Nebraska Senate candidate Dan Osborn is rescheduling the campaign after a family pay complaint

Nebraska US Senator Dan Osborn is reportedly reorganizing his campaign following complaints that he has been using money improperly from his relatives, including his wife, who, according to a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC), alleged that she illegally received money from Osborn’s campaign, political committee websites and consulting firms.

Although paying family members is illegal under federal election law, there are certain guidelines that must be followed, including that the services provided are bona fide campaign services, and that they are paid at fair market value.

Fox News Digital reported last month that conservative watchdog America’s Public Trust filed a complaint with federal election officials accusing Osborn’s campaign and two political committees of conducting an illegal “scheme” to pay off nearly a dozen of his relatives.

Osborn’s wife was among the relatives at the center of the complaints, having been paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to her husband’s campaigns and affiliated PACs, both directly and through two political companies he worked for, or owned, according to the complaint.

But, on Thursday, Osborn and his wife informed the Omaha-World Herald that she will step down from her roles with the two telecommunications companies and will join her husband’s campaign as its full-time manager.

“I’m not going to let Pete and his friends decide who runs my campaign,” Osborn told the Omaha-World Herald. “No one works harder than my wife. Along with managing our home and raising our children, she has been instrumental in running my campaign.”

In a statement sent to Fox News Digital, campaign spokesman John Dolan called concerns about Osborn’s campaign spending “a joke.”

“Why would a millionaire like Pete Ricketts become a mechanic?” Dolan asked, referring to GOP Nebraska Sen. Pete Ricketts, whom Osborn challenged. “Ricketts and his allies are doing what they always do: throwing mud to distract voters from getting rich while sinking the country.”

Osborn has maintained that his wife, reportedly a bar manager, was an integral part of his campaign and that the payments were in line with market rates.

In some cases, Megan received money directly from her husband’s campaign, and in other cases she received it from two companies, one called Independent Campaigns LLC, in which Megan has a one-third ownership, and Dark Forest LLC, which official candidate disclosures show Megan receives compensation for.

Firms were also paid for campaign services.

Just two days after independent campaigns were suspended, Osborn’s Working Class Heroes Fund (WCHF) made its first payment of $50,000 to the company, according to the Lincoln-Journal Star.

According to Americans for Public Trust’s FEC complaint, Independent Campaigns received nearly $200,000 from Osborn’s main campaign, WCHF and another PAC called the League of Labor Voters (LLV), which Americans for Public Trust also says is controlled by Osborn.

In all, according to the Americans for Public Trust complaint, Osborn’s wife was able to earn herself nearly $300,000 for things like “strategic consulting” and work reimbursements.

Meanwhile, the complaint against Osborn’s campaign also includes payments to Osborn’s sister-in-law, brother-in-law and daughter.

Osborn’s daughter, Georgia, a part-time dancer who Osborn says still needs help paying her bills, was given $4,200 in Osborn’s first failed campaign that was then defunct.

The payment came when Osborn’s 2024 primary campaign was defeated and before he launched his 2026 bid. The money was for “facilitator services” from the then-defunct campaign.

“Perhaps the Osborn family is filled with unprecedented political talent, like the Kennedys or the Roosevelts,” said Americans for Public Trust’s complaint to the FEC. “Or perhaps Mr. Osborn has realized his ability to funnel large amounts of unchecked campaign cash into his family.”

According to the Omaha-World Herald, Osborn’s wife will not only work for the consulting companies she previously owned, but she will also divest her stake in Independent Campaigns.

The outlet also reported that Osborn and his wife indicated that she would be paid a salary of $8,000 a month, which is slightly lower than the $9,000 a month Osborn said his wife was making from multiple sources of income before embarking on her husband’s unsuccessful first campaign in 2024.

“Dan Osborn restructured the way he paid his wife after we filed a complaint with the FEC that she was not in compliance with campaign finance laws,” Caitlin Sutherland, executive director of Americans for Public Trust, told Fox News Digital on Friday. “However, questions remain about his payments to his daughter, brother-in-law, and two sisters-in-law, as well as his control of two federal PACs. Rest assured, Osborn may have changed tactics, but he is not out of the loop in his effort to funnel campaign money to his entire family.”

Osborn, who is running as an Independent, has also been criticized for aligning himself with the Democrats despite pledging not to negotiate with any major party if elected.

Osborn is looking to replace Sen. Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., after losing his 2024 challenge to Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb.