On Wednesday, The Daily Beast reported that a former federal prosecutor suspects that the organizers of the "People's Convoy" of protesting truckers in the D.C. area could face investigation and possibly even wire fraud charges, based on what they are doing with the $2 million in donations sent to them by supporters from around the country.
"Many Convoy leaders are actually experienced industry lobbyists, and some participants are wondering what their angle may be," reported Roger Sollenberger and Zachary Petrizzo. "For many of the actual truckers, they put their jobs on hold to join the rolling demonstration. And yet, those who signed up for action watched with disappointment and frustration as the project appeared to morph into a last-minute lobbying campaign. Some donors have expressed confusion about the funding and the mission, wondering whether the convoy will 'finish what they started.' The ad hoc, figure-it-out-as-we-go mentality has raised all sorts of questions about whether the organizers have hewed to the law — or if the People’s Convoy has been, intentionally or not, a scam."
The publication then talked with former Assistant U.S. Attorney Natalie Adams, now a partner at Bradley LLP, who argued that the convoy's sponsor, the AFCLF (American Foundation for Civil Liberties and Freedom) might have some explaining to do.
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"The federal standard to prove wire fraud has two elements: That somebody intended to defraud somebody else; and that they used wire communications to do it. So here the question is whether they intended to defraud," Adams explained.
The Beast notes that Adams then "pointed to the convoy’s website, which says explicitly that '100% OF THE DONATIONS GO TO SUPPORTING THE CONVOY!' as evidence to suspect fraud.
"A prosecutor would look at what’s communicated on that site to see what someone would reasonably believe that money would be spent on," Adams said.
The convoy, which is burning through enormous amounts of fuel at a moment when the energy market is in chaos due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, are camped near Maryland after circling the Beltway. They have attracted followers from all corners of the right, including QAnon and sovereign citizen conspiracy theorists.
