WASHINGTON — Rep. Eugene Vindman (D-Va.) was slapped with a campaign finance complaint Monday, accusing him of using campaign money to promote a book authored by his twin brother, Alexander — a key witness in President Trump’s first impeachment.
According to the complaint by Americans for Public Trust (APT), Eugene’s campaign team touted Alexander’s book “The Folly of Realism: How the West Deceived Itself About Russia and Betrayed Ukraine” in fundraising email blasts sent Feb. 27 and March 7 of this year.
The Post previously reported that Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings show that Eugene’s campaign paid $38,783 to a South Florida bookstore where Alexander was concurrently signing copies of the tome as a “fundraising expense.”
“It is clearly illegal to use campaign resources for personal use, and that is just what Representative Vindman has done,” said Americans for Public Trust executive director Caitlin Sutherland.
“Rep. Vindman misused campaign resources to help promote his brother’s book all the way to the New York Times bestseller list. The tens of thousands of campaign dollars spent to subsidize his brother’s spurious book should be immediately investigated by the FEC.”
FEC rules state that using campaign assets, such as donor lists, for book promotion or other monetary benefit is usually classified as “prohibited personal use.”
The Feb. 27 email blast by Eugene’s campaign bore the subject line “Alex’s New Book” and encouraged recipients to purchase a copy, saying that it “reveals profound truths.”
The March 7 email again promoted “The Folly of Realism” and urged recipients to “claim your copy,” according to the complaint.
“Vindman for Congress has significantly subsidized the marketing costs that should be borne by Alexander Vindman and his book’s commercial publisher,” APT’s filing stressed, citing FEC rules stipulating that campaign funds can’t be converted “by any person to personal use.”
The Post reached out to Eugene Vindman’s office for comment.
Ten days after the book’s Feb. 25 release date, Eugene’s campaign made a $7,809.55 payment to Books & Books in Coral Gables, Fla., followed by a second payment of $30,972.97 processed on March 20.
The Coral Gables store previously confirmed to The Post last month that Alexander Vindman held book signings at that location and noted that a member of one of Eugene Vindman’s team had asked her earlier in the day what she would do if a reporter came around asking questions.
Campaign payments to the store were listed as a “fundraising expense,” but the store worker wouldn’t specify whether Eugene’s team had actually held fundraising activity there.
Two days after the first payment, on March 9, Alexander Vindman posted on X about signing copies of his tome at Books & Books.
On March 21, a day after the second payment of $30,973, Eugene posted that he was participating in a chili cookoff in Caroline County, Va. on the day the check cleared.
Alexander Vindman’s book briefly made the New York Times “hardcover nonfiction” bestseller list during the week ending March 16.
Eugene Vindman won a close race to represent Virginia’s 7th District last November with a message centered on fighting against corruption, highlighting his efforts to assist his twin brother in testifying against Trump.
The Post previously reported that the now-congressman eschewed questions last year about whether his taxpayer-funded trips to Ukraine played a role in his business ventures of trying to sell weapons to Kyiv.
Eugene told the Prince William Times that as of late 2023, he had made 14 trips to the war-torn country, funded by the “Atrocity Crimes Advisory Group” State Department program.
But during that time, his company, Trident Support LLC, worked to sell the Ukrainian government a weapons system. That firm also used the same PO box as Vindman’s congressional campaign.
Vindman raked in $125,000 from Trident early last year despite reports that he did not earn a salary from the company, financial disclosures show.
