RETIRED_ARMY_INVESTIGATION
├─ total_anomalous_donations $1.89B
├─ donation_count 18,260,909
├─ unique_retired_donors 1,306,005
├─ max_sustained_rate 68.58/day for 2 years
├─ jan_2023_volume_spike 51x increase
├─ republican_recipients 88.8%
└─ source FEC Individual Contributions (58M records)
Important Disclaimer
This report presents statistical analysis of publicly available FEC data. Unusual patterns do not prove wrongdoing. There may be legitimate explanations including batch processing artifacts, platform technical issues, or legitimately wealthy retirees with significant investment income or savings. The individuals and organizations referenced have not been charged with any crimes.
What is this investigation
Analysis of 58 million FEC contribution records reveals $1.89 billion in political donations from individuals reporting "RETIRED" status - even more than the "NOT EMPLOYED" army. The data contains donation patterns that appear highly anomalous, including sustained rates averaging 68 donations per day for two years straight.
Unlike the NOT EMPLOYED donations which flow to Democratic committees, 88.8% of RETIRED donations go to Republican committees - primarily through WinRed, the Trump JFCs, and the RNC.
The Partisan Mirror
The "NOT EMPLOYED" and "RETIRED" armies are near-perfect partisan mirrors:
NOT EMPLOYED
99.6% Democratic
$950M to Dem / $3M to Rep
RETIRED
88.8% Republican
$651M to Rep / $259M to Dem
Combined, these two "non-working" groups account for $3.64 billion - 59% of all itemized donations in our dataset.
68 Donations Per Day - For Two Years
FEC records show Bruce Makowski from Clawson, MI averaging 68.58 political donations per day from January 2023 through December 2024.
That's one donation every 21 minutes around the clock, resulting in 50,065 total donations over 2 years. This is significantly higher than the top "NOT EMPLOYED" donor rate of 38/day.
Where The Money Went
Click committee name to view details. Unlike NOT EMPLOYED donations, RETIRED money flows primarily to Republican committees.
| Committee | Party | Donations | Amount | % of Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TRUMP NATIONAL COMMITTEE JFC, INC.C00873893 | - | 4,107,613 | $151.8M | 22.49% |
| TRUMP SAVE AMERICA JOINT FUNDRAISING COMMITTEEC00770941 | - | 2,190,818 | $77.4M | 12.00% |
| NRSCC00027466 | Republican | 1,515,064 | $54.1M | 8.30% |
| WINREDC00694323 | - | 1,164,352 | $210.5M | 6.38% |
| REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEEC00003418 | Republican | 714,887 | $48.0M | 3.91% |
| ACTBLUEC00401224 | - | 325,149 | $26.2M | 1.78% |
| HARRIS VICTORY FUNDC00744946 | - | 177,021 | $139.2M | 0.97% |
| DCCCC00000935 | Democratic | 111,661 | $25.8M | 0.61% |
| HARRIS FOR PRESIDENTC00703975 | Democratic | 91,384 | $11.1M | 0.50% |
| DNC SERVICES CORP / DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEEC00010603 | Democratic | 81,314 | $21.9M | 0.45% |
| DSCCC00042366 | Democratic | 65,439 | $22.7M | 0.36% |
| SMPC00484642 | - | 63,035 | $48.6M | 0.35% |
| COLIN ALLRED FOR SENATEC00839597 | Democratic | 41,205 | $4.6M | 0.23% |
| FRIENDS OF SHERROD BROWNC00264697 | Democratic | 39,879 | $5.0M | 0.22% |
| MONTANANS FOR TESTERC00412304 | Democratic | 31,953 | $4.9M | 0.17% |
Top "Speed Demon" Donors (35+ donations/day average)
Data from public FEC Individual Contributions filings. Employment status is self-reported. RETIRED donors show MORE extreme patterns than NOT EMPLOYED donors.
| Donor | Location | Donations/Day | Total Donations | Total Given |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bruce Makowski | Clawson, MI | 68.58 | 50,065 | $107K |
| Brenda Lemmond | Durham, NC | 51.71 | 14,169 | $52K |
| Beverly Ford | Marietta, GA | 48.48 | 36,649 | $330K |
| Margaret McLendon | Richland, GA | 48.33 | 12,953 | $302K |
| Ruth Waymire | Odenville, AL | 45.68 | 15,257 | $72K |
| Virginia Hruza | Prescott, AZ | 45.02 | 20,618 | $215K |
| Donald Glenz | Spring, TX | 36.77 | 10,662 | $281K |
| Jo Ann Yancey | Conroe, TX | 36.12 | 18,061 | $469K |
NOT EMPLOYED vs RETIRED: Side by Side
| Metric | NOT EMPLOYED | RETIRED |
|---|---|---|
| Total Amount | $1.75B | $1.89B |
| Donation Count | 16.3M | 18.3M |
| Unique Donors | 804K | 1.3M |
| Max Sustained Rate | 38/day | 68/day |
| Primary Recipient Party | Democratic (99.6%) | Republican (88.8%) |
| Top Platform | ActBlue | WinRed |
The January 2023 Explosion
Same pattern as NOT EMPLOYED: 51x increase from December 2022 to January 2023. This coincides with when bulk FEC data coverage begins in our dataset.
Questions Raised by the Data
- 1.Partisan mirror patterns - Why do NOT EMPLOYED and RETIRED show near-opposite partisan splits? Is this organic behavior or coordinated?
- 2.More extreme than NOT EMPLOYED - Why do RETIRED donors show higher donation frequencies (68/day vs 38/day)?
- 3.Platform symmetry - ActBlue dominates NOT EMPLOYED; WinRed dominates RETIRED. Are both platforms seeing the same patterns?
- 4.Volume timing - Both groups exploded in January 2023. What caused this across both parties simultaneously?
These questions do not establish that wrongdoing occurred, but suggest the need for enhanced verification and investigation on both sides.
Data Sources
Primary Source
FEC Individual Contributions Database - Bulk data files containing all itemized individual contributions to federal committees.
Data Specification
FEC Individual Contributions File Description - The OCCUPATION field is self-reported by donors on contribution forms.
Records Analyzed
58,207,350 individual contribution records from the 2023-2024 election cycle, filtered for OCCUPATION = 'RETIRED'.
Data source: FEC Individual Contributions (58.2M records analyzed). Investigation ID: ra-2024-001. This analysis is provided for informational purposes and raises questions for regulatory review - it is not an accusation of illegal conduct.