Sketchy guests turn out for Sherrod Brown fundraiser

Former Democratic U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, who hopes to return to Congress’s upper chamber, faces criticism for a fundraiser he recently headlined that also included disgraced politicos as attendees.

Among those in attendance at the March 25 fundraiser was Charlie Brown, Sherrod Brown’s brother, who served as the 30th attorney general of West Virginia after his election in 1984. However, his tenure was short, and he resigned five years later as part of a deal to end a grand jury investigation into campaign financial records and allegations that he lied under oath, Townhall reported.

Sherrod Brown’s Mountain State connections don’t end there. Former West Virginia Chief Justice Margaret Workman, who faced impeachment “for maladministration, corruption, incompetency, neglect of duty, and certain high crimes and misdemeanors,” was also in attendance.

Dante DiTrapano, an attorney whose legal troubles include an indictment on felony charges, including “possessing various firearms in and affecting interstate commerce while being an unlawful user of and addicted to a controlled substance,” also attended. His West Virginia law license was revoked on May 10, 2007, and his Georgia law license on Nov. 8, 2008, Town Hall reported.

Workman reinstated DiTrapano’s law license in 2018, Townhall reported. According to the report, Workman, then a circuit court judge, also oversaw Charlie Brown’s case, and he was represented by Rudolph DiTrapano, Dante DiTrapano’s father.

Brown’s former and potentially future colleague, Democratic U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, a liberal who derides “systemic racism” but faces scrutiny over his membership in Bailey’s Beach Club, an allegedly all-white beach club, also made the guest list.

“A disgraced politician, a felon, and a racist walk into a bar – and they’re all there for one reason: to support their favorite failed politician, Sherrod Brown,” Republican National Committee Spokesman Hunter Lovell said in a statement. “It’s the same old playbook Ohio voters already rejected.”

Brown, 73, announced his campaign in August 2025 and used ActBlue to raise millions of dollars. Critics have slammed the platform, alleging potential illegal activity, and the U.S. House Republicans have launched an investigation into the Democratic fundraising platform.

The Mansfield native served in the U.S. Senate from 2007 until 2025. Current Republican U.S. Sen. Bernie Moreno stunningly defeated Brown, who previously served in the U.S. House from 1993 until 2007, in November 2024.

Townhall recently recorded Brown, who has said he doesn’t think people should be required to present an identification before voting, “stumbling around aimlessly like Joe Biden” after one of its reporters asked him about unions not supporting him. Republicans have also called out Brown’s “pro-illegal immigrant past.”

Brown is hoping to unseat former Lt. Governor and current U.S. Sen. Jon Husted in November’s election.