{"id":2414038,"date":"2025-03-20T12:37:01","date_gmt":"2025-03-20T16:37:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/susan-crawford-donated-to-controversial-dem-fundraising-giant\/"},"modified":"2025-03-20T12:37:01","modified_gmt":"2025-03-20T16:37:01","slug":"susan-crawford-donated-to-controversial-dem-fundraising-giant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/susan-crawford-donated-to-controversial-dem-fundraising-giant\/","title":{"rendered":"Susan Crawford Donated To Controversial Dem Fundraising Giant"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" 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href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer\/sharer.php?u=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/03\/20\/wisconsins-susan-crawford-donated-to-democrat-fundraising-giant-under-fire-for-alleged-fraud\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-facebook\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Facebook<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-twitter m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=Wisconsin%E2%80%99s%20Susan%20Crawford%20Donated%20To%20Democrat%20Fundraising%20Giant%20Under%20Fire%20For%20Alleged%20Fraud&amp;url=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/03\/20\/wisconsins-susan-crawford-donated-to-democrat-fundraising-giant-under-fire-for-alleged-fraud\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-twitter\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Twitter<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-truth-social m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/truthsocial.com\/share?title=Wisconsin%E2%80%99s%20Susan%20Crawford%20Donated%20To%20Democrat%20Fundraising%20Giant%20Under%20Fire%20For%20Alleged%20Fraud&amp;url=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/03\/20\/wisconsins-susan-crawford-donated-to-democrat-fundraising-giant-under-fire-for-alleged-fraud\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" fill=\"currentColor\" style=\"width:36px;height:auto;\" viewbox=\"0 0 92 93\"><path d=\"M69.444 55.716H56.772v10.37h12.672zM64.487 37.795V27.32H38.666v38.664h13.18v-28.19zM21.05 27.321h12.653v10.471H21.051z\" https:><\/path><\/svg>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Truth Social<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-link m-0\">       <button data-clipboard-text=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/03\/20\/wisconsins-susan-crawford-donated-to-democrat-fundraising-giant-under-fire-for-alleged-fraud\/\" data-tooltip-content=\"Copied!\" class=\"clip tooltip\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-link-variant\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Copy Article Link<\/span>       <\/button>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-email m-0\">       <a href=\"mailto:?subject=Wisconsin%E2%80%99s%20Susan%20Crawford%20Donated%20To%20Democrat%20Fundraising%20Giant%20Under%20Fire%20For%20Alleged%20Fraud&amp;body=FEC%20records%20appear%20to%20show%20that%20Susan%20Crawford%20gave%20numerous%20small-dollar%20donations%20to%20ActBlue%20during%20her%20time%20as%20a%20private%20lawyer.%20https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/03\/20\/wisconsins-susan-crawford-donated-to-democrat-fundraising-giant-under-fire-for-alleged-fraud\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-email\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article via Email<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-email m-0\"><span class=\"printfriendly pf-button  pf-alignleft\"><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/thefederalist.com\/#\" rel=\"nofollow\" onclick=\"window.print(); return false;\" title=\"Printer Friendly, PDF &amp; Email\"><span id=\"printfriendly-text2\" class=\"pf-button-text\"><i class=\"mdi mdi-printer\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<p>Wisconsin&rsquo;s leftist state supreme court candidate <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/susan-crawford\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Susan Crawford<\/a> previously gave hundreds of dollars to a Democrat-aligned fundraising platform under fire for alleged fraud, The Federalist has learned.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fec.gov\/data\/receipts\/individual-contributions\/?contributor_name=susan+crawford&amp;contributor_state=WI\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Federal Election Commission records<\/a> reviewed by The Federalist appear to show that Crawford &mdash; who is running against conservative Brad Schimel in Wisconsin&rsquo;s April 1 supreme court race &mdash; gave numerous small-dollar donations to ActBlue during her time as a private lawyer. As described on its <a href=\"https:\/\/secure.actblue.com\/about\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">website<\/a>, ActBlue is an &ldquo;online fundraising platform for Democratic candidates up and down the ballot, progressive organizations, and nonprofits.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2 d-flex justify-content-center\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; \" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-1186873678\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1463670073398-0\" class=\"mb-30\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Totaling $250 across eight years (2011-2017), the donations were made during Crawford&rsquo;s time working with the Madison-based law firm Pines Bach LLP (formerly Cullen Weston Pines &amp; Bach LLP). According to <a href=\"https:\/\/captimes.com\/news\/local\/crime-and-courts\/dane-county-circuit-court-election-marilyn-townsend-susan-crawford-stack-up-endorsements\/article_2028ad0b-0704-51c5-b9fa-72d4f40a7905.