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DeSantis Announces Florida Will Investigate GoFundMe After Company Shut Down Freedom Convoy
Daily Wire ^ | 2/5)22 | Ryan Saavedra

Posted on 02/05/2022 3:13:37 PM PST by Impala64ssa

Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis announced Saturday morning that he will work with the state’s attorney general to investigate GoFundMe after the company shut down a fundraiser for the Canadian truckers participating in the Freedom Convoy.

“The fundraising effort had raised C$10 million—around $7.9 million—and C$1 million had already been distributed to the organizers of the so-called Freedom Convoy before GoFundMe took the decision to stop the fundraiser,” Newsweek reported. “GoFundMe initially announced on Friday it would refund contributions to anyone who applied and the remaining funds would be distributed to charities chosen by the Freedom Convoy organizers and verified by the crowdfunding site.”

GoFundMe later reversed course, citing “donor feedback.”

The left-wing company said in a statement:

To simplify the process for our users, we will be refunding all donations to the Freedom Convoy 2022 fundraiser. This refund will happen automatically—you do not need to submit a request. Donors can expect to see refunds within 7-10 business days.

The update we issued earlier enabled all donors to get a refund and outlined a plan to distribute remaining funds to verified charities selected by the Freedom Convoy organizers. However, due to donor feedback, we are simplifying the process and automatically refunding donations.

DeSantis responded to the news with a tweet, writing: “It is a fraud for @gofundme to commandeer $9M in donations sent to support truckers and give it to causes of their own choosing.”

“I will work with @AGAshleyMoody to investigate these deceptive practices — these donors should be given a refund,” the governor added.

GoFundMe’s initial statement announcing that it was taking down the fundraiser stated:

GoFundMe supports peaceful protests and we believe that was the intention of the Freedom Convoy 2022 fundraiser when it was first created.

We now have evidence from law enforcement that the previously peaceful demonstration has become an occupation, with police reports of violence and other unlawful activity.

To ensure GoFundMe remains a trusted platform, we work with local authorities to ensure we have a detailed, factual understanding of events taking place on the ground. Following a review of relevant facts and multiple discussions with local law enforcement and city officials, this fundraiser is now in violation of our Terms of Service (Term 8, which prohibits the promotion of violence and harassment) and has been removed from the platform.

Organizers provided a clear distribution plan for the initial $1M that was released earlier this week and confirmed funds would be used only for participants who traveled to Ottawa to participate in a peaceful protest. Given how this situation has evolved, no further funds will be directly distributed to the Freedom Convoy organizers — we will work with organizers to send all remaining funds to credible and established charities verified by GoFundMe.

All donors may submit a request for a full refund until February 19th, 2022 using this dedicated refund form.

West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey urged residents in his state to contact his office to let him know if they had “been victimized by a deceptive act or practice” by GoFundMe.

“#GoFundMe now won’t honor #FreedomConvoy donations and will instead redirect to other charities? In WV, organizations must not deceive donors and engage in deceptive advertising practices. If you’ve been victimized by a deceptive act or practice, let us know!” Morrisey wrote. “According to their website, #GoFundMe is not automatically refunding the donations. Individuals interested in a refund can submit the form below if they do so by Feb 19, 2022. This will avoid the ‘redirecting’ of the donation.”


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Canada; Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; US: Florida
KEYWORDS: 2024; antisocialmedia; attorneygeneral; bloggers; canada; canadiantruckers; deceit; desantis; desantis2024; fakeinvestigation; fascism; florida; fraud; freedomconvoy; gofundme; governor; itssoeasy; karlspooner; morrissey; ruralmichigan; westvirginia
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To: BigEdLB

E!on needs to put his money where his mouth is.


41 posted on 02/05/2022 4:28:21 PM PST by Fai Mao (I don't think we have enough telephone poles.)
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To: EEGator

Jonathan Turley was on FOX to discuss the situation, and the Trudeau connection didn’t come up. As usual, the interview was way too short. The thing that gets me is GFM’s (or the Canadian government’s) first idea of giving the $$ to charities of whose(?) choice. That is some kind of blatant misappropriation. They since are returning it, but that doesn’t seem like enough to make things right.


42 posted on 02/05/2022 4:33:11 PM PST by gloryblaze
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To: SmokingJoe

AWESOME !
Go after these leftist Aholes .


43 posted on 02/05/2022 4:33:50 PM PST by A strike (Public Health 21st century murder by government. DoktorFauxiMengeleGates to a TerreHaute gurney now)
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To: MinorityRepublican

Have never used GFM. I don’t trust anyone with my money. I’ve only had halfway trust my local bank.


44 posted on 02/05/2022 4:36:21 PM PST by WVNan
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To: NWFree

I would say the GoF*ndme just F*cked themselves and will shortly go out of business.


