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Former President Donald Trump during an election night celebration at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Seaside, Florida. November 8, 2022 (posted by Phelan M. Ebenhack for The Washington using images from Getty)
The US First crime base, a “dark funds” neighborhood linked to former President Donald Trump administration officials that funded provocative ads ahead of the 2022 midterm elections, raised more than US$6.3 million during its first 12 months of operation, according to a new OpenSecrets analysis of uncovered tax records.
Former Trump White apartment professional Stephen Miller launched the America First crime campaign with the goal of using the prison system to challenge President Joe Biden's agenda. Several former Trump officials are on the board of directors of US First Prison or in leadership positions, including Miller, Gene Hamilton, John Zadrozny, Ian Prior, and the former head of the Trump White condo staff group, Mark Meadows.
On Tuesday, Miller testified before a federal grand jury in Washington, D.C., as part of the federal investigation into the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. That same day, Meadows was also ordered to testify before an Atlanta environmental grand jury investigating Trump's efforts to allegedly overturn the 2022 election in Georgia.
“US First Criminal has scored victory after victory for American citizens. We stopped blatantly racist farm reduction software, uncovered collusion between big tech and officials at the highest levels of government, exposed what DEI bureaucrats and consultants agreed to instruct our children, and won numerous cases on behalf of our buyers in court proceedings,” US First Vice President of Crime and Regular Assistance, Gene Hamilton, told OpenSecrets in an emailed statement: “We are proud to continue our incredible work and are grateful for the help of so many patriotic Americans.”.
The neighborhood filed dozens of FOIA lawsuits requesting facts from the government regarding vital racial conception in public colleges, online censorship, and immigration guidelines. In 2021, the first U.S. crime group filed a class-action lawsuit alleging that Biden's distribution of stimulus funds intended for "socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers" illegally discriminated against whites.
Last week, the First U.S. Prison filed a federal lawsuit accusing an Ohio university district of violating Title IX academic protections and infringing on parental rights by allowing students to use restrooms according to their gender identity.
Furthermore, the United States Department of Justice recently filed an amicus brief urging the Supreme Court to rule that Title VI prohibits any consideration of race in college admissions tactics.
However, the first US arrest did more than just register complaints.
Before the 2022 midterm elections, United States First Legal funded divisive ads simply trying to pit non-white communities against each other.
In the weeks leading up to the 2022 election, United States First Legal published ads attacking Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and Democrats, often calling them racist.
Although the ads for the first U.S. crime campaign do not explicitly identify the candidates operating in the 2022 elections, they present Biden as a figurehead for the Democrats – essentially using him as a stand-in for Democratic candidates in every state.
“Joe Biden put white Americans at the back of the line for Covid relief funds. Kamala Harris said disaster relief should go to non-white citizens first,” the narrator says in a single ad. The claims in the ads have been debunked by fact-checkers.
The analysis of the Human Rights campaign found that “a significant portion” of spending on divisive radio, mail, television, and digital ads was directed toward Black and Spanish-speaking voters.
The First Prison in the United States spent US$4 million to place its advertisements on Black and Spanish-language radio stations in several key states – including Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas – according to the human rights crusade.
Federal communications fee records reviewed by OpenSecrets verify that the First United States Prison purchased multiple Spanish-language radio advertisements.
A mailer funded by US First Criminal points to a fake job advertisement that said "whites and Asians need not apply," the Manhattan Times reported.
“Left-leaning officials are frequently involved in racial discrimination against white and Asian Americans,” the mailer says. Another mailer in Spanish accuses Biden of forcing his children to declare their gender identity.
A 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization run with the help of one of the same former Trump staffers as the first U.S. prison, Citizens for Sanity, ran similar ads before the midterm elections.
Ian Prior, a strategic consultant for Sanity residents and senior advisor to the American prison, previously told OpenSecrets that Sanity citizens “have no connection to American crime,” but declined to comment further.
Sanity residents spent over $$ 51 million in six key states, according to AdImpact. Much of that was concentrated in Arizona and Nevada, swing states hosting tight races where the community spent $$ 15.8 million and $$ 15.1 million, respectively.
American First Legal entered 2022 with $ 4.3 million available.
