California Governor Gavin Newsom and US Senator Elizabeth Warren claimed on X that they are raising money to help fight the Los Angeles wildfires and their victims.
Problem: Hyperlink directs donors to the infamous far-left Act Blue fundraiser. This activity was the subject of an investigation by Texas Attorney Ken Paxton regarding suspicious donations.
Warren's appeal regarding X will be posted on the Act Blue Warren page for senators. Newsom's donation will not go to its ostensible recipient, the Cal Fire Foundation. Rather, users ended up on Newsom's own superpack ActBlue page.
Meanwhile, Newsom denied that his veto of the seasonal firefighter hiring bill led to the layoffs.
newsome super pack
Newsom's money request comes under a memo saying there is “a lot of misinformation out there” about his abysmal performance during the worst fire in Los Angeles history.
X Post links to CalFireFacts, a website that includes hyperlinks to donations to the Cal Fire Foundation.
But donors won't go to the California Fire Foundation. Instead, they landed on Newsom's own campaign super PAC, the Campaign for Democracy, as the New York Post reported. ActBlue provides the platform.
“Your donation will go directly to supporting firefighters and the communities they serve, including direct financial support to affected residents,” the website states.
Continue posting:
“None of these donations go to Gavin Newsom or his PAC. Governor Newsom has raised $450,000 in small donations to the Fire Foundation during these fires. “We are proud and grateful to people across the country who came together to help Californians in their time of need,” a spokesperson for Governor Newsom said. post.
Online observers were also quick to point out that ActBlue takes a portion of every donation as a processing fee. ActBlue claims it “charges a flat fee of 3.95% per donation” to “cover processing costs.” The Post has reached out to ActBlue for comment.
ActBlue's pricing page explains the fees: “Each donation is subject to a 3.95% transaction fee.”
Similarly, Warren sends donors to the Warren for the Senate page, also managed by ActBlue.
“Would you be willing to split your donation between the Los Angeles Fire Foundation and the United Way of Greater Los Angeles to help Los Angeles-area communities devastated by wildfires? 100% of your donations will go directly to these organizations,” Warren wrote. Next, there is a link to the ActBlue page, which describes the two recipients.
“The Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation is filling funding gaps to provide firefighters with the protective equipment and modern tools they need to do their jobs, while working to ensure their long-term health and safety,” the page reads. It is written in
It's unclear why the city doesn't have enough equipment to put out the fires, given the tax burden on Angelenos.
“United Way of Greater Los Angeles is providing assistance to low-income people, people experiencing homelessness, small businesses, and community organizations affected by the wildfires,” the page continues.
Also, “Your full donation will directly support these two organizations.”
But not when ActBlue is getting almost 4 cents on the dollar.
Paxton vs. Act Blue
Paxton referred ActBlue to the U.S. Department of Justice for criminal investigation in October after investigating possible illegal postings on the website for 10 months.
Paxton told the Justice Department that ActBlue did not do enough to stop the illegal donations, noting that the investigation found that ActBlue required credit card CCV security codes. These include “clearly… straw donations are being made on a large scale using false identities and through untraceable payments.” method. ”
“Unless remedied by the FEC, bad actors could easily illegally funnel foreign funds into U.S. elections or exceed political contribution limits,” Paxton wrote in a memo to the Federal Election Commission. There is,” he wrote.
The House Administration Committee also launched an investigation into the Democratic Party's funding gap.
Evidence of donations from China, Russia, Iran and Venezuela was found, the newspaper reported.
“Our research shows that these (foreign) activists are increasing existing U.S. (sic) “This study has shown that they may be exploiting donors.” “The failure to verify the identity of donors may have allowed foreign actors to fraudulently participate in the political process.”
And that's not all, the newspaper continued.
“Wisconsin Republican strategist Mark Bullock claims in bomb extortion lawsuit that his identity was stolen to make at least 385 donations to the Harris Victory Fund, a left-wing and Veep super PAC,” the Post said. explained.
Mr. Bullock claimed that almost $1,000 went to Democrats without his knowledge, but that each donation was less than $200. Therefore, ActBlue was not required to report them to the FEC.
“ActBlue's donation history over the past 14 years also points to several questionable fact patterns, according to Still Commission money laundering experts,” the Post reported. “Hundreds of donations valued at just $2.50 were recorded from the same individual.”
There are no seasonal firefighters.
Before Warren and Newsom's funding plan surfaced, Newsom insisted to X that his veto of the bill did not make the Los Angeles fires worse.
“Last year, Governor Newsom vetoed a bill that would have kept seasonal firefighters at Cal Fire to fill staffing shortages,” Rep. Kate Sanchez wrote on Jan. 9.
His veto forced the layoff of thousands of seasonal firefighters, but despite promises, they were never replaced. This is negligence of the highest order.
Newsom insists that's not true. This bill would delay the hiring of firefighters, he wrote.
