UPDATE: According to Dana Ford fact-checker for LeadStories, the payments made by ActBlue are actually refunds of political contributions, according to an ActBlue spokesperson and a search of publicly available information on the Texas Ethics Commission website.
OPINION | Now, why would a fundraising group like ActBlue Texas be paying out three hundred dollars apiece to hundreds of individuals? If you aren’t suspicious, you must be dead.
The first thing you have to understand is that Black Lives Matter is not a nonprofit charity yet. The money gets donated to ActBlue, who then sends the money to Thousand Currents and they handle the money for BLM until they get their tax exemption status straightened out.
The vice-chair of Thousand Currents is a woman by the name of Susan Rosenberg. Does that name ring a bell? She was a member of the Weather Underground with Bill Ayers. She was convicted of killing a guard and two police officers in the Brinks robbery. Bill Clinton pardoned her on his last day in office.
https://t.co/Fz8jVGXNOM
Who is Susan Rosenberg? She should NOT be allowed anywhere near a charity. What do public filings about Thousand Currents reveal concerning her background?— Charles Ortel (@CharlesOrtel) June 23, 2020
Bill Clinton was roundly criticized by many for that pardon, including Chuck Schumer:
An unusual combination of New York political and law enforcement leaders have condemned former President Bill Clinton’s pardon of Susan L. Rosenberg, a one-time member of the Weather Underground terrorist group who was charged in the notorious 1981 Brink’s robbery in Rockland County that left a guard and two police officers dead.
Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, a Republican, and United States Senator Charles E. Schumer, a Democrat, were among those who criticized the pardon, as did Bernard B. Kerik, New York City’s police commissioner, and David Trois, a Rockland County police union official.
So, to get this straight, the money is sent to ActBlue, who sends it to Thousand Currents who administers the money for BLM.
In a review of the finances of ActBlue Texas reveals hundreds of payments shows that they paid increments of $250 and $300 to individuals. But, there is no indication of what the money is for.
Is this happening in other states as well? Could these be payments to rioters?
No one knows. (Corrected: See this fact check link from Lead Stories) But someone really needs to find out, especially since money going to Thousand Currents is being handled by a convicted terrorist.
