Perspectives; Thoughts; Comments; Opinions; Discussions

Posts tagged ‘donations’

Elderly Democrats Say Thousands of Donations to ActBlue Were Made Fraudulently in Their Names


By: Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell | January 08, 2025

Read more at https://www.dailysignal.com/2025/01/08/elderly-democrats-say-thousands-donations-actblue-were-made-fraudulently-their-names/

An elderly man votes.
(AJ Watt/Getty Images)

Democratic fundraising platform ActBlue may have raked in millions through fraudulent donations, according to the testimonies of elderly Americans who said federal election records do not reflect their giving. 

Eighteen registered Democrats in Connecticut, all over the age of 70, appear to have donated $1.9 million to Democratic causes, including ActBlue, through hundreds of thousands of small donations from 2016 to 2024, according to a review of Federal Election Commission filings by Dominic Rapini, CEO of technology company Queralt Inc. and a former Connecticut Republican candidate for office. 

Curious about the donation patterns, Rapini tracked down some of the Connecticut residents and asked them if they really did make thousands of small donations, sometimes multiple in a day, through ActBlue. Several of the supposed donors told Rapini they did not make any of the reported donations, nor did they know anything about how their names were being used, Rapini told The Daily Signal.

An 88-year-old retired Yale University professor, for example, supposedly made 7,539 donations for a total of $213,163, according to FEC records. After Rapini informed him about the significant donations in his name, he signed an affidavit saying, “I believe this does not reflect my donation frequency or dollars I have donated.” 

According to Rapini, who has analyzed numbers for three decades in the tech industry, this is a possible case of alleged identity theft and money laundering. A contribution made by one person in the name of another is illegal.

“When I examine the donation patterns tied to these alleged ‘smurfs,’ the irregularities jump off the page, revealing behavior that defies both human logic and common sense,” he told The Daily Signal. “To safeguard trust in our election process, we must confront these anomalies head-on.”

Rep. Brian Steil, R-Wis., chairman of the House Administration Committee, told The Daily Signal he’s aware of similar reports from across the country. 

“In response, last fall, I shared the findings of our investigation with several state attorneys general,” Steil said in an emailed statement. “The committee and I remain fully available to collaborate with any state law enforcement officials who wish to access the information we have gathered on this critical issue.”

An elderly acupuncturist and registered Democrat appears to have made 17 donations in 2022 through ActBlue totaling $317. In an email to Rapini, she promised she hasn’t made political contributions since 2016. 

“I can promise you I have NOT made donations myself to the [Democratic National Committee] or Democratic local party since 2016 … ,” she said. “Anything past that are fake and/or manipulated donations.” 

A 91-year-old woman appears to have made 2,591 donations totaling $41,000, according to FEC filings. She signed an affidavit with Rapini denying making the reported donations. 

Another 75-year-old woman looks to have made 4,270 small donations adding up to $32,323. She too signed an affidavit with Rapini denying making the donations in this frequency or quantity.

ActBlue is currently under congressional investigation for alleged laundering of foreign money laundering. 

ActBlue came under fire on Oct. 29 because of its donor-verification policies. In a letter that day to ActBlue, Steil said foreign actors from Iran, Russia, Venezuela, and China could use the platform to launder illicit money for use in U.S. political campaigns. 

The Democratic fundraising platform admitted in 2023 to Steil that it didn’t require contributors to use a card verification value, or CVV, to donate on its website with a credit card. Those security codes are meant to ensure that the person making a purchase physically possesses the credit card. 

ActBlue responded to The Daily Signal’s request for comment about the affidavits by referring The Daily Signal to a post on its blog, which says, “Because of how reporting works for intermediaries, contributions made on platforms like ours often show up more than once in public FEC records, because both ActBlue and the receiving campaign or committee must report the contributions.

“FEC rules require ActBlue to itemize every contribution made through its platform, regardless of amount,” the post says.

“Additionally, FEC reports often lump multiple donors with the same name together,” the post continues. “This can make it difficult to easily identify which contributions should be associated with each individual donor, especially donors with common names.”

Rapini said whether the suspicious donation patterns come from “sloppy data systems at the FEC” or “nefarious actors laundering money through unsuspecting elderly donors,” an investigation is needed.

“Transparency and accountability are nonnegotiable when it comes to protecting the integrity of our democracy,” he said.

Category:

corruption, Crime, Political

Tagged with:

Op-ed: Biden’s Ambassador Gutmann must answer for a colossal problem surrounding Penn Biden Center


By Richard Painter , John Pudner Fox News | Published August 17, 2023 4:00am EDT

Read more at https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/bidens-ambassador-gutmann-must-answer-colossal-problem-surrounding-penn-biden-center

The vitriolic exchanges between partisans regarding charges against the past president and family of the current president are obscuring scrutiny of another ethical question important to our national security. According to reports, the U.S. and Germany have given a combined $127 billion to Ukraine during the war, while the Chinese coordinate with Russia. And yet, the Chinese gave $100 million to the University of Pennsylvania under the watch of the current U.S. ambassador to Germany. Confusing?

Yes, and it demands the current U.S. ambassador to Germany, Amy Gutmann, the former president of the University of Pennsylvania and founder of the Penn Biden Center where classified documents were found in January 2023, answer some questions from Congress.

Joe Biden and Amy Gutmann
Penn President Amy Gutmann and Vice President Joe Biden at the University of Pennsylvania’s Abramson Cancer Center on Jan. 15, 2016. (Ed Hille/Philadelphia Inquirer/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

It has been revealed that Penn used the Penn Biden Center for schmoozing with donors during the Biden 2020 presidential run throughout 2019 and 2020. Meetings also were confirmed to have taken place there with future members of Biden’s “kitchen cabinet,” including Antony Blinken. 

BIDEN NOMINATES UPENN PRESIDENT FOR AMBASSADORSHIP FOLLOWING CHINA DISCLOSURE COMPLAINT

A colossal problem surrounding the Penn Biden Center that has been largely brushed off is the audio of Ambassador Gutmann’s Senate confirmation hearing where she said she had no knowledge of Chinese money flowing into the university. However, according to congressional testimony from Paul Moore, former head investigative counsel for the Department of Education during the Trump administration, there is a tape recording of the Penn Biden Center being discussed in an event in China coinciding with a massive influx of money being donated to the university while Gutmann was university president. 

Video

This claim goes against what the university said in the past, that “The Penn Biden Center has never solicited or received any gifts from any Chinese or other foreign entity.” The Chinese money – apparently close to $100 million – was given to the university itself, but the Penn Biden Center’s name apparently was dropped all over the place in order to raise it. 

How many of those donors actually visited the Penn Biden Center, and perhaps got a chance to see the president’s rarely used office, we won’t know without visitor logs that Penn may or may not provide to Congress. We also don’t know who might have looked in the locked closet where Biden’s classified unauthorized documents were stashed for almost six years.

The Chinese government of course knows about this money donated to Penn and where it came from. They also know whether Ambassador Gutmann was forthcoming with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee about it during her 2021 confirmation hearing. 

Video

EXCLUSIVE: CHINESE DONORS TO UNIVERSITY HOUSING BIDEN THINK TANK HAVE TIES TO HUNTER’S BUSINESS DEALS, CCP

The $100 million question is, if Amy Gutmann is compromised by China with her denials and not being forthcoming about soliciting Chinese donations to Penn while she was visiting China during her tenure as Penn’s president. Is there a security risk that needs to be immediately addressed?

A major aspect of this problem is Gutmann’s current role in Germany as U.S. ambassador as Germany itself is central to military intelligence about Ukraine’s defensive war against Russia and U.S. aide to Ukraine. China, however, is coordinating with Russia. 

Ambassador Gutmann should be brought back to Washington to testify before the House Oversight and Foreign Affairs committees, as well as the Senate, about her past dealings with China. Members of Congress should do their job on this instead of simply pressuring current Penn President Liz Magill to answer questions about what happened at the school while Gutmann was at the helm. Gutmann is the U.S. ambassador, and the potential security risk.

Penn Biden Center
Former Vice President Joe Biden joins University of Pennsylvania President Amy Gutmann to discuss global affairs at the school’s Irvine Auditorium on Feb. 19, 2019 in Philadelphia. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Elite universities constantly argue that they are private and it’s none of the government’s business what they do, all while they take millions of dollars in federal subsidies and millions more from undisclosed foreign donors. These universities have been living off tax dollars for decades while amassing billion-dollar endowments. The least they can do is not pose a risk to our national security by being a gateway for foreign donors, and potentially also foreign intelligence officers, to get access to high level U.S. government officials.

The broader issue at work, however, is how Chinese money significantly influences universities throughout the U.S. The Justice Department had an investigation program into it, but Attorney General Merrick Garland closed the FBI’s so-called China initiative in February last year immediately after over 160 members of the University of Pennsylvania faculty and other universities signed an open letter calling for Garland to shut down the program. 

