Gov. Mike Braun’s former campaign committee is suing its former treasurer nearly two years after Braun’s team was slapped with one of the largest fines in Federal Election Commission history for campaign finance violations.
Braun’s former U.S. Senate campaign, now known as the Freedom and Opportunity Fund, sued former finance director Travis Kabrick and his company, Same Day Processing, in DuBois Superior Court on February 26.
The lawsuit claims Kabrick “completely and systematically failed” in his duties as treasurer, including failing to report correct information on $10 million worth of campaign deals before abruptly resigning in 2018 and taking campaign documents with him.
Braun’s former campaign is seeking $159,000 in fines, attorney’s fees and punitive and reputational damages, arguing that the negative media attention resulted in “thousands, if not millions, of dollars worth of lost political and financial support,” according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit also alleges that Kabrick’s portrayal of himself as a professional with extensive experience in campaign finance compliance kept campaign officials in the dark about the violations until they hired a new treasurer, who then began discovering and correcting the errors.
The Federal Election Commission fined the Braun campaign in 2024 after years of efforts to audit the campaign’s finances and determine the amount of the penalty. Although a draft audit found that Braun may have received too many donations and repaid too many campaign loans to himself, FEC commissioners narrowly rejected those findings amid a pending Supreme Court case against Sen. Ted Cruz over loan repayments, which commissioners expected could change campaign finance laws. The Supreme Court later ruled in favor of Cruz.
Instead, commissioners ruled, the campaign failed to properly report loan terms and balances for 29 transactions in 2017 and 2018.
James Bopp Jr., whom Braun appointed to the Indiana University Board of Trustees in 2025, represents Braun’s former campaign committee in the lawsuit.
Contact breaking politics reporter Marissa Meador at mmeador@indystar.com or find her on the X: @marissa_meador.
This article originally appeared in The Indianapolis Star: Gov. Mike Braun’s former Senate campaign sues treasurer after massive FEC fine