of people got rich on the back of donors trying to stop Trump. And I think this disqualifies her forever—forever. If you can't run a campaign, you can't run America."
Morgan, who questioned Harris' candidacy before the election, praised her campaign given the brevity of the 107-day bid, but added that he believes the campaign's spending will haunt Harris if she tries to continue her career in politics.
"She's having a call with donors this week, and they tell me about her political future. I don't think she has a political future," he said. It's "going to follow Harris for the rest of her career. She cannot be trusted with the money... and the donors are going to be, like, 'Where is this money going?' "
Morgan also said that those who donated to Harris' campaign did so to defeat Trump more than to support Harris. "It wasn't pouring in for Harris, it was pouring in against Trump," he said.
Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, are set to address their campaign's top donors on a call on Tuesday, The Hill reported.
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