FEC Recommends Ban on Shady Fundraising Tactic Use
Post# of 123676
Really? That's like saying that stink is almost on shit.
Source: Mediaite
After a New York Times investigation highlighted how former President Donald Trump’s campaign used a shady fundraising tactic — prechecked recurring donation boxes — the Federal Election Commission (FEC) has taken a rare unanimous vote to recommend to Congress that they pass a law banning the practice.
As the Times reported back in early April, during the 2020 election, Trump’s campaign found itself at a cash disadvantage with now-President Joe Biden, and started sending out online fundraising solicitations that made repetitive donations the default option. Some of these were set up to authorize additional donations later in the campaign, some for monthly or even weekly recurring donations.
The campaign also sometimes used prechecked boxes to double the donation and made the language and disclaimers complex and confusing.
NOT a high bar, considering the target donors.
The Times interviewed multiple Trump donors who thought they were making one-time contributions and were shocked to discover thousands of extra dollars being sent to the campaign, sometimes overdrawing their bank accounts.
Unhappy donors made so many fraud complaints to their banks and credit card companies that the Trump campaign issued $122.7 million in total refunds, or 10.7 percent of their total donations through the WinRed online platform, a number far above the norm for a presidential campaign.
-snip-
The FEC reviewed the issue and voted unanimously, 6-0, to recommend to Congress that they pass a law banning this type of pre-selected repetitive donation. The FEC is evenly split, with 3 Republican appointees and 3 Democrats, and had spent most of the recent years gridlocked on partisan lines.
Regarding this specific fundraising tactic, however, the six were all on the same page — including the three Republican commissioners appointed by Trump himself.
Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/fec-r...li=BBnb7Kz