America First Felony ended 2021 with US$4.3 million in taxes, having spent approximately US$2.1 million of the US$6.3 million in taxes collected, based on tax returns reviewed through the OpenSecrets program.
An offering from the Conservative Partnership Institute, a center whose leaders include Meadows and former Trump lawyer Cleta Mitchell, accounted for approximately US$1 million of that, according to 2021 tax data first reported through the Sludge report.
The Conservative Partnership Institute's connections to the America First prison are no longer limited to funding. Several individuals affiliated with the Conservative Partnership Institute also serve on the board of directors of America First, including Conservative Partnership Institute president Edward Corrigan and Meadows, according to state charity reports filed in March.
The highest paid fundraiser from the first U.S. crime was Bluebonnet Fundraising LLC, a company founded by Caroline Wren, a prominent fundraiser for the Trump campaign who was listed as a “VIP marketing consultant” on the permit granted by the national parks provider for the rally preceding the Capitol attack on January 6, 2021.
Tax Facts Display: Bluebonnet Fundraising LLC provided fundraising consulting and helped raise $170,000 for the first US criminal in 2021. The company retained $101 of the money raised.
Trump Victory paid BlueBonnet Fundraising LLC over US$590,000 during the 2020 election cycle.
USA First Criminal paid approximately $193,000 in total compensation to Gene Hamilton, who served as vice president, general counsel, and secretary. In addition to paying Matthew Whitaker $175,000 in earnings, the group paid approximately $135,000 more to Hacker Stephens LLP, Miller's law firm, for legal services.
Provocative ads using dark money companies linked to Trump targeted battleground states in 2022.
Unlike US First Criminal, Citizens for Sanity placed ads focused on several Democrats running in the 2022 midterm elections. As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, US First Criminal is prohibited from engaging in election politics, but 501(c)(4) nonprofit organizations can direct unlimited sums of funds from secret donors to influence elections with few restrictions.
An advertisement by Resident for Sanity in the Philadelphia Tribune – the longest-running consistently published African American newspaper in the United States – mocked Pennsylvania Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman, the Democratic candidate who ultimately won the Pennsylvania Senate seat, for having the “bravery to wear a sweatshirt even in the most formal settings. The courage to grow a sparse goatee and wear it with pride. The bravery to demand that bloodless killers – murderers – be released from prison.”
A different collection of recent Hampshire newspaper ads funded by residents for sanity-focused Senator Maggie Hassan (DN.H.) was featured. “Thank you Senator Hassan, for voting to keep predators out of reform school. Reform school is no place for violent criminals,” one ad read. Another ad thanked Hassan “for keeping the border open. Sex traffickers certainly won’t prevail without friends like you.”.
Newspaper ads mentioning candidates stopped during the 60 days that spending related to candidates working in the 2022 elections was required to be reported to the FEC. And because the ads continued urging viewers to vote for Biden – who was no longer running for reelection in 2022 – or attacking candidates operating in the 2022 midterm elections without explicitly calling for their election or defeat, none of that spending was reported to the FEC.
However, companies continued to spend on online advertising even after common types of ads mentioning candidates may be required to be disclosed to the FEC. During the 60 days leading up to election day, Citizens for Sanity spent over US$4.4 million on online advertising, according to OpenSecrets' analysis of Facebook and Google ad data.
Online ads during the remaining weeks of the election continued to target likely Democrats in swing states, including Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), and Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), in addition to Hassan and Fetterman. Many of the ads attacking incumbent Democratic senators also feature Biden, drawing unflattering similarities between the candidates and the figurehead of the Democratic birthday celebration.
“Tell WARNOCK AND BIDEN to keep their hands off our children,” reads one online ad, featuring photos of each man making hand gestures. “JOHN FETTERMAN LOVES CRIMINALS,” another online ad has been seen tens of millions of times in the weeks leading up to Election Day.
Online advertisements – including advertisements attacking candidates – do not need to be reported to the FEC, even in the weeks leading up to election day, as long as they do not explicitly suggest the election or defeat of a candidate. Since none of the neighborhood's advertisements are explicitly known for the election or defeat of a candidate, none of their spending was reported to the FEC.
