Former Arizona Senate candidate Kari Lake has become one of the most controversial members of President Donald Trump’s Make America Great Again movement. After losing her bid for the Arizona Senate seat, Lake was able to pivot to becoming Trump’s senior advisor to the U.S. Agency for Global Media.
This new appointment by Trump was controversial enough. However, new reporting has alleged that Lake is continuing to receive campaign donations through WinRed, even though she lost the election. Even more intriguingly, many of these WinRed donations are being refunded by Republican donors.
Kari Lake and Donation Chargebacks
According to new FEC records, Lake’s donations have an incredibly high rate of chargebacks. Chargebacks are reversed charges that donors’ banks initiate when they decide to dispute transactions. While WinRed says a 1.79% dispute rate is “excessive”, Kari Lake has a whopping 16.5% chargeback through the platform, well exceeding even what other Republicans face.
This clearly shows that many donors are immediately requesting their money back in what is often considered a “last resort” option. If donors can’t get their money back in an easier way, they’re forced to resort to chargebacks.
Analysts have suggested that this extreme amount of chargebacks Kari Lake is facing has to do with WinRed’s automatic, recurring donations system. This recurring practice has come under fire from many, yet Lake has previously touted it.
Do Lake’s WinRed Donations Violate the Hatch Act?
Even more controversially, Kari Lake’s WinRed donations fall into that gray area of what is acceptable campaign practice for government employees. Now that Kari Lake is working for Trump’s administration, the Hatch Act bans her from receiving donations.
However, Lake has thus far been able to get around violating this act, as she has claimed that all her ongoing donations are being used to handle her campaign debt. Using donations to cover debt does not violate the Hatch Act.
So, as long as she doesn’t tell people to donate to her, she’s not violating the Hatch Act. Regardless, this latest reporting further shows just how controversial Lake is. Even Republican donors aren’t happy with having to donate to her, and are issuing chargebacks at an excessive, never-before-seen rate.
Of course, will Lake’s treatment of her Republican donors matter? In Trump’s administration, he has seemed to favor the more dramatic and news-making people. As a result, Kari Lake will likely thrive within the president’s administration.
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