Revealed: Trump secretly donated $1m to discredited Arizona election 'audit'

[MissMillie]

Source: The Guardian

One of the enduring mysteries surrounding the chaotic attempts to overturn Donald Trump’s defeat in the 2020 presidential battle has been solved: who made a secret $1m donation to the controversial election “audit” in Arizona?

The identity of one of the largest benefactors behind the discredited review of Arizona’s vote count has been shrouded in secrecy. Now the Guardian can reveal that the person who partially bankrolled the failed attempt to prove that the election was stolen from Trump was … Trump.

An analysis by the watchdog group Documented has traced funding for the Arizona audit back to Trump’s Save America Pac. The group tracked the cash as it passed from Trump’s fund through an allied conservative group, and from there to a shell company which in turn handed the money to contractors and individuals involved in the Arizona audit.

Cyber Ninjas, the Florida-based company that led the Arizona audit, disclosed in 2021 that $5.7m of its budget came from several far-right groups invested in the “stop the steal” campaign to overturn Joe Biden’s presidential victory. It was later divulged that a further $1m had supported the audit from an account controlled by Cleta Mitchell, a Republican election lawyer who advised Trump as he plotted to subvert the 2020 election.

Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/revealed-trump-secretly-donated-1m-to-discredited-arizona-election-audit/ar-AA16NHib?pc=U483&cvid=a2196047a0c84bf5bc1c9a968204a290

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So yesterday we learned that Cyber Ninjas asked TFG for money. I had all kinds of suspicions that TFG gave it to them. Turns out this is the case.

I imagine that few of you are surprised.

The worst part is that Cyber Ninjas wasn't qualified to do this work. Their process was sloppy at best and whacky at best.

It didn't matter what the report said. An "audit" done by people not qualified to do it is WORTHLESS.

Which, of course, makes the whole thing nothing but a giant grift.

Unfortunately, taxpayer dollars were also used for this farce.

[Marthe48]

1. No wonder r's in Ar are hiding their texts

AR r idiots changed their laws about elected officials sharing their texts and other communication. Now we know why they have to be secretive. Who elects these crooks? And how can any person voting r look look themselves in the mirror? Feeling entitled because you are a white male is a character flaw. Condoning and empowering criminals makes you part of a criminal gang.

[MissMillie]

3. Right????

Here's the kicker... they paid Cyber Ninjas a boatload of money. Cyber Ninjas gave credence to conspiracy theories (seriously looking for bamboo in the paper ballots) in the name of.... TRANSPARENCY.

But when it's time for them to come clean? Not so much.

[Scrivener7]

2. Gosh. It would be great if we had a department whose job it would have been to reveal

that as it was happening.

Shame we don't have such a department.

[oldsoftie]

4. TRUMP paid with HIS money???

There's gotta be a catch somewhere. of course by "his" money I mean money donated by the cult

[riversedge]

8. I am sure the cult of trump approves.

[FakeNoose]

22. It was grifted money, I'm sure it wasn't out of his pocket

[LittleGirl]

5. The Guardian eh?

Why isn’t our media, that is researched and published in the states, not publishing this information? My need to stay informed is being terrorized by reports like this from so-called foreign media? (So called because media ownership is not local anymore).

Yes, I’m not at all surprised.
I’m an Arizona voter. I paid attention.
We must overturn Citizens United so that these payments get tracked in real time and available to the public. We MUST force our legislators to fix this now and hopefully take the heat off of their fundraising duties. And expose the crooks!

[ananda]

11. My thought exactly! Thanks to a foreign news outlet..

we find out the truth.

[DFW]

6. Here is the calypso version of the story (hoping Belafonte will forgive us)

[panader0]

12. I've never heard the original "Matilda" by Belafonte--going to youtube.

Thanks DFW.

[DFW]

15. Yeah, you young whippersnappers need to supplement your musical education!

[smb]

14. I'm Surprised He Didn't Put A Picture Of Himself As A Ninja On One Of His NFTs nt

[DFW]

16. A mere oversight, I'm sure.... n/t

[smb]

27. The Real Oversight: No Trump, P.I. Pic

I mean, he had Stupendous Man an Spaceman Spiff but left out Tracer Bullet....