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The Cap Times<\/a>, Crawford worked with the firm for roughly eight years before successfully winning election as a Dane County Circuit Court judge in 2018.<\/p>\n<p>Pines Bach LLP <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pinesbach.com\/blog\/2013\/09\/susan-crawford-becomes-a-partner\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">named<\/a> Crawford an official &ldquo;partner&rdquo; in September 2013 and subsequently <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pinesbach.com\/blog\/2018\/04\/crawford-elected-dane-county-judge\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">congratulated<\/a> her on her 2018 victory. <\/p>\n<p>Federalist readers are likely familiar with the <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/actblue\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">scrutiny<\/a> ActBlue has come under in recent years over allegations that loopholes within its donor verification system may have <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/08\/22\/democrats-fundraising-machine-draws-accusations-of-potentially-illegal-schemes\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">allowed<\/a>&nbsp;unlawful monies to fund left-wing political causes. Until late last year, for example, the Democrat-aligned fundraising giant had <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/03\/11\/amid-chaos-at-actblue-house-republicans-seek-answers-about-potentially-fraudulent-and-illicit-financial-activity\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">accepted<\/a> donations made via credit cards that did not include the card verification value, or CVV.<\/p>\n<p>As The Federalist&rsquo;s Matt Kittle previously <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/12\/12\/this-is-illegal-speaker-johnson-calls-for-further-investigation-into-democrats-fundraising-machine\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reported<\/a>, a big part of the controversy surrounding ActBlue are accusations that it has acted as a &ldquo;&rsquo;money laundering operation,&rsquo; suspected of serving as a conduit for smurfing.&rdquo; Former Federal Election Commission member Hans von Spakovsky has <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.md\/pFhdO#selection-1865.99-1865.306\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">described<\/a> smurfing as a campaign finance-related process that &ldquo;involves breaking up large-scale donations in a way that disguises who the money is actually coming from, so the contribution limits on how much money can be donated to a particular candidate can be skirted.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>As part of their ongoing efforts to investigate the fundraising platform, congressional Republicans <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/12\/12\/this-is-illegal-speaker-johnson-calls-for-further-investigation-into-democrats-fundraising-machine\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">issued<\/a> a letter several months ago expressing concerns that ActBlue &ldquo;has maintained poor anti-fraud practices that have allowed bad actors to make fraudulent political donations, including from foreign sources.&rdquo;&nbsp;They most recently sent a <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/03\/11\/amid-chaos-at-actblue-house-republicans-seek-answers-about-potentially-fraudulent-and-illicit-financial-activity\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">request<\/a> to the Treasury Department last week for &ldquo;Suspicious Activity Reports&rdquo; filed since January 2023 that relate to &ldquo;money laundering, counterfeit credit\/debit card, credit card or debit card fraud, false statements, wire transfer fraud, or identity theft&rdquo; associated with ActBlue.<\/p>\n<p>The New York Times <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/03\/05\/us\/politics\/actblue-democrat-fundraising-resignations.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reported<\/a> earlier this month that ActBlue is currently engulfed in &ldquo;internal chaos,&rdquo; with &ldquo;at least seven senior officials resigning late last month and a remaining lawyer suggesting he faced internal retaliation.&rdquo; The outlet noted how the &ldquo;exodus has set off deep concerns about ActBlue&rsquo;s future.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Despite the allegations of financial wrongdoing plaguing the Democrat-aligned fundraising machine she previously donated to, Crawford has sought to make campaign spending a major part of her <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/03\/13\/wi-supreme-court-candidates-spar-in-pivotal-races-only-debate\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">messaging strategy<\/a> ahead of Wisconsin&rsquo;s April 1 election. Specifically, she&rsquo;s attempted to create controversy over monies donated in support of Schimel tied to Elon Musk.