WASHINGTON (AP) – It can be hard to see where Donald Trump the business ends and Donald Trump the presidential candidate begins.
When rivals level political attacks, the Republican front-runner’s company attorney threatens lawsuits on corporate letterhead. When his campaign needs event space, private businesses sometimes provide it free.
The political novice’s use of corporate resources – both his own and those of others – is another tool in his asymmetrical bid for the White House. But it has drawn the attention of federal regulators, as well as campaign-law experts who say some of what he’s doing could be illegal.
“The entanglements with his business and his campaign are certainly unusual, and maybe unprecedented,” said Kenneth Gross, an attorney who previously led the Federal Election Commission’s enforcement division. “Use of a candidate’s own corporate resources is highly, highly regulated activity.”
At the FEC’s demand, Trump’s campaign on Thursday provided regulators with the names of employees at his real estate and entertainment company who are doing work for his campaign – mostly security and communications aides.