This $100,000 Donation by Matt Gaetz Raises All the Eyebrows
On the day Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial began in the Senate, the campaign for embattled Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL)—reportedly under federal investigation since the summer for alleged sex crimes with an underage teen—made by far its largest ever political contribution: $100,000 to a mysterious nonprofit created to defend the then-president.
While that donation may not sound out of the ordinary, it stands out for a number of reasons. For one, the size of the donation is curious: It’s double the amount of Gaetz’s second-largest donation ever, and it’s $22,000 more than the campaign’s combined gifts to close ally Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL). For another, the nonprofit appears to have done nothing now for more than a year. And even odder is the Gaetz campaign’s own explanation—which experts say raises questions of legality.
The group, “Right Direction America,” is a nonprofit launched in December 2019 by Trump ally and former Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ) as a 501(c)4—a so-called “dark money” social welfare organization which doesn’t have to disclose its donors but cannot participate primarily in political activity. Christie billed the group as a vehicle to drum up public support for Trump during his first impeachment trial in the Senate.
But that’s not why the Gaetz campaign says it donated to Right Direction America. A campaign spokesperson told The Daily Beast that the organization supports former White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who two weeks prior to the Gaetz donation had announced her 2022 campaign for governor of Arkansas.
Read more: https://www.thedailybeast.com/this-dollar100000-donation-by-matt-gaetz-raises-all-the-eyebrows?ref=wrap
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