The Daily Beast: Pro-Trump PAC That Duped Donors in 2016 Is Looking to Cash In Again
Liberty Action Group recently reached out to conservative groups to gauge their interest in buying or renting the email list it amassed through scores of fundraising emails sent, radio ads aired, and robocalls made during the 2016 campaign. The list is reportedly comprised of roughly half a million names. Building it was one of the few things that the PAC did in 2016 beyond raising money from donors and paying its own staffers six-figure sums.
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“It appears that Liberty Action Group’s primary purpose was to siphon money off of grassroots activists with misleading fundraising appeals,” said Brendan Fischer, the director of federal and FEC reform programs for the Campaign Legal Center, an ethics watchdog group. “Asking for donations to support a get-out-the-vote campaign and using that money for more fundraising is entirely deceptive.”
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But Fischer says that defense is bunk. “Although you can envision a situation where an ad both promotes a candidate and also asks for money, the ads I’ve seen from Liberty Action Group don’t fit,” he said. “Asking for a donation to fund get-out-the-vote efforts does not actually encourage anybody to vote. “Ultimately,” Fischer added, “what these scam PACs are doing is diverting money from candidates and legitimate causes in order to line the pockets of their dirtbag directors.”