45 posted on 02/05/2022 4:39:05 PM PST by wetgundog
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To: Impala64ssa

I’m not sure how Gofundme, located in California, falls under the legal purview of the state of Florida.

BTW, I’m not a lawyer. I’ll wait for an explanation.


46 posted on 02/05/2022 4:51:10 PM PST by sergeantdave (Federal courts no longer have any standing in America. )
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To: Impala64ssa

What is to Investigate?

They Very Publicly told the World the Criminal Acts they were committing, they were Proud of the Bank Fraud, Wire Fraud and Money Laundering.

A grand Jury would indict in 10 seconds with what is in the Public Record.

What do they need to Investigate??


47 posted on 02/05/2022 4:51:42 PM PST by eyeamok (founded in cynicism, wrapped in sarcasm)
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To: Impala64ssa

States need to bar them from operating there.


48 posted on 02/05/2022 4:52:18 PM PST by TBP (Decent people cannot fathom the amoral cruelty of the Biden regime.)
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To: wetgundog
I would say the GoF*ndme just F*cked themselves and will shortly go out of business.

One would think so, at a minimum.

49 posted on 02/05/2022 4:53:00 PM PST by Steely Tom ([Voter Fraud] == [Civil War])
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To: MinorityRepublican

Enjoy your ride on the slippery slope.


50 posted on 02/05/2022 5:12:20 PM PST by KierkegaardMAN (I never engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed man.)
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To: Impala64ssa

DeSantis is awesome. Big Tech needs to be knocked off their high horse yesterday.


51 posted on 02/05/2022 5:50:31 PM PST by Baladas
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To: Impala64ssa

It’s funny, the LW has become the party of authoritarians and dictators, who will overrule you, and attempt to control all your moves, and your speeches and soon your thoughts sand desires. So, will the LW come out soon and admit they are really RW fascists? And will the RW come out and admit they are being left leaning centrists?


52 posted on 02/05/2022 5:59:18 PM PST by realcleanguy (quickly things are falling apart, now that the )
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To: KierkegaardMAN; MinorityRepublican
It was dismaying to see the wholehearted promotion of the NFL on FR the past few weeks. I guess bread and circuses are it, and we'll just whine a little about the price of bread.
53 posted on 02/05/2022 6:06:56 PM PST by palmer (Democracy Dies Six Ways from Sunday)
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To: Impala64ssa

Amazing case - didn’t the GFM board consult their own legal team as to the definition of wire fraud before they made the decision? Direct refunds don’t address what happened to the interest they made from holding onto what amounted to $10 million Canadian for the time that they had it. Their best scenario at the moment is defending lawsuits from multiple states, and that won’t be cheap even if they win them, which isn’t anywhere near a sure thing. The damage to their reputation is already huge. For what?


54 posted on 02/05/2022 6:22:14 PM PST by Billthedrill
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To: sergeantdave
If there was even a single donor in Florida who got screwed by GoF#€%Me, the State of Florida almost certainly has the legal standing to prosecute the case.

The bigger problem GFM faces is that this could be a major wire fraud case which also exposes them to potential racketeering charges.

The company’s offices will probably be inundated on Monday with “preserve all records” notices from state prosecutors and private lawyers all over North America. Even if no criminal charges come out of it, GFM may end up spending hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees just to deal with the mess.

55 posted on 02/05/2022 6:52:37 PM PST by Alberta's Child ("Mr. Potato Head ... Mr. Potato Head! Back doors are not secrets.")
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To: Alberta's Child

DeSantis is the man (ducks)!


56 posted on 02/05/2022 6:53:52 PM PST by Golden Eagle (What's in YOUR injection?)
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To: Golden Eagle
LOL. No need to duck. You won’t get a complaint from me on this one!

This is the kind of political opportunity every elected official dreams about.

57 posted on 02/05/2022 6:54:59 PM PST by Alberta's Child ("Mr. Potato Head ... Mr. Potato Head! Back doors are not secrets.")
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To: Alberta's Child

Thanks! Watch him close, I think you’ll like more of what you see. Have a great night.


58 posted on 02/05/2022 6:57:41 PM PST by Golden Eagle (What's in YOUR injection?)
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To: Golden Eagle

Yep — thanks! You too!


59 posted on 02/05/2022 6:59:12 PM PST by Alberta's Child ("Mr. Potato Head ... Mr. Potato Head! Back doors are not secrets.")
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To: BigEdLB
So what do Canadians have to do to force a new election?

A majority of the members of Parliament have to call for a vote of no confidence.

Are there enough, who are not in the pay of the Chinese, to do it?

60 posted on 02/05/2022 7:07:39 PM PST by marktwain (Amazing people can read a persons entire personality and character from one photograph.)
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