A Republican online fundraising platform will seek legal relief from an inquiry into its business practices due to politically motivated harassment by four Democrat state attorneys, the Washington Examiner reported.
WinRed has been accused of violating state laws in Connecticut, Maryland, Minnesota, and New York by using pre-checked, recurring donation boxes to raise money for GOP candidates and other groups, the Examiner said Thursday.
The platform’s research, however, showed that Democrat organizations rely on the same practice, including campaign groups for three of the four attorneys general behind the inquiry.
WinRed officials say the attorneys general are attempting to cripple the platform and hurt Republican fundraising ahead of the 2022 midterns.
"Four Democrat Attorneys General are exploiting their positions of power for partisan gain and targeting WinRed for fundraising tactics that Democrats themselves pioneered and still use to this day," WinRed said in a statement first shared with the Examiner.
"While pursuing these actions, these Democrat AGs are actively fundraising on ActBlue."
The Democrat online fundraising website ActBlue counter's the GOP's WinRed.
The Examiner reported attorneys for WinRed planned to file a complaint in U.S. District Court in Minnesota as early as Thursday morning requesting "declaratory relief" from the inquiry.
The complaint argues that the states have no jurisdiction over WinRed because it is a federal political action committee bound by federal law and Federal Election Commission regulations.
WinRed’s complaint claims Attorneys General William Tong (Connecticut), Brian Frosh (Maryland), Keith Ellison (Minnesota) and Letitia James (New York) simply are aiming to hurt the platform and help Democrats who want to retain a majority in the House and regain control of an evenly divided Senate.
Ellison is former deputy chairman of the Democratic National Committee.
"Only when Republicans began challenging the Democrats’ long-held advantage in online fundraising did these Democrat Attorneys General activate," WinRed said in its statement. "It’s troubling to see these AGs attempt to use the power of their offices for the purpose of helping the Democrat Party."
Launched in 2004, ActBlue provided Democrats with a critical advantage in fundraising for several years. The Examiner said Republicans believe ActBlue was a key reason Democrats recaptured the House in 2018.
ActBlue funneled $4.8 billion to Democrat candidates and liberal political and nonprofit organizations for the 2020 elections, the Examiner said.
WinRed was launched in 2019, and has helped Republicans close the fundraising gap with Democrats.
The Examiner reported WinRed raised more than $2 billion for GOP candidates and other entities in less than two years last cycle.
WinRed this year has funneled more than $255 million, including $131.2 million in the second quarter, to Republican candidates and groups, the Examiner reported.
Ellison is former deputy chairman of the Democratic National Committee.
In April, The New York Times reported WinRed allowed the use of a feature that automatically enrolls grassroots contributors in recurring donation programs without their consent.
Several donors to former President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign last year complained WinRed's involuntary use of the pre-checked, recurring donations box cost them money they had not intended to give.
A joint letter from the four attorneys general to WinRed's attorneys said the use of pre-check boxes generally ran afoul of their states' consumer-protection laws. They argued the state laws are not superseded by federal election law.
"These laws protect our residents from deceptive, unfair and fraudulent practices in the solicitation of contributions, including the use of pre-checked boxes to trap donors into making unintended recurring donations," the letter said. "Our state consumer protection laws are not preempted by the Federal Election Campaign Act."
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