Raw Story

COLUMBIA — South Carolina’s attorney general is questioning whether a major fundraising platform for Democrats committed fraud. State Democratic leaders and a representative of the platform contend the allegations are nonsense.

The allegations are outlined in a letter released Monday from Attorney General Alan Wilson to the CEO of Massachusetts-based ActBlue — a platform that processes donations to Democratic campaigns. ActBlue acts as a pass-through, sending donations made online to candidates in exchange for a percentage fee.

Wilson says ActBlue may have split large donations into smaller donations to avoid campaign limits, which he likened to a “smurfing” money-laundering scheme. He also says the platform may have allowed for “straw donors,” when one person makes a donation on behalf of another.

In the letter, Wilson writes that his office found specific examples of South Carolina donors making so many contributions that it appeared “implausible and highly suspicious.” The letter makes no direct accusations. Sprinkled throughout are terms such as “may,” “if true” and “raise the question.” It asks for additional information about the process that ActBlue uses to verify donor information.

“Alarmingly, some of these individuals list their occupations as ‘unemployed’ or report jobs that could not be reasonably commensurate to the total amount of financial contributions made by others in similar positions,” he wrote. “The allegations also raise the question of whether contributions were made without the reported donors’ consent or awareness, which is equally troubling.”

The information is based on public records, according to the letter. It does not specify whether the donations were made to state or federal candidates, although it does say that either could be in violation of the law.

The letter was sent to ActBlue on Thursday. Wilson is asking for a response by Sept. 6.

In a statement, an ActBlue spokesperson declined to address Wilson’s letter specifically but said the platform enforces strict anti-fraud policies. The spokesperson also confirmed the platform is cooperating with Wilson.

“We are aware of recent attempts to spread misinformation about our platform,” the statement reads. “These false so-called ‘allegations’ are intentionally designed to mislead the public.”

State Democratic leaders also dismissed the claims from Wilson, saying that a donation made through ActBlue includes all the same required information as any other political donation.

“It’s all reported. It’s all there. There’s no way to do straw donors,” Jay Parmley, state executive director for the Democratic party, told the Gazette Monday afternoon. “(Wilson) would rather make a stupid point that has no basis in fact than doing a little bit of research.”

Parmley described ActBlue as a “godsend” that made it much easier for candidates to receive donations.

“This is not going to go anywhere, but (Wilson is) going to try and confuse the electorate, make people think there’s something wrong,” Parmley said.

This is not the first time Republicans have raised questions about ActBlue.

Virginia’s attorney general, Jason Miyares, sent a similar letter in early August. Indiana’s attorney general Todd Rokita announced his office was looking into “allegations” last Wednesday. Both are Republicans.

In Maryland, right-wing filmmaker James O’Keefe alleged a laundering operation for donations through ActBlue in the spring based on information that experts dismissed as dubious.

Whitney Michael, a senior advisor with Wilson’s office, did not provide specifics about what prompted the letter other than saying the issue was “brought to our attention.”

“This isn’t a blue or a red issue. This is a transparency issue,” Michael said.

Michael said that ActBlue has promised to provide additional information, and next steps would be based on that information.

Fake donations do have a history in South Carolina.

In 2012, then-Lt. Gov. Ken Ard resigned after being indicted for campaign violations. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to five years’ probation and 300 hours of public service.

This included a straw-donor scheme that involved Ard giving money to others to be donated to back to the campaign, falsely inflating the number of donations that he received. He also paid a $48,000 ethics fine for using money from his campaign to pay for personal items, like clothes, football tickets and a flat-screen TV.

SC Daily Gazette is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. SC Daily Gazette maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Seanna Adcox for questions: info@scdailygazette.com. Follow SC Daily Gazette on Facebook and X.

Former President Donald Trump's campaign fired back at the Foo Fighters, who last week said the campaign didn't have the band's permission to use its 1990s anthem "My hero."

Trump's campaign on Friday afternoon played the song as he welcomed Robert F. Kennedy to the stage at his Glendale, Arizona, rally. Kennedy's walk-out to the song — with fireworks igniting behind him and Trump — caught the attention of the band, which delivered a stern response.

“Foo Fighters were not asked permission, and if they were, they would not have granted it,” a spokesperson told Billboard on Friday night. The person added that “appropriate actions are being taken” against Trump's campaign, and that any royalties received as a result of the usage will be donated to the Harris-Walz campaign.