<\/p>\n<p>During the candidates&rsquo; lone debate last week, for instance, Crawford conflated Schimel and Musk&rsquo;s names in a statement decrying the money the latter&rsquo;s PACs have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wisn.com\/article\/crawford-schimel-clash-over-musk-soros-money-in-59-million-court-race\/64176457\">reportedly<\/a><strong> <\/strong>spent to support the former&rsquo;s election.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Elon Schimel is trying to buy this race. And people are very upset about that and they are disturbed about that,&rdquo; Crawford said.<\/p>\n<p>What Crawford and her backers have often ignored, however, is the influx of out-of-state cash boosting her campaign stemming from Democrat mega-donors. Campaign finance records <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/02\/13\/with-control-at-stake-big-money-leftists-look-to-buy-another-seat-on-wisconsin-supreme-court\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">show<\/a> that leftist billionaire George Soros, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, and LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman have collectively given hundreds of thousands to the state Democrat Party bankrolling Crawford&rsquo;s campaign.<\/p>\n<p>Crawford&rsquo;s campaign did not respond to The Federalist&rsquo;s request for comment. <\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">\n<div class=\"article-author-description fst-italic\">   Shawn Fleetwood is a staff writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He previously served as a state content writer for Convention of States Action and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClearHealth, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-author mt-30 mt-sm-60 pt-30 bdr-top-bold-black\">\n<div class=\"row g-0 align-items-center\">\n<div class=\"col-12 col-md-6\">\n<div class=\"article-author-profile d-flex align-items-center justify-content-center justify-content-md-start\">\n<div class=\"article-author-details\">\n<div class=\"label-md\">Shawn Fleetwood<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-author-twitter label-sm d-flex align-items-center mt-10\">             <i class=\"mdi mdi-twitter me-5\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>             <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Visit on Twitter<\/span>            <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ShawnFleetwood\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"text-decoration-none\">@ShawnFleetwood<\/a>           <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"col-12 col-md-6 d-flex justify-content-center justify-content-md-end mt-15 mt-md-0\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/author\/shawnfleetwood\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">More Articles<\/a>     <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-tags bdr-top-black mt-30 mt-sm-60 pt-15 pt-md-45\">\n<ul class=\"list-unstyled d-flex flex-wrap align-items-center mb-0 mx-n10 p-0\">\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/2025-elections\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">2025 elections<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/actblue\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">ActBlue<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/dark-money\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">dark money<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/democratic-dark-money\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Democratic Dark Money<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/donations\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">donations<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/elections\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Elections<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/foreign-money\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">foreign money<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/susan-crawford\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Susan Crawford<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/wisconsin\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Wisconsin<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/wisconsin-supreme-court\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Wisconsin Supreme Court<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Image Credit TMJ4 News\/YouTube Share Share Article on Facebook Share Article on Twitter Share Article on Truth Social Copy Article Link Share Article via Email Wisconsin\u2019s leftist state supreme court candidate Susan Crawford previously gave hundreds of dollars to a Democrat-aligned fundraising platform under fire for alleged fraud, The Federalist has learned. Federal Election Commission<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":539,"featured_media":2414039,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Susan-Crawford.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2414038","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Susan-Crawford.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2414038","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\/539"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2414038"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2414038\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2414039"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2414038"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2414038"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2414038"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}