Texas GOP voter suppression group sued by donor for allegedly duping him out of $2.5 million

On Wednesday, Courthouse News reporter Cameron Langford revealed that Fred Eshelman, a conservative donor and venture capital executive, sued True the Vote, a Texas-based right-wing voting watchdog frequently accused of voter suppression tactics, alleging that they tricked him into ponying up $2.5 million for legal efforts to protect the integrity of the 2020 election that they never actually followed through on.

The lawsuit alleges that True the Vote's founder and lead attorney told Eshelman that they would be filing election integrity lawsuits in seven battleground states and needed $7.3 million to cover the costs — but that they only filed four lawsuits, in Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, and voluntarily withdrew them "in concert with counsel for the Trump campaign" before they could be fully adjudicated.

Eshelman is seeking a judgment forcing True the Vote to return his $2.5 million donation, on the grounds that it was conditioned on True the Vote following through with their lawsuits, and that they did not do what they promised.

The Trump campaign has been filing several of its own lawsuits challenging ballots and counting practices in several states, but nearly all of his cases have been thrown out or decided against him in state and federal courts.