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    Exclusive: Private GoFundMe border wall effort now under criminal investigation

    Grant Stern, DCReport @ RawStory
    August 05, 2019

    Thanks for your support!

    This article was paid for by reader donations to Raw Story Investigates.

    This article was paid for by Raw Story subscribers. Not a subscriber? Try us and go ad-free for $1. Prefer to give a one-time tip? Click here.

    Grant Stern, DCReport @ RawStory

    Florida officials are conducting a criminal investigation of WeBuildTheWall Inc., a group which says it will build privately the wall on the Mexican border touted by Donald Trump. The organization has raised more than $20 million through a GoFundMe campaign amid questions about how $1.7 million was spent.


    We reported in June that WeBuildTheWall Inc. was under civil investigation by Florida regulators concerning possible misuse of donations.

    Brian Kolfage Jr., the wall organization’s president, asserted in an email “there’s no criminal investigation.” Kolfage had no further comment after being advised that Florida officials had put in writing that a criminal investigation is underway and confirmed it in an interview.

    The wall group has erected a half-mile segment of fencing, but work stopped temporarily when local officials said the project violated local zoning laws.

    Last month, this reporter sent Florida’s Department of Agriculture and Consumer Affairs a public-records request for “copies of any notices, subpoenas, or any other records pertinent to the investigation of WeBuildTheWall Inc.” The agency oversees Florida charities.

    “Your public records request was forwarded to the Office of General Counsel for handling,” the department’s senior attorney Rob F. Summers wrote late last week. “The records you requested are exempt from disclosure pursuant to s. 119.071(2)(c)1., F.S. (Active Criminal Investigation).”

    When asked for details, a department spokesman tersely wrote, “We cannot comment on ongoing investigations.” The spokesperson cited the same statute in declining to expand on the letter revealing the criminal probe.

    That means that the criminal investigation into the wall effort is now in the hands of the Florida Office of Agricultural Law Enforcement.

    Trump Jr. Appearance

    Just 10 days ago, WeBuildTheWall hosted a three-day political event in New Mexico, where it has already erected a short section of fence. The event featured a speech by Donald Trump Jr., the president’s oldest son.

    Former White House senior adviser Steve Bannon attended the event, as did former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas), and the president of Citizens United David Bossie.

    Bossie’s appearance was curious since, in May, the Trump 2020 campaign seemed to distance itself from Bossie and his organization, which promotes dark money in politics. However, since then the Trump campaign has indicated it is seeking big money and dark money.

    WeBuildTheWall’s filings with Florida regulators demonstrated that it materially misrepresented the composition of its board of directors. It also held a raffle with a mandatory entry fee. State lawyers noted that the mandatory fee appears to violate Florida’s anti-gambling law.

    Kolfage’s wall group has erected a half-mile segment of fencing on what it says is private land in the town of Sunland Park, N.M. That work stopped temporarily when city officials determined that the project violated local zoning laws.

    Mayor Receives Death Threats

    After being told to stop work, WeBuildTheWall used its social media accounts to bully local officials. Sunland Park Mayor Javier Perea said he got death threats.

    Wall construction resumed after George Cudahy, the landowner, told city officials he just wanted it put up some lights and poles. The city acquiesced with his request.

    But when city officials realized the wall project had resumed they filed a criminal complaint. Cudahy failed to appear in local court for a hearing on the complaint, which could result in a criminal record and a $500 fine.

    The project also includes an encroachment on federal land. The International Boundary and Water Commission ordered Kolfage’s organization to act, but nothing happened.

    The commission said in a statement that WeBuildTheWall “built a gate on federal land in Sunland Park, N.M., near El Paso, Texas, without authority, and then locked the gate closed on June 6, 2019. The private gate blocks a levee road owned by the U.S. Government. After repeated requests to unlock and open the private gate, the United States Section of the International Boundary and Water Commission (USIBWC), accompanied by two uniformed law enforcement officers from the Dona Ana County Sheriff’s Office, removed the private lock, opened the gate, and locked the gate open pending further discussions with We Build the Wall.”

    Part of the Wall in Mexico

    The Mexican government says the wall, or at least part of it, is on Mexican soil.

    Surveyors sent by the Mexican government determined that part of the fence construction sits on the wrong side of the border. Mexican officials said the encroaching materials will have to be removed, which may prove difficult to accomplish.

    The Trump administration hasn’t built a single foot of border fencing after 30 months of riling up its supporters with claims that the wall was vital to national security.

    The latest estimate is that the proposed Mexico border wall would cost nearly $60 billion. That is 3,000 times as much money as the organzation said it has raised.

    A wall cannot be built along signification sections of the border with Mexico because of terrain issues, according to federal agencies and others who have studied Trump’s idea.

    Trump, who ran for office saying Mexico would pay for the wall, failed to get any money from Congress in his first two years in office, when Republicans controlled both chambers. Democrats, who now control the House, say they will never fund Trump’s wall.

    The Washington Post reported that Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) held up one of Trump’s appointees for a post that requires Senate confirmation to encourage the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to hire Fisher Industries to build Trump’s unfunded Mexican border wall.

