Trump's campaign has received scores of donations from problematic donors
WASHINGTON: When President Donald Trump directed his attorney general last month to investigate online fundraising, he cited concerns that foreigners and fraudsters were using elaborate 'schemes" and 'dummy accounts' to funnel illegal contributions to politicians and causes.
Instead of calling for an expansive probe, however, the president identified just one potential target: ActBlue, the Democrats' online fundraising juggernaut, which has acknowledged receiving over 200 potentially illicit contributions last year from foreign internet addresses.
Trump's announcement also contained a glaring omission — his own political committees have received scores of contributions from potentially problematic donors.
The White House did not respond to questions about Trump's fundraising. Instead, a senior administration official pointed to a recent House Republican investigation of ActBlue, which the White House alleges 'uncovered specific evidence of potentially unlawful conduct.'
The Justice Department did not respond to a request for comment.
Here are some takeaways from the AP's review of Trump's political committees:
Trump's committees received questionable donations from overseas
It's against the law for U.S. candidates and political committees to accept contributions from foreign nationals. Laws also place strict limits on donation amounts and prohibit the laundering of contributions to get around legal caps. For the most part, such donations have been policed by campaigns and the Federal Election Commission, with only the most egregious examples being targeted by federal law enforcement.
The AP identified only two Trump donors out of more than 200 living abroad whose U.S. citizenship was listed as 'verified' in the president's campaign finance reports. He received over 1,000 contributions from 150 donors who omitted key identifying details such as their city, state, address or country. Trump also received at least 90 contributions from people who omitted their full name, are listed as 'anonymous' or whose donations include the notation 'name not provided.'
Many of them were made through WinRed, the Republicans' online fundraising platform that is the GOP's answer to ActBlue.
Campaign finance disclosures indicate that only a few dozen of these contributions were later refunded. WinRed officials did not respond to a requests for comment.
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