Kanye West treasurer resigns, alleges possible ‘unlawful’ campaign transaction
The head of the rapper’s political operation denies any wrongdoing.
Patrick Krason, the treasurer for Ye’s, better known as Kanye West, still-active presidential campaign account, told a federal regulator he had resigned on Monday, alleging in a letter to the rapper-turned-candidate that campaign advisor Milo Yiannopoulos had possibly broken federal campaign finance law. Yiannopoulos denied the allegation.
The change signals a broader political shakeup for the rapper, also known as Ye, who has floated running for president again in 2024, although he has not filed a formal statement of candidacy with the Federal Election Commission. The Daily Beast reported last week that Yiannopoulos had returned to lead Ye’s political operation. Yiannopoulos, a longtime far-right provocateur, had previously worked with Ye’s campaign but departed in December, shortly before Krason was hired.
Krason had served as the campaign treasurer since December, and told the FEC that he had resigned in a Monday letter. All campaigns are required to have a treasurer to accept donations, make disbursements and file mandated reports with the agency.
In a separate letter addressed to Ye and obtained by POLITICO, Krason said he had been told he was going to be terminated by Yiannopoulos but was resigning before that was made official. He also said he had recently learned of a “potentially serious criminal transaction” involving the Kanye 2020 campaign, saying that Yiannopoulos “submitted falsified invoices and for expenditures that would be deemed unlawful” in November 2022, before Krason assumed the role as treasurer. He added that there was too much “personal animosity” for a professional relationship with Yiannopoulos.
Reached by phone, Krason said he felt he needed to leave Ye’s campaign following the personnel changes and due to concerns about Yiannopoulos outlined in his letter to Ye.
Yiannopoulos denied any wrongdoing by himself or the Kanye 2020 campaign to POLITICO, saying he was not going to “give any credence or ridiculous, ridiculous and easily disproven claims.” He suggested the allegations were a “venomous” attempt by the former treasurer to lash out while leaving the campaign. Ye could not be reached for comment directly.
The resignation letter cited an expense for a digital asset where Yiannopoulos allegedly sought reimbursement from both Kanye 2020 and the campaign of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Republican from Georgia for whom Yiannopoulos had previously worked, though not recently.
The Kanye 2020 campaign previously reported paying $40,000 to Yiannopoulos in December 2022 for “campaign wrap up services” as well as nearly $10,000 a month prior for a “domain transfer,” according to FEC filings. But there are no direct payments to Yiannopoulos in Greene’s campaign filings from that time. A spokesperson for Greene did not immediately respond to a POLITICO inquiry.
Ye previously ran for president in 2020. Despite initial concerns he could play a spoiler role, he won less than 68,000 votes nationwide, according to Ballotpedia. Last November, he dined with former President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago shortly after Trump’s 2024 campaign launch.
Kyle Cheney contributed to this report.