[DFW]

30. I think that if Trump ever realizes he is NOT Stupendous Man, it will crush him n/t

[oldsoftie]

24. Give him time..........

[FakeNoose]

23. +1000 Hilarious

[DFW]

29. Thanks! Glad you liked it.

I liked the cameo appearances of the Turtles 😀

[CrispyQ]

7. How can this not be against the law?

If we thought 2020 was bad, wait until several states have Cyber Ninja type "audits" in 2024. We should have shut that shit show down.

[C_U_L8R]

9. That's not a donation. It's bribery.

We won't have peace until this criminal is in prison. Do it.

[panader0]

10. The Cyber Ninja's office was a mailbox in Florida.

They caused the voting machines to be tainted and they had to be replaced at taxpayers expense.
They were a fraud from beginning to end, looking for things like ballots made from bamboo.

[Traildogbob]

13. For fucks sake!

Trump never gave a damn dime. That money was from the “suckers fund” and Koch et al discretionary spare change the GQP machine knows to never let those tiny hands near.

[Warpy]

17. I'm a little shocked the money came out of one of his slush funds

fattened by silly people who thought he was the Second Coming, glory gee to Beezus (Marjoe Gortner).

I guess his subordinates couldn't be conned into fronting the money since they knew their own funds wouldn't be reimbursed, even if they thought when their porcine Jebus got back into office they'd get full pardons.

[Ray Bruns]

18. Alright, where did that broke bastard get a million dollars?

[LetMyPeopleVote]

19. Who is surprised by this?

[Grins]

20. "...an account controlled by Cleta Mitchell".

Who was up to her eyes in sedition in the planning for the attempted Coup d’Etat, and, with John Eastman, the creation of phony state ‘electors’ and the forging of the Certifications of Ascertainment that establish the credentials of each state’s electors, prior to the votes by those elector’s votes for President and Vice President.

Her primary employer and benefactor? The Reich-wing rabid conservative Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation based in Milwaukee.

[republianmushroom]

21. 24 months and counting

[IcyPeas]

25. yaawwnnn! just another crime by trump. just imagine the stuff that hasn't been uncovered.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

26. He could've bought another gold toilet and get the same result

[lambchopp59]

28. Well...

[ProfessorGAC]

31. Ah, That's Better

The title makes it seem like TFG paid for it. But, it was the PAC, not him.
First, he doesn't likely have the liquidity to toss a million bucks at this effort.
Second, he doesn't actually pay for much of anything out of his own pocket.
It would be more accurate to say TFG funneled money meant for something else at this shady effort.

[Kid Berwyn]

32. Wonder what else Dip's paid for?

Security footage shows Georgia county Republican chair, election official present during breach of voting equipment

PBS, Politics Sep 6, 2022 12:40 PM EST

ATLANTA (AP) — Two months after the 2020 presidential election, a team of computer experts traveled to south Georgia to copy software and data from voting equipment in an apparent breach of a county election system. They were greeted outside by the head of the local Republican Party, who was involved in efforts by then-President Donald Trump to overturn his election loss.

A security camera outside the elections office in rural Coffee County captured their arrival. The footage also shows that some local election officials were at the office during what the Georgia secretary of state’s office has described as “alleged unauthorized access” of election equipment.

Security footage from two weeks later raises additional alarms — showing two people who were instrumental in Trump’s wider efforts to undermine the election results entering the office and staying for hours.

The security video from the elections office in the county about 200 miles southeast of Atlanta offers a glimpse of the lengths Trump’s allies went to in service of his fraudulent election claims. It further shows how access was facilitated by local officials who are entrusted with protecting the security of elections while raising concerns about sensitive voting technology being released into the public domain.

Georgia wasn’t the only state where voting equipment was accessed after the 2020 presidential election. Important information about voting systems also was compromised in election offices in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Colorado. Election security experts worry the information obtained — including complete copies of hard drives — could be exploited by those who want to interfere with future elections.

Continues…

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/security-footage-shows-georgia-county-republican-chair-election-official-present-during-breach-of-voting-equipment

[ck4829]

33. Kick