◆ President-elect Donald Trump
is urging people to buy L.L. Bean. The highprofile promotion comes after it is revealed that one of the company’s family members made excessive contributions to a Trump PAC.
AUGUSTA, Maine — President-elect Donald Trump is urging supporters to buy L.L. Bean as the company faces calls for a boycott because of a family member’s donations to his candidacy.
Trump on Thursday tweeted his thanks to Linda Bean, a granddaughter of the retailer’s founder, and cited her “great support and courage.”
He ended by saying, “Buy L.L. Bean,” garnering criticism from the nonpartisan money-in-politics watchdog Every Voice for “personally encouraging his supporters to boost the companies of his super PAC donors.”
Bean called the backlash against her “bullying” and “un-American” during Thursday interviews on Fox’s news and business TV channels and vowed she would not step down from the company’s board of directors.
Bean and the Freeport, Mainebased retailer have been targeted by anti-Trump groups following reports of her donations to the pro-Trump Making Maine Great Again PAC.
The founders of #GrabYourWallet called for a boycott of L.L. Bean but said it would stop if the company, known for its waterproof rubber-bottom boots, cut formal ties with Linda Bean.
The Federal Election Commission said Linda Bean made excessive contributions to the PAC, which it said was limited to individual contributions of $5,000 in a single year. The FEC said the group could face punitive action or an audit if it doesn’t respond. The group is taking steps to change its registration to a super PAC, allowing it to raise unlimited funds.
On Wednesday, the pro-Trump PAC amended its filings. The filings say Bean donated $30,000, not $60,000 as the political action committee originally reported.
The filings also say a $15,000 contribution to the PAC came from Diana Bean, who is believed to be Linda Bean’s sister. The rest came from four previously undisclosed contributors.
The PAC spent $66,000 on signs and ads supporting Trump, who won enough support in the 2nd Congressional District to split Maine’s electoral votes, taking one vote to Democrat Hillary Clinton’s three.
Linda Bean on Thursday said her “cousin gave to (Barack) Obama four years ago” and said he donated much more than she did.
Federal campaign finance reports show donors linked to L.L. Bean have donated to both Democratic and Republican causes.