Braun's Former Senate Campaign Committee Sues Ex-Treasurer Over FEC Fine

Gov. Mike Braun's former U.S. Senate campaign committee filed suit in Dubois County Superior Court against its ex-treasurer, alleging he "utterly and systematically failed" in his duties, abandoned the campaign mid-cycle with documents in hand, and left behind reporting errors that ultimately triggered a $159,000 federal fine.

The Freedom and Opportunity Fund sued Travis Kabrick and his Wisconsin-based firm, Same Day Processing, Inc., on Feb. 26, 2026. The complaint describes Kabrick as "grossly negligent" and alleges he destroyed files, abruptly quit in 2018 and failed to respond to the campaign after his departure.

The Federal Election Commission fined the campaign $159,000 in 2024 after auditors found failures to correctly disclose loans, terms, dates, repayment amounts, forgiveness, outstanding balances and guarantor information across transactions totaling $11.5 million from July 2017 through December 2018. Those transactions involved three bank loans, 13 lines of credit and 13 candidate loans. FEC commissioners ruled the campaign failed to properly report loan terms and balances for all 29 of those transactions. Auditors separately found another $97,000 in loans and lines of credit that were never disclosed at all.

According to the complaint, the FEC identified errors in "every single regularly filed report submitted" by the campaign while Kabrick served as treasurer. The lawsuit further contends Kabrick "held himself out to [the campaign] as an 'experienced FEC compliance professional who had worked for many federal candidate committees over many years.'"

Beyond recovering the $159,000 fine, the Freedom and Opportunity Fund is seeking attorneys' fees, punitive damages and reputational damages. The complaint cites coverage in Forbes, USA Today and the Indianapolis Star as causing "grave losses of political and financial support worth thousands, possibly millions, of dollars."

The case was filed in Dubois County Superior Court, the jurisdiction that covers Jasper, where Braun lives. Representing the Freedom and Opportunity Fund is James Bopp Jr., a prominent conservative election attorney whom Braun appointed to the Indiana University Board of Trustees in 2025. Neither Kabrick nor Same Day Processing had issued public statements in response to the lawsuit as of the time of reporting.