These opponents of DOJ‘s China initiative used arguments against racial profiling as the excuse to nix the investigation. The faculty letter was part of a larger university battle against the program that included Penn, Harvard and the University of Minnesota.

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland
Attorney General Merrick Garland (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

THE NEXT BATTLEFIELD WITH CHINA IS THE COLLEGE CAMPUS

The DOJ’s website lists a string of real criminal cases that the China initiative had brought against academics over a four-year span who were caught dealing with China on espionage charges or not disclosing foreign donations and other financial ties they were required to disclose. The DOJ should be capable of avoiding racial profiling and enforcing laws vital to our national security at the same time. 

Even though Gutmann at her 2021 confirmation hearing acknowledged that Penn took some Chinese donations, she insisted it did not affect the university’s values. Guttmann also denied that Penn set up a Confucius Institute on campus linked to the Chinese government through funders. 

The problem is that Confucius Institutes are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Chinese government influence in foreign universities. We still need to know what Ambassador Gutmann knew about the $100 million raised from China during the last few years of her Penn presidency and why she was unable to recall it in her Senate testimony. 

Gutmann in Germany
Ambassador Amy Gutmann, front left, joins NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, second from left, during NATO air exercises at the Jagel Air Base in Berlin on June 20, 2023. (Cuneyt Karadag/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

It remains clear that our entire system of ethics in this country remains highly politicized. Democrats and Republicans focus on the other party while ignoring their own issues. The lesser of two evils strategy does not justify selective enforcement of our nation’s laws, and if we continue down this path of polarization, our nation could end up in dangerous waters.

Both the House Oversight Committee and Judiciary should be pursuing the truth, not partisan politics. For the good of our national security, Amy Gutmann must be called to testify about any possible ties to China, especially as she is serving as U.S. ambassador to Germany as the war in Ukraine continues.

John Pudner is president of Take Back our Republic Action.

Richard W. Painter is a professor at the University of Minnesota Law School and was the chief White House ethics lawyer under President George W. Bush. He is the author of “Taxation Only With Representation: The Conservative Conscience and Campaign Finance Reform” (2016) and (with Peter Golenbock) of “American Nero: The History of the Destruction of the Rule of Law in America, and Why Trump Is the Worst Offender.”

Category:

corruption, Political

Tagged with:

BONUS Politically INCORRECT Cartoon


waving flag

puppet

In Review freedom combo 2

 

Category:

Political

Tagged with:

Many Clinton charity donors also got State Department awards under Hillary


waving flagBy Sarah Westwood | April 23, 2015 

URL of the Original Posting Site: http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/many-clinton-charity-donors-also-got-state-department-awards-under-hillary/article/2563476 

Enemy-Email-NRD-600Twenty-two of the 37 corporations nominated for a prestigious State Department award — and six of the eight ultimate winners — while Hillary Clinton was Secretary of State were also donors to the Clinton family foundation. The published donor records of the Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation don’t give exact dates or amounts of its contributors, but it is possible to create a general timeline for when many of the corporations donated and when they were either nominated or selected for the award.

  • Silicon Valley giant Cisco was the biggest foundation contributor nominated in 2009, giving the Clinton charity between $1 million and $5 million. The company then won the award in 2010 when eight of the 12 finalists and two of the three winners had donated to the foundation.
  • The other Clinton contributor to win that year, candy-maker Mars, Inc., had given between $25,000 and $50,000. Coca-Cola was the most generous foundation donor to be honored as a finalist in 2010, giving a $5-10 million donation.
  • TOM’s Shoes, a 2009 winner for its work in Argentina, donated between $100,000 and $250,000.
  • The other 2009 winner, Trilogy International Partners, gave between $50,000 and $100,000 to the Clinton Foundation. Overall, seven of the 10 finalists in 2009 were foundation donors.
  • Seven of the 12 finalists for the award in 2011 gave to the charity. One of the winners, Procter & Gamble, had contributed $1-5 million. The other 2011 winner, Sahlman Seafoods, does not appear to have been a donor.
  • Tiger Machinery, a 2011 finalist, is the Russian dealer of Caterpillar, Inc. tractors and other heavy equipment. Caterpillar gave between $1,000 and $5,000 to the Clinton Foundation.
  • Intel, another Silicon Valley giant, was nominated for an award each year of Clinton’s time in office, winning the award in 2012. The technology company donated between $250,000 and $500,000.
  • Five of the eight finalists and one of the two winners were foundation donors in 2012. A finalist that year, Esso Angola, is an international subsidiary of Exxon-Mobil, a prolific contributor to the Clinton Foundation. Exxon-Mobil gave between $1 million and $5 million.Party of Deciet and lies

Each of the companies listed appear to have made at least a portion of their donations before 2013. However, the Clinton Foundation’s vague listings prevent a more thorough review.

