VTDigger reporter on Republican Liam Madden's 'paper donations' that helped launch his Congressional race

By Mikaela Lefrak,

Published November 3, 2022 at 3:07 PM EDT

a white man in a black shirt and brown jacket looks into the camera while standing outside in front of blazing red autumn trees — Liam Madden, a self-described independent who's running as the Republican nominee for Vermont's only seat in the U.S. House, told "The Morning Drive" on radio station WVMT that his campaign donations were "paper donations" from family members that helped him qualify for primary debates.

Last week, Republican candidate for Congress and self-described independent Liam Madden was interviewed on WVMT’s Morning Drive program. During that interview, Madden described how he distributed thousands of dollars to family members who then donated that money to his campaign. He's defended the donations as legal. We fact-check that claim with Sarah Mearhoff, political reporter with VT Digger.

Mearhoff's reporting on Madden's campaign donations:

Correction: The characterization in this segment that a cryptocurrency executive donated $1 million to the Balint campaign during the primary was incorrect. He donated $1.1 million to a PAC that then spent $991,911 on pro-Balint ads. The Balint campaign did not coordinate with the donor and has repeatedly denouncedthis type of campaign spending.

Broadcast live on Thursday, Nov. 3, 2022 at noon; rebroadcast at 7 p.m.

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