Kari Lake Lost the Election, but Her Campaign Still Rakes in Cash From Small Donors

Conservative donors have disputed hundreds of campaign contributions sent to Kari Lake the former Arizona Senate candidate who is now helping Donald Trump dismantle Voice of America Even though Lake lost her bid to be a senator from Arizona in November Federal Electoral process Commission records show that she has continued to collect thousands of small-dollar donations through WinRed the conservative counterpart to the liberal fundraising platform ActBlue Lake s donations have drawn what political consultants declared is a high rate of chargebacks a reversed charge initiated by a donor s bank after they dispute the transaction Chargebacks are often considered a last-resort option for donors who can t secure refunds Lake who once criticized a fellow Republican for a high rate of refunds has drawn one chargeback for every seven donations in the first quarter of FEC records show At a time when Trump is targeting ActBlue for a Justice Department assessment critics explained Lake s chargebacks serve as a red flag for potentially questionable fundraising tactics Lake did not respond to a request for comment sent to the U S Agency for Global Media Voice of America s parent agency where she is working as senior adviser appointed by Trump Democratic consultant Julia Rosen announced she was taken aback at the high dispute rate About percent of all Lake s contributions in the latest campaign finance description were subject to chargebacks and percent of those made through WinRed For a party that preaches morality it is outrageous that they would treat their own donors this poorly she reported It just shows a level of disrespect that is hard to comprehend Racking Up Chargebacks Lake a former local TV news anchor ran for Arizona governor then senator as a far-right firebrand distinguishing herself as Trump-loving electoral process denier Along the way Fox News appearances propelled her into a favorite of the MAGA rank and file Small-dollar donations poured in through WinRed the juggernaut GOP fundraising platform Lake had less luck at the ballot box however running far behind Trump during her November loss to Democrat Ruben Gallego In December Trump disclosed that he would tap Lake to lead Voice of America By the time she was sworn in March the role had morphed into a senior adviser position at VOA s parent agency the U S Agency for Global Media After both Trump s announcement and her swearing-in Lake has continued to collect donations largely small-dollar contributions So far this year Lake has collected donations according to FEC records Nearly percent of them were or less Lake s latest FEC review points to one reason why she has continued to raise money She has over million in outstanding debt to campaign vendors That is by far the majority of of any losing Senate candidate according to a current Arizona Republic article Her campaign filing flags her donations as going toward debt retirement Countless of Lake s contributions come from individuals who have repeatedly given identical small amounts of money through WinRed a common hallmark of the automatic recurring donations that the platform offers to campaigns Lake actively promoted recurring donations through WinRed ahead of the voting saying that they gave her the best chance to win Yet a review of Lake s greater part modern campaign finance overview suggests that selected of her donors have been displeased to find Lake s name on their bill In total of her individual transactions were identified as chargebacks Compared to the positive transactions listed in the overview that works out to a percent chargeback rate Two Democratic campaign consultants reported the number was remarkably high Josh Nelson an ad platform CEO who has also criticized ActBlue for its fundraising tactics explained that it seems like a lot Rosen a former ActBlue employee who has frequently used the progressive platform in campaigns announced the number should ideally be below percent Even at a time when Trump was facing criticism over his fundraising practices his campaign noted he had a percent credit card dispute rate This reeks of malpractice Rosen disclosed Lake s campaign website no longer has a homepage although a separate donation page is live Nelson announced the rate of chargebacks in Lake s campaign finance overview raised questions about whether the campaign is honoring or responding to refund requests The vast majority of the chargebacks were associated with donations bundled by WinRed Of the numerous GOP candidates slapped with chargebacks for WinRed contributions this year none of their campaign finance reports identified chargebacks at rates anywhere near Lake s according to FEC details Information on other candidates chargebacks may be missing if they failed to review them Lake s percent chargeback rate was even over the top by WinRed s own standards According to WinRed s website a monthly dispute rate over percent is tagged as excessive Recurring Matter WinRed has faced repeated criticism over recurring donations oftentimes from critics who say they had been deployed in misleading approaches Trump for instance faced criticism in for hard-nosed tactics such as burying a pre-checked recurring donation option beneath a mountain of text From the start of through June he and the Republican Party refunded million to donors according to the New York Times in a sign that plenty of were turned off by his fundraising ploys While maintaining close ties to WinRed Trump and the GOP have launched a legal and political assault against ActBlue the Democratic platform that has facilitated fundraising for everyone from school board candidates to Kamala Harris Plenty of nonprofits including The Intercept use ActBlue Charities to process donations According to its website ActBlue generally turns off recurring candidates ability to accept donations one month after they have lost campaigns Candidates can however make a special request to keep accounts open for the purpose of retiring campaign debt If WinRed is not cutting off donations Rosen reported It is a recipe for chargebacks Lake herself has been critical of the deceptive practices that campaigns use to snare recurring donations She blasted fellow Republican Karrin Taylor Robson during the Arizona gubernatorial primary for a campaign finance analysis that detailed hundreds of refunds Unlike Robson we don t have to fool donors into giving money to our campaign so we do not have to issue hundreds of refunds Lake commented at the time Campaign donations to federal employees after their elections have ended raise questions about compliance with the Hatch Act which generally bars executive branch employees from soliciting or receiving donations The U S Agency for Global Media has notified its employees that collecting campaign contributions is forbidden under the Hatch Act There is however an exception for candidates like Lake who still have campaign debt Their old campaign organizations can continue to collect money as long as the candidate plays no role in soliciting donations according to the U S Office of Special Counsel which polices violations of the Hatch Act Cynthia Brown chief ethics counsel at the nonprofit Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington announced that recurring donations would not necessarily trigger Hatch Act concerns The Hatch Act does not govern the mode of how donations are submitted only the employee s role in getting those donations she explained in a announcement Automated donations that are submitted without the employee s knowledge do not present an obvious dilemma under the Hatch Act but to the extent the employee is encouraging donations via any mode during their establishment employment that would be a obstacle The post Kari Lake Lost the Balloting but Her Campaign Still Rakes in Cash From Small Donors appeared first on The Intercept