    Fisher Industries, a North Dakota-based company, built the half-mile fencing for Kolfage’s wall group. It’s unknown if WeBuildTheWall has anything to do with the senator’s efforts.

    Kobach's Role

    The organization’s general counsel is Kris Kobach, a Republican U.S. Senate candidate in Kansas who also sits on the wall group’s board as a director. As Kansas secretary of state, Kobach pushed to remove 20,000 voters from the election rolls, sought strict voter identification requirements and government registration of Muslims. Trump considered naming him “immigration czar.”

    Kobach, who as a Kansas state official worked to purge voter rolls over minor issues, appears to have violated multiple federal and state election laws by using the wall group’s donor list to solicit campaign contributions. Congress prohibits partisan political activity by charities.

    That use of the organization's mailing list to solicit campaign donations promoted Common Cause to file a complaint with the campaign solicitation the Federal Election Commission.

    Kobach is paid for his role as a lawyer for the group and serving on its board of director as of July 15. That came months after the group claimed he was serving as a director even though the state had not been notified promptly as state law requires.

    WeBuildTheWall’s effort to build a privately financed Mexican border wall could result in serious consequences for failing to abide the letter of the law in its home state, where the disabled veteran Brian Kolfage is incorporated and operates his organization out of a post-office box store in a Panama City Beach strip mall.

    Filing false intentionally statements to Florida’s regulator is a third-degree felony and a conviction could result in up to five years in prison.

    We asked Kolfage; newly named corporate treasurer Dustin Stockton; his spokeswoman, the former Breitbart personality Jennifer Lawrence; and his lawyer Todd McMurtry of Hemmer, DeFrank, Wessels about the criminal investigation.

    Only Kolfage responded. But he did not respond to questions about whether WeBuildTheWall Inc. or any of its officials were helping Fisher Industries get contracts from the Trump administration.

    Kolfage also did not answer when asked about Kobach’s apparently illegal use of WeBuildTheWall donor list for his political campaign.

    Featured image: Brian Kolfage, Kimberly Guilfoyle and Donald Trump Jr. arrive at an airport in El Paso, Texas, July 26. (Instagram)

    *Correction: WeBuildtheWall Inc. has tax-exempt status under section 501(c)4 of the IRS code as a social welfare organization. So-called C4 organizations are not classified as charities, and donations are not tax-deductible. Earlier versions of this story erroneously referred to the group as a charity.

    This article was paid for by Raw Story subscribers. Not a subscriber? Try us and go ad-free for $1. Prefer to give a one-time tip? Click here.

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    … then let us make a small request. The COVID crisis has slashed advertising rates, and we need your help. Like you, we here at Raw Story believe in the power of progressive journalism. Raw Story readers power David Cay Johnston’s DCReport, which we've expanded to keep watch in Washington. We’ve exposed billionaire tax evasion and uncovered White House efforts to poison our water. We’ve revealed financial scams that prey on veterans, and legal efforts to harm workers exploited by abusive bosses. And unlike other news outlets, we’ve decided to make our original content free. But we need your support to do what we do.

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    Report typos and corrections to: corrections@rawstory.com.
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    Do you approve of Biden's presidency so far?

    Republicans scrambling to figure out future elections now that Trump has lost them the suburbs: report

    Tom Boggioni
    February 27, 2021

    According to a report from Politico, Republican strategists faced with not the possibility of not having Donald Trump on the ticket -- and reeling from having lost the suburbs in the 2020 election due to him -- are trying to plot out ways to regain seats lost in the 2018 and 2020 elections.

    The report notes that the Trump years have led them to throw out old ways of getting votes which, in large part, has been focused on redistricting to create pockets that are Republican-friendly.

    As Politico's Ally Mutnick and Elena Schenider write, "Traditionally, state legislators and political mapmakers rely heavily on recent election results for clues about how communities will vote in the future — baselines they use to gerrymander advantageous districts for their party. But the whiplash in Trump-era elections make drawing conclusions from those results more complicated this year. And both parties' strategists know that if they make bad bets, drawing districts based on elections that were driven more by Trump's singular personality than by trends that will persist until 2030, those mistakes could swing control of the House against them over the next decade."

    According to Adam Kincaid, the executive director of the National Republican Redistricting Trust, "People on both sides are going to have to look at these things and try to figure out: Are there any things that we can point to that are predictive, and where do we see the party heading?"

    The report notes that losing the suburbs is a great concern to Republicans with one former GOP lawmaker using Florida as a prime example.

    According to Politico, "In South Florida, in particular, the 'Trump effect is a double-edged sword"' said former Republican Rep. Carlos Curbelo, who lost to Mucarsel-Powell in 2018. 'While it generated this trend where Republicans are doing better with working-class voters of all races and ethnicities, they're also losing support among higher-income and college-educated voters in the suburbs. It does make the challenge of drawing districts more daunting.'"

    Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK) agreed, saying Republicans can't push their luck by radically altering voting districts.

    "I've watched us get in trouble by stretching the rubber band too great," Cole explained. "If you're running into what you think might be a good election, and this could be a good election for us, don't get greedy. Don't. Because there are going to be some bad elections out there."