Kerry Humphrey, spokesman for the department’s Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs, said “senior representatives” from multiple federal agencies selected winners from among those nominated by U.S. embassies for “corporate excellence” abroad, including “demonstrating respect for human rights” and “promoting respect for the environment.”

The early days of Clinton’s second presidential campaign have been overshadowed by widespread criticism from across the political spectrum of foreign donations to the former chief U.S. diplomat’s family foundation, as well of her use of a private email and server to conduct government business while Secretary of State. She then unilaterally destroyed an estimated 30,000 emails she claimed were personal.

A forthcoming book by Peter Schweizer called Clinton Cash purports to show “a pattern of financial transactions involving the Clintons that occurred contemporaneous with favorable U.S. policy decisions benefiting those providing the funds.”In Review OARLogo Picture6

Category:

Political

Tagged with:

Big-Name Democrats Took Money from the ‘Evil Right-wing Bogeymen’ They’re Campaigning Against in 2014


http://www.ijreview.com/2014/04/129523-big-name-democrats-took-money-evil-right-wing-bogeyman-theyre-campaiging-2014/

Reported By Kyle Becker

januar_Democrats_De_280290g

What else is new with the Democrats? The part of “do as I say, not as I do” is running a frothing-at-the-mouth fundraising campaign ahead of their 2014 debacle election by demonizing two billionaires who have given less money to conservative causes than 22 progressive groups have given to the Democrats.

The dastardly Koch Brothers.

This list of Democratic Senators who have actually taken money from the Koch Brothers from 2006-2014 according to Open Secrets includes some heavy-hitters: Hillary Clinton, Chuck Schumer, Joe Biden, Dianne Feinstein, and even Barack Obama himself.

Check it out. Via Truth Revolt:

  • Max Baucus (MT): $10,500
  • Joe Biden (DE): $750
  • Tom Carper (DE): $8,500
  • Hillary Clinton (NY): $3,500
  • Chris Coons (DE): $500
  • Dianne Feinstein (CA): $1,000
  • Tom Harkin (IA): $1,000
  • Tim Johnson (SD): $11,000
  • Patrick Leahy (VT): $250
  • Carl Levin (MI): $500
  • Barack Obama (IL): $5,500
  • Mark Pryor (AR): $20,000
  • Charles Schumer (NY): $1,000

The following are Democrats in the House who took campaign funding from the Koch Brothers:

  • John Barrow (GA): $12,500
  • Ben Cardin (MD): $500
  • Jim Cooper (TN): $11,000
  • Bud Cramer (AL): $5,000
  • Henry Cuellar (TX): $30,500
  • John Dingell (MI): $7,500
  • Gene Green (TX): $18,500
  • Ron Kind (WI): $3,500
  • Rick Larsen (WA): $10,000
  • John B. Larson (CT): $500
  • Dan Maffei (NY): $1,000
  • Jim Matheson (UT): $30,500
  • Mike McIntyre (NC): $3,500
  • Gregory Meeks (NY): $2,500
  • Mike Michaud (ME): $1,000
  • Collin Peterson (MN): $43,500
  • David Scott (GA): $23,000
  • Adam Smith (WA): $2,500
  • Eric Swalwell (CA): $1,000
  • Mike Thompson (CA): $15,000
  • Niki Tsongas (MA): $1,000

It’s not that the Democrats are against money in politics, it’s that they’re against their political opponents having money. That’s why they are against corporations donating money, but are fine with unions doing it. That’s why they are against Super-Pacs (or were – until Democrats began raking in the donations). It’s why they are against 501c4s donating money (because they lean Republican), but are fine with 501c3 charities (giving to Democrats).

All of this Koch Brothers bru-ha-ha and yelling “racist!” or “war on women!” whenever a leaf blows down the street is all a very pathetic attempt on the part of Democrats to deflect from the fact – pointed out by their opposition for years and years now – that Democrats are leading the country in the wrong direction, and lying like crazy about their opponents to boot.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid unavailable for comment.

Complete Message

 

Category:

Political

Tagged with:

Tag Cloud