Report: DNC Loses Nearly $29K to Scammer Posing as Chairman Ken Martin

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) lost nearly $29,000 to an email scammer posing as newly installed Chairman Ken Martin, according to a report published Tuesday.

The committee was scammed out of the money in February 2025, according to NOTUS, which reported the theft based on interviews with party officials and previously unreported federal records. Federal Election Commission (FEC) records put the loss at $28,860.92.

An unknown party sent a fraudulent email to a DNC staffer pretending to be Martin, who had taken over as chairman days earlier on February 1. The staffer made the payment. That staffer is no longer with the committee.

A DNC official said the error was caught within minutes and reported to the committee’s bank, Wells Fargo. The committee recovered only $7,000. It also alerted law enforcement.

The DNC acknowledged the loss in an August 2025 letter to the FEC, describing it as a “misdisbursement of Committee funds.”

“The identified transaction was the result of fraudulent activity by an external third party,” the committee wrote in the letter, responding to an inquiry from FEC campaign finance analyst Jack Baisden. “The Committee has no reason to believe that the transaction involved any misappropriation or misconduct by Committee personnel.”

DNC spokesperson Mia Ehrenberg defended the committee’s handling of the incident.

“The DNC takes seriously our duty to protect the funds provided to us by millions of patriotic Americans chipping in to fund our mission,” Ehrenberg said. “This was a one-off mistake that was promptly caught and addressed, and no similar issues have occurred since.”

The DNC had about $16.3 million on hand against roughly $18.5 million in debt through June 30. The Republican National Committee (RNC), by contrast, reported more than $128.5 million on hand and no debt. The committee put its Washington, DC, headquarters up as collateral last year to secure a $15 million line of credit.

The disclosure comes as Martin faces mounting pressure over the DNC’s finances. He reportedly threw a phone at a staffer’s desk in early July. Some Democrats have called for him to step down. RNC Chairman Joe Gruters recently told Breitbart News Daily that Republicans are positioned to outspend Democrats this cycle.

“Ken Martin must resign,” Rep. Sam Liccardo (D-CA) said, pointing to the NOTUS report.