ALSO READ: Donald Trump exploits AP photo error for new $99 'Save America' book

But according to the Trump campaign, not so fast.

"It’s Times Like These facts matter, don’t be a Pretender," campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung wrote in a post on X over the weekend, tagging the band.

Cheung, known for his often fiery statements, on Monday emailed The Hill to say it does, in fact, have a license to play the song.

Donald Trump's supporters have created a new scandal around Gov. Time Walz (D-MN) — this time involving his dog.

On Monday, several Republicans highlighted a photo of from X with a post in which the governor mentions his pet Scout. The animal in the picture, the Maga crowd claimed, is not Scout.

Dustin Gage, who calls himself the Minnesota GOP hype man and a political consultant, posted two tweets from Walz. One in 2022 celebrated Scout's birthday, with a photo of the family's black Labrador mix.

The other photo mentioned Scout having fun at the dog park later that year, which was illustrated with brown dog with white spots.

"Yes, this is Tim Walz tweeting about his dog Scout. Only problem is that these are two completely different dogs," posted Gage.

Republican U.S. Sen. Eric Schmitt (MO) was quick to sound the alarm on the new "scandal."

"Why would Tim Walz do this? It’s Creepy™️ and Weird™️," asked the senator.

ALSO READ: Donald Trump exploits AP photo error for new $99 'Save America' book

One follower questioned if Scout only sometimes identifies as "a dog of color," a reference to Donald Trump questioning Vice President Kamala Harris' race when speaking to the National Association of Black Journalists.

Broan Doherty, the former producer for Rush Limbaugh, said, "I look forward to Tim Walz's explanation, and can you imagine if J.D. [Vance] tweeted about his dog Scout and it was two different dogs?"

Former Trump campaign staffer A.J. Delgado pointed out a possible flaw in the GOP's logic. "These morons have such low thinking skills that it didn’t occur to him that Walz is taking a photo w ANOTHER dog bc they are at a DOG PARK and referencing that Scout enjoyed it. He is not saying it is Scout featured in the pic. Morons."

As it turns out, there was a different dog in the photo because Scout made a friend at the dog park. A video shows the encounter.

"Junior senator from Missouri is mad local man played with other dogs at the park," constitutional law professor Anthony Michael Kreis posted on X with a screen capture of the video in which Scout was playing with the other dog.

See the video below:

Donald Trump questioned the intelligence of Kamala Harris Monday after her campaign team insisted on keeping microphones on throughout their upcoming debate.

The Harris campaign has notified ABC News and other networks that the vice president prefers that microphones should remain live throughout the Sept. 10 debate, while Trump's team has expressed a preference to mute them until the candidate is asked a direct question — the set up that was agreed upon during his last debate with President Joe Biden.

"When is Comrade Kamala Harris going to start answering questions?" Trump posted on Truth Social. "She’s a Radical Left, No Fracking Marxist, and the Public needs to know what she stands for, which is POVERTY AND FAILURE FOR AMERICA! Kamala refuses to do Interviews, because she has NO CONFIDENCE in her own level of 'Intelligence,' and now wants to change the Rules of the Debate on ABC Fake News!"

The Harris campaign issued a statement Monday morning casting doubt on the Republican nominee's ability to behave himself onstage.

“Our understanding is that Trump’s handlers prefer the muted microphone because they don’t think their candidate can act presidential for 90 minutes on his own," said Brian Fallon, the Harris campaign’s senior adviser for communications.. "We suspect Trump’s team has not even told their boss about this dispute because it would be too embarrassing to admit they don’t think he can handle himself against Vice President Harris without the benefit of a mute button."

The Trump campaign accused Harris of playing "games" with the format and insisted that the ABC News debate take place under the same terms as the CNN debate with the president, who has since dropped out of the race and endorsed his vice president, while Trump himself told reporters he didn't care either way.

"Doesn’t matter to me," Trump said. "I’d rather have it probably on."

ALSO READ: Inside the Democratic National Convention corporate moneyfest

Trump has suggested he may back out of the debate altogether because he doubts that ABC News can be an impartial host.

"I watched ABC FAKE NEWS this morning, both lightweight reporter Jonathan Carl’s(K?) ridiculous and biased interview of Tom Cotton (who was fantastic!), and their so-called Panel of Trump Haters, and I ask, why would I do the Debate against Kamala Harris on that network?" Trump posted Sunday on Truth Social.

