It seems like just earlier today [it was just earlier today, Steve —Editor] I was telling you about the massive fraud Congress allowed to go on under the guise of COVID lockdown relief, and already I have another tale of fraud for you — on a much more personal and relatable level.
According to research conducted by an election integrity organization called Election Watch, Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.) "has accepted as many as 48,131 Smurfed (laundered) transactions totaling $2,982,215 USD. These transactions span 2,672 unique contributors, occurring from 2017-01-01 to 2022-12-31."
An August report in the Daily Gazette reported that South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson's investigation into Democrat fundraising platform ActBlue revealed they "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."
“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,” Wilson found. “The allegations also raise the question of whether contributions were made without the reported donors’ consent or awareness, which is equally troubling.”
So if you wanted to know how a not-very-famous Wisconsin senator got three million in small donations from a small number of donors scattered across all 50 states and the District of Columbia, now you know.
Election Watch's research uncovered similar donation patterns for "[Joe] for Biden, US Senator Mark Kelly, and many other politicians."
Unrelated but still of interest, Fox News reported Monday that Baldwin has also come under "increased scrutiny over her years-long relationship with a private wealth adviser." While Baldwin and her partner, Maria Brisbane, live and own a home together, "since the two are unmarried, she is not required by Senate rules to disclose her partner's finances."
According to her website, Brisbane serves clients with "ultra-high net worth."
Baldwin's Republican opponent in her reelection bid, Eric Hovde, called the arrangement "a massive conflict of interest that merits further investigation."
In an earlier report, PJ Media's own Mark Tapscott detailed how Election Watch "compiled thousands of examples of a recent pattern that consists of elderly women making tens of thousands of donations of varying amounts to Democratic candidates and progressive activist groups."
Tapscott was writing about a Charlie Kirk report showing "that one Virginia woman renting an apartment for less than $2,000 a month donated to ActBlue 22,619 times from October 2019 until January 2023 totaling nearly $840,000."
So it isn't just Baldwin enjoying all of this smurfing largess. While it might not be exclusively the domain of Democrat politicians and lefty organizations, I've yet to see any major examples of smurfing benefiting GOP candidates or conservative groups.
Smurfing is slang borrowed from the online gaming world. It's when gamers log into a secret account instead of the one they usually play under, to try out new strategies or just goof off without being detected or, more importantly, affecting the gaming stats of their regular account.
But when it comes to campaign donor fraud, I like to think it's called smurfing because it's acting blue.
Recommended: Congress Let Thieves Steal HOW MUCH in COVID Relief?
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