    You can read more here.

    Indian rooster kills owner with cockfight blade

    Agence France-Presse
    February 27, 2021

    A rooster fitted with a knife for an illegal cockfight in southern India has killed its owner, sparking a manhunt for the organizers of the event, police said Saturday.

    The bird had a knife attached to its leg ready to take on an opponent when it inflicted serious injuries to the man's groin as it tried to escape, officers said.

    The victim died from loss of blood before he could reach a hospital in the Karimnagar district of Telangana state earlier this week, local police officer B. Jeevan told AFP.

    The man was among 16 people organizing the cockfight in the village of Lothunur when the freak accident took place, Jeevan said.

    The rooster was briefly held at the local police station before it was sent to a poultry farm.

    "We are searching for the other 15 people involved in organizing the illegal fight," Jeevan said.

    They could face charges of manslaughter, illegal betting and hosting a cockfight.

    Cockfights are banned but still common in rural areas of Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Odisha states -- particularly around the Hindu festival of Sankranti.

    Specially-bred roosters have 7.5-centimetre (three-inch) knives or blades tethered to their legs and punters bet on who will win the gruesome fight.

    Thousands of roosters die each year in the battles which, despite the efforts of animal rights groups, attract large crowds.

    © 2021 AFP

    Five things to watch for at the Golden Globes

    Agence France-Presse
    February 27, 2021

    There will be no red carpet or star-studded audience this Sunday at the Golden Globes, but much remains at stake at the first major Hollywood awards show of the year.

    Millions of viewers are expected to tune in for the ceremony honoring the best in film and television, but what should you be watching for?

    Here is our quick guide to the event, which will take place in Beverly Hills, California and New York:

    - Netflix? And still... -

    This time last year, Netflix was the envy of Hollywood, placing copious bottles of champagne on ice ahead of the Globes.

    An overwhelming 34 nominations appeared certain to signal the streamer's official coming-of-age in Tinseltown with a deluge of wins.

    But the ceremony didn't follow the script, and Netflix ended the night with a paltry two wins.

    So will this be the year the giant entertainment disruptor truly marks its newfound dominance?

    With a staggering 42 nods across television and film categories this time, the odds look even more favorable. But after last year's near-washout, who knows?

    - Colman/Cohen: double double? -

    One of Netflix's rare wins last year was for Olivia Colman, whose star turn as Britain's Queen Elizabeth in "The Crown" proved irresistible to Globes voters.

    That wasn't entirely surprising -- Colman has never lost a Golden Globe, having converted previous nods for "The Favorite" in 2019 and "The Night Manager" in 2017.

    This year she can go one better, with dual nominations for another season of "The Crown," and best drama film contender "The Father."

    If she succeeds, she may not be the night's only double winner.

    A fellow Brit, Sacha Baron Cohen, is a strong contender for two very different film acting roles, with "Borat Subsequent Moviefilm" and "The Trial of the Chicago 7."

    - Eighth time lucky for Hopkins? -

    Colman's "The Father" co-star, the legendary Anthony Hopkins, is a serious awards contender every time he appears on the big screen.

    Surprisingly though, he has never won a competitive Golden Globe, despite being nominated on seven previous occasions dating back to 1979, and even earning a lifetime achievement award.

    When he won an Oscar in 1992 for his terrifying turn in "The Silence of the Lambs," Globes voters somehow plumped for Nick Nolte in "The Prince of Tides."

    If the Hollywood Foreign Press Association chooses to right that wrong this year, they will crown the 83-year-old Hopkins as their oldest ever best actor.

    Standing in Hopkins' way is Black Panther himself: the late Chadwick Boseman.

    - 'Minari': the new 'Parasite'? -

    In recent years, few Globes categories have stoked more controversy than best foreign language film.

    American immigrant stories such as "The Farewell" (2019) have repeatedly been barred from the "main" best film award categories because half or more of the script was not in English.

    Critics have pointed out that the rule did not seem to apply to previous heavyweight contenders such as Quentin Tarantino's multi-lingual "Inglourious Basterds."

    This year, "Minari" is the subject of much hand-wringing, with "Farewell" director Lulu Wang tweeting that she has "not seen a more American film" than the acclaimed Korean immigrant family drama.

    Of course, being in the foreign language section at last year's Globes did not harm South Korea's "Parasite," which went on to win the biggest prize of all -- the best picture Oscar.

    Can "Minari" repeat the trick?

    - The Globes go 'bi-coastal' -

    With the pandemic raging, and Los Angeles still under tight restrictions, this year's Globes were always likely to be a remote ceremony -- especially after the team behind September's Emmys pulled off a near-flawless award show from an empty theater.

    But organizers sprung a surprise by announcing that returning co-hosts Tina Fey and Amy Poehler will anchor a "bi-coastal" ceremony from New York and Los Angeles.

    The move should allow more high-profile guests to present awards in person -- including Big Apple-based Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones -- even if the nominees have to stay home.

    With the Oscars now planning to broadcast from multiple locations, the Academy will be watching closely to see if Fey and Poehler can strike up their usual rapport from opposite sides of the country.

    © 2021 AFP

     
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