{"id":1308102,"date":"2022-02-17T15:23:12","date_gmt":"2022-02-17T20:23:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1308102"},"modified":"2022-02-17T20:38:12","modified_gmt":"2022-02-18T01:38:12","slug":"exclusive-montana-ag-investigating-gofundme-for-removing-freedom-convoy-fundraiser","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/exclusive-montana-ag-investigating-gofundme-for-removing-freedom-convoy-fundraiser\/","title":{"rendered":"EXCLUSIVE: Montana AG Investigating GoFundMe For Removing \u2018Freedom Convoy\u2019 Fundraiser"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fexclusive-montana-ag-investigating-gofundme-for-removing-freedom-convoy-fundraiser%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1308102&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Freedom-Convoy-5-1.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" alt=\"image\" \/><\/div>\n<p>The Daily Wire has learned Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen is launching an investigation into GoFundMe after it shut down a nearly $10 million fundraiser for Canadian truckers protesting COVID-19 vaccine mandates.<\/p>\n<p>Knudsen wrote to GoFundMe on Thursday announcing his probe into whether the company violated <a href=\"https:\/\/www.leg.mt.gov\/bills\/mca\/title_0300\/chapter_0140\/part_0010\/sections_index.html\">Montana\u2019s<\/a> Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Act. The statute safeguards against residents from grievances.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is something that very likely had Montana donors participating, given Alberta literally shares a border with us,\u201d the attorney general told The Daily Wire. \u201cWe have a lot of citizens in Montana who are either dual-citizens or do business on both sides of the border. For GoFundMe to just step in and say \u2018Oh, well we don\u2019t like this, we\u2019re going to seize this money and put it towards something else,\u2019 that certainly raises suspicions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>GoFundMe, a popular crowdfunding platform, froze a campaign for the Canadian \u201cFreedom Convoy\u201d in early February. The platform said it would redistribute the funds, then said donors should request refunds, then quickly reversed course and said it would refund donations automatically. Knudsen seeks to know why the company had decided to appropriate funds from donors, as well as of any past instances of it doing so \u2014 since GoFundMe was going to donate the money to a group verified by the site.<\/p>\n<p>GiveSendGo, another platform, took over as the fundraising medium for the convoy after GoFundMe\u2019s decision. Over the weekend, GiveSendGo\u2019s website became <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/we-are-in-a-battle-givesendgo-running-again-after-cyberattack\">compromised<\/a> due to hackers who posted a list of more than 90,000 donors. \u201cWe are in a battle,\u201d the company said in a statement, announcing it is back online. \u201cWe didn\u2019t expect it to be easy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In addition, Knudsen is probing why GoFundMe determined that the Freedom Convoy <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gofundme.com\/c\/terms\">violated<\/a> its terms of service \u2014 specifically number 8. The guideline bars \u201chate, violence, harassment, bullying, discrimination, terrorism, or intolerance of any kind relating to race, ethnicity, national origin, religious affiliation, sexual orientation, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, serious disabilities or diseases.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNothing that I have seen personally suggests that this was in any way a violent or hateful group,\u201d Knudsen also told The Daily Wire. \u201cI\u2019m looking out for Montana consumers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As a technical matter, the Montana attorney general wants to know how GoFundMe \u201cidentified participants\u201d in Ottawa who were protesting and how they received funds back. He is investigating how the platform would have identified \u201c<span dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">credible and established <\/span><span dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">charities\u201d after it initially said donors would not receive their money automatically.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Several chief legal officials in red states have signaled intent to probe GoFundMe. This includes Florida\u2019s Ashley Moody, Louisiana\u2019s Jeff Landry, West Virginia\u2019s Patrick Morrisey, Ken Paxton of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/texas-ag-ken-paxton-investigates-gofundme-for-shutting-down-freedom-convoys-10-million-fundraiser\">Texas<\/a>, and others. Last week, Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz demanded the Federal Trade Commission investigate the platform.<\/p>\n<p>Knudsen mentions GoFundMe\u2019s decision to permit fundraisers in connection with 2020 riots in Portland and Seattle, in his letter, asking \u201cwhether GoFundMe had discussions with law enforcement regarding whether those protests included violations of law or support of violence or harassment, and how GoFundMe reached the decision to allow these fundraisers to remain on its website.\u201d The website notably did not block initiatives to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.oregonlive.com\/news\/2020\/06\/whos-behind-the-portland-protest-bail-fund-thats-raised-more-than-500000.html\">bail out<\/a> rioters.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt certainly smells fishy,\u201d Knudsen said. \u201cIt certainly looks like they\u2019re picking winners and losers. From a trade practices standpoint, I think that\u2019s unfair. It would be a violation of those statutes. We sent this letter asking for clarification and some more data. Hopefully, they can give us some.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Protestors in Canada have continued to occupy the streets. Truckers are receiving police notices to stop or face arrest, and there are an estimated 360 vehicles blockading Ottawa\u2019s downtown area, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/news\/world\/ottawas-police-chief-resigns-truck-protest-canada-rcna16439\">according<\/a> to the Associated Press. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/breaking-trudeau-announces-unprecedented-action-freezing-bank-accounts-of-freedom-convoy-protesters\">invoked the Emergency Powers<\/a> Act this week, which has never been used.<\/p>\n<p>View the full letter from Knudsen <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scribd.com\/document\/559602931\/Montana-Attorney-General-Investigating-GoFundMe-For-Freedom-Convoy-Fundraiser-Removal\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><i>Send story tips to Gabe Kaminsky at&nbsp;<\/i><a href=\"mailto:gekaminsky@protonmail.com\"><i>gekaminsky@protonmail.com<\/i><\/a><i>. Follow him&nbsp;<\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/gekaminsky\"><i>on Twitter<\/i><\/a><i>.<\/i><\/p>\n<p><em>The Daily Wire\u2019s first original film, Shut In, has made its cinematic debut, being met with rave reviews. The Daily Wire is building an alternative to the leftist entertainment industry, one gripping movie at a time. Join us in this mission and stream Shut In today by becoming a Daily Wire&nbsp;<\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/subscribe\"><em>member<\/em><\/a><em>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Daily Wire has learned Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen is launching an investigation into GoFundMe after it shut down a nearly $10 million fundraiser for Canadian truckers protesting COVID-19 &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1308102","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1308102","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1308102"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1308102\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1308102"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1308102"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1308102"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}