“Unknown actors” twice targeted Iowa state Sen. Sarah Trone Garriott in attempts to steal tens of thousands of dollars from the Democrat’s congressional campaign committee, according to a new letter from the campaign to the Federal Election Commission.
One attempted theft happened on Aug. 6, when the Sarah for Iowa campaign initiated a $48,568.16 electronic payment to a vendor. Soon after, “an external actor altered the invoice in an attempt to redirect the payment to another bank account,” the Trone Garriott campaign told the FEC.
The campaign spotted the attempted theft two days later and “notified law enforcement when the police station opened the next day, obtaining a police report.” The campaign also “alerted the recipient bank, which flagged the transaction.”
The money never made it to the would-be thieves, and the campaign later paid the vendor via check.
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About two months later, on Oct. 8, the campaign discovered a separate incident after a “vendor resubmitted a $15,000 invoice the Committee believed it had paid on June 16.” The campaign notified the police that day and repaid the vendor on Oct. 14. It’s unclear whether the campaign lost any or all of the $15,000.
Theresa Kehoe, Trone Garriott’s campaign treasurer, declined to comment, and another campaign official could not be reached for comment. The Des Moines Police Department also could not be reached for comment.
Trone Garriott has raised roughly $7.5 million in her bid to unseat Republican Rep. Zach Nunn in Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District, which was recently rated “leans Democrat” by The Cook Political Report.
The campaign said in its letter to the FEC that it “has strengthened its payment-verification procedures to prevent similar unauthorized activity.”
Another congressional committee recently told the FEC that it, too, was the victim of fraud. The campaign of Democrat Joy Powers, which is vying for Virginia’s 9th Congressional District, labeled four transactions between Aug. 7 and Sept. 8 as: “an unauthorized purchase, dispute with bank in progress.” The four instances add up to nearly $1,800.
“Upon discovering the activity, we contacted the Federal Election Commission for guidance on how to properly report these transactions,” deputy campaign manager Brendon Bordwine told The Sun. “We are currently working with our financial institution to address the unauthorized transactions. At this time, our campaign’s banking information and accounts have been secured, and we are taking the necessary precautions to prevent further unauthorized activity.”
Numerous federal political committees have experienced incidents involving theft or embezzlement this decade.
Earlier this month, The Washington Sun reported that Citizens Against AIPAC Corruption, the Democratic Party of Oregon and the political action committee for power company Pinnacle West Capital Corporation each fell victim to fraudsters.
In July, the PAC tied to the law firm Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP told federal regulators that some political contribution checks had been stolen from mailboxes in D.C., and the thieves altered the values of the paper checks. The law firm said it recouped the stolen funds, which amounted to $40,000.
That same month, The Sun reported that the Democratic National Committee had been scammed out of nearly $29,000 in February 2025 after a staffer received an email from someone pretending to be the newly elected DNC Chair Ken Martin.
In August, the National Republican Congressional Committee said an unknown actor stole more than $16,300 that was intended for a vendor. The NRCC told The Sun that it was working with the authorities to recoup the funds.
Political committees for Sen. Cory Booker (D-New Jersey), Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-Rhode Island) and accounting giant KPMG have also been hit by thieves in recent months.
This article has been updated to include details about a theft from Joy Powers’ congressional campaign committee.
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