As Donald Trump attacks ABC News and suggests he may pull out of the scheduled presidential debate with Vice President Kamala Harris, the Harris campaign is calling his bluff on the one major remaining sticking point: debate rules.

The Harris campaign wants the microphones for both candidates to stay on during the September 10 debate, but Trump's advisors have been refusing, saying they want the same rules as the fateful CNN debate that led to President Joe Biden scrapping his re-election bid.

At 11:00 AM ET NBC News posted video (below) of Trump from Monday morning saying he did not care one way or the other about muting the microphones, but insisting the rules should stay the same as the CNN debate.

Harris campaign senior adviser for communications Brian Fallon picked up on Trump's remarks and called his bluff.

READ MORE: ‘Black Jobs’: Trump Clarifies What He Meant

"Trump said unmuting the mics 'doesn’t matter to me.' Always suspected it was something his staff wanted, not him personally. With this resolved, everything is now set for Sept 10th," Fallon wrote on X.

Trump had told NBC's Jake Traylor, "We agreed to the same rules. I don't know. Doesn't matter to me. I'd rather have it probably on. But the agreement was that it would be the same as it was last time. In that case, it was muted. I didn't like it the last time, but it worked out fine. Ask Biden how it worked out. It was fine. And I think it should be the same."

Trump, widely reported to want to pull out of the ABC News debate, especially after his late Sunday night rant, went on to claim it is Harris, a former prosecutor, who is not a "good debater" and "doesn't want to debate."

The ex-president, now down in the polls, declared, "they're trying to change it. The truth is, they're trying to get out of it because she doesn't want to debate. She's not a good debater. She's not a smart person. She doesn't want to debate."

Politico Playbook Monday morning reported that behind the scenes, the Trump campaign is refusing to agree to the Harris campaign’s request the microphones stay on at all times.

READ MORE: ‘Sold His Endorsement’: RFK Jr Suspends, Backs Trump – Running Mate Wants Vaccine Apology

“It’s clear the veep’s team is hoping to get Trump to lose his cool on mic,” Playbook reported.

Harris is “more than happy to have exchanges with him if he tries to interrupt her,” a “person familiar with the negotiations tells Playbook.”

“And given how shook he seems by her, he’s very prone to having intemperate outbursts,” they said. “I think the campaign would want viewers to hear [that].”

“Our understanding,” Harris campaign's Fallon had said in a statement, “is that Trump’s handlers prefer the muted microphone because they don’t think their candidate can act presidential for 90 minutes on his own. We suspect Trump’s team has not even told their boss about this dispute because it would be too embarrassing to admit they don’t think he can handle himself against Vice President Harris without the benefit of a mute button.”

It's unclear if Trump's remarks are the final word on unmuting the microphones.

Watch Trump below or at this link.

.@jake__traylor: "Would you want the microphones muted in the debate whenever you're not speaking?"
Donald Trump: "We agreed to the same rules. I don't know, doesn't matter to me. ... The agreement was that it would be the same as it was last time. In that case, it was muted." pic.twitter.com/l7d7Odd7cb — NBC Politics (@NBCPolitics) August 26, 2024

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On Friday morning, the entire panel on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" reacted with hoots of laughter over reporting on Donald Trump's frenzy of posting on Truth Social during Vice President Kamala Harris' nomination acceptance speech late Thursday night.

In particular, a Trump post that asked, "WHERE’S HUNTER?" just before he complained, "[Tim] Walz was an ASSISTANT Coach, not a COACH," drew laughter.

As co-host Willie Geist explained, "Even last night, as Vice President Harris was giving her address, Donald Trump was live Truth Socialing with comments. His rejoinder to her comments were, all caps, 'Where's Hunter?' I mean, is that all you've got?"

"Oh, my God," MSNBC's Mika Brzezinski uttered as Joe Scarborough burst out laughing and Geist continued, "Come on now, come on, you have to do a little better than that. He's playing the hits."

ALSO READ: Trump is losing his audience

"At least try," Scarborough joked.

'Yeah, he's not even trying anymore," Geist replied. "He's just playing the old classics in his mind. Part of the message last night, too, was this has been an extraordinary week —."

"I mean, 'Where is Hunter?'" Scarborough interrupted. "That's like Elvis, like, wearing fringe in 1967 in the Summer of Love. I mean, come on! 'Where's Hunter? God, I'm sorry."

Morning Joe regular John Heilemann laughed and added, "I love, 'Is she talking about me?' Talk about projection and confession, my God."

Watch below or at the link.

- YouTube youtu.be