Four state attorneys general have begun looking into the online fund-raising practices of both political parties, specifically seeking information about the use of prechecked boxes to enroll contributors in recurring donation programs that spurred a wave of fraud complaints and demands for refunds last year. The attorneys general for New York, Minnesota, Maryland and Connecticut have sent letters to WinRed, which processes online donations for Republicans, and ActBlue, its Democratic counterpart, asking for documents related to the practices, according to court documents and people familiar with the matter. WinRed revealed the existence of the letter from the attorneys general in a Federal District Court filing this week, as the firm is seeking to stop any state-level investigation, arguing federal law should pre-empt any such effort. The letters were sent in late April, shortly after a New York Times investigation showed how the Trump operation had deployed — and then obscured with extraneous text — prechecked boxes that automatically enrolled contributors into recurring donation programs, taking out money as often as every week. A second prechecked box took out what the campaign called a “money bomb” donation.

Source: New York Times July 08, 2021 18:09 UTC