FIRST ON FOX: One of President Donald Trump's most vocal critics, Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., is raising eyebrows over a "bizarre inconsistency" in his campaign's Federal Election Commission filings that list several different reasons for payments to a Haitian American staffer, totaling over $360,000.
FEC filings from Swalwell for Congress and his Remedy PAC, dating back to 2021 and as recently as last month, show over 75 payments to an individual named Darly Meyer, with various reasons given for the disbursements. Individual payments vary from as little as $53 to over $12,000.
Based on the payments, Meyer has earned varying amounts each year, including over 27 payments last year that added up to over $120,000. He is also on pace to make over $120,000 in 2025.
The FEC filings list several different reasons for the payments, ranging from travel expenses, car service to security services to salary. There are also several payments to Meyer for things like "personal travel expense reimbursement," "event flowers reimbursement" and postage.
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Besides working for the Swalwell campaign, Meyer also owns a limousine service called CYD Global Car Service based in North Hollywood. According to the company's website, it offers professional chauffeurs, corporate shuttles and limousine services, with an emphasis on luxury travel.
He is also an administrator of a Facebook group called "CaliHaitians - Haitians in Az, Ca, Nv, Hi, Or, Wa," which bills itself as a "progressive community" of Haitians living in the United States, which has over 3,000 members. The "about" page goes on to say that the group is "selective" about who can become a member, saying they want to forge a "closer bond" with "head members of groups/organizations that are able to provide professional services to strengthen the community."
"Lastly, in forging a strategic partnership and casting a wider net for the betterment of Haiti and its children outside of the country, we invite head members of other organizations or groups boasting 500+ members to join us," the Facebook group continued.
In addition to Meyer, the group includes multiple other administrators, including a woman named Guerline Jozef, the co-founder and executive director of Haitian Bridge Alliance (HBA), which bills itself as "working to end racist border policies like the Remain in Mexico Policy, Title 42, and the border-to-prison-and-deportation pipeline" and helps illegal migrants on the U.S.-Mexico border.
Fox News Digital reached out to the Swalwell campaign to inquire about the various classifications and asked what Meyer's role is on his staff since the payments switched from "Security Services" to "Salary." Swalwell did not comment on the reason for the different classifications, simply saying that "Darly protects me and my family."
Swalwell also took to X, writing that Fox News Digital "emailed and asked why I've spent $350,000 on security" and saying, "Maybe I should send [the reporter] the bill?" Fox News Digital reviewed online records from California's Bureau of Security and Investigative Services, but it does not appear that Darly has a security license.
When Fox News Digital reached out to Meyer about the payments, he replied, "No comment."
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Hans von Spakovsky, a former FEC commissioner and now senior legal fellow at the Heritage Foundation, told Fox News Digital that "this is the type of bizarre inconsistency that should catch the attention of the FEC."
Von Spakovsky added that the irregularities should "cause the agency's auditing arm to investigate whether these were legitimate payments to a legitimate contractor."
This is not the first time Swalwell has raised eyebrows over his campaign expenditures. According to FEC filings through the years, Swalwell's campaign has reported a multitude of expenditures on luxury car services, expensive restaurants and lavish, luxury hotels, including in Dubai, Berlin, Paris, London and others.
Fox News Digital previously reported on Swalwell's campaign dropping tens of thousands of dollars on Just Dreaming Yacht Charters, a San Francisco agency that offers "relaxing and luxurious" private yachts for up to 40 passengers, as a fundraising expense. In October 2023, his campaign spent nearly $17,000 with the company.
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According to its 2023 year-end filings, Swalwell's campaign reported three payments for nearly $1,700 in Dubai at the five-star Burj Al Arab Hotel, considered a "global icon of Arabian luxury."
Swalwell's campaign spent nearly $90,000 on travel expenses during the last three months of 2023 alone, including at various other hotels such as 1 Hotel San Francisco, Austin Proper Hotel and the Times Square Edition.
In 2022, Swalwell's report showed that his campaign doled out nearly $60,000 in travel expenses over six weeks between April and May, including $1,752 at the five-star Hotel La Maison Champs-Elysées in Paris.
