25-year-old lures Donald Trump donors into contributing to PAC that has spent $0 on Trump

Donald Trump is not getting the money donors are giving him through this PAC.
(Image credit: Getty Images)

More than 20,000 donors have contributed almost $350,000 to a Donald Trump super PAC that has spent $0 on Donald Trump, Politico reports. The PAC, operated by 25-year-old Ian Hawes, offers an opportunity to win "Dinner with Donald Trump" but the fine print clarifies that despite appearances, the website isn't run by the Trump campaign and the dinner is actually the PAC buying two tickets "at a Sponsor-selected fundraising evening event held with Donald Trump and other attendees." Donors are encouraged to spend money to increase their chances of winning, but the fine print again says "contributing will not improve chances of winning."

Hawes took advantage of a vacuum left by a skeletal Trump operation that had failed to activate supporters online and protect its digital turf; Hawes noted he bought Facebook ads and solicited money via email before Trump ever did, and created the dinner contest first.He noted Trump's campaign has never contacted them to request they stop using his name, even though the campaign did so to the FEC last fall about some other groups. The Trump campaign did not respond to requests for comment for this story. [Politico]

Most of the money from donors went to CartSoft LLC, an online payment platform founded and owned by Hawes, which received about $133,000 from the arrangement. Hawes didn't say what his personal cut of that pot was, but added, "I don't want to say the number is zero because that's not true."

"This is robbery," Indiana donor Mary Pat Kulina told Politico upon hearing her donation of $265 did not go directly to the Trump campaign. "I want my money back and I want them to add up what they stole from people and give it to Donald Trump." Read the full report — including how to get your money back if you donated — at Politico.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
Explore More
Jeva Lange

Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.