ActBlue exodus (03-07-2025--Hour3)

[00:00:04] What's going on? Thank you so much for listening to this podcast. It is heard live every day from noon to 3 on WBT Radio in Charlotte. And if you want exclusive content, like invitations to events, the weekly live stream, my daily show prep with all the links, become a patron, go to thepetekalendershow.com. Make sure you hit the subscribe button, get every episode for free, write to your smartphone or tablet. And again, thank you so much for your support.

[00:00:28] Final Hour of the Week. Not really true, because I hang out with Brett Winterbull for the hangover for the first segment of his show. But I'm approaching the final hour of the week. News Talk 1110-99.3 WBT.

[00:00:45] So you know about ActBlue, right? The guys that paint themselves in blue and then they don't talk and they do all sorts of crazy theatrical performances on stage. No, I'm kidding. ActBlue is the online fundraising organization.

[00:01:05] And if you ever make a donation to a Democrat candidate or campaign, chances are, or even a lot of the nonprofits or political action committees and such that are in the Democrat Party orbit, chances are it has gone through ActBlue.

[00:01:30] ActBlue. The Republicans, I think theirs is called WinRed. And I believe they modeled theirs on ActBlue. And it allows for the pooling of all of the money. So for example, if I'm a local candidate, I'm running for state house or something and I'm trying to fundraise, ActBlue will provide all of those fundraising, you know, back end support.

[00:01:58] Services for me, right? They'll do the spam emails that you keep getting and the text messages, right? They'll do all of that stuff. And if I get suckered into clicking the link, it'll take me to ActBlue where I make my, you know, five or $10 donation. Now I'm on their mailing list for all of eternity. And that mailing list gets sold around to all the different campaigns and stuff.

[00:02:24] And when I make the donation, ActBlue will take that money and they will pass along some of it. They keep some. And this has been a point of contention in the past over like how much money ActBlue is siphoning off of your donation, keeping for themselves. But then they also will redirect that money into other types of campaigns.

[00:02:50] So part of the problem with ActBlue has been that, well, a couple problems. Number one is that they had, well, a little bit of an issue, shall we say, screening out foreign donations, which are illegal. If you are a foreign person or a company or something, you're not allowed to fund politicians' campaigns in America.

[00:03:18] Okay. And Barack Obama got into trouble doing this as well when he had his fundraising website set up too. But that's different, by the way. It's different because then after he won, he cleared himself of any wrongdoing. So it all worked out. So ActBlue's little issues going on with that stuff. We've covered this in the past.

[00:03:43] We also covered how people who made a donation to ActBlue or to a campaign in the past, maybe it was, you know, 10 bucks, 20 bucks here or there. But when you pull the FEC reports and you find they've donated, I think the guy, there was a guy up in like the Winston-Salem area or maybe Greensboro actually.

[00:04:09] And he was listed as donating like $26,000 or something to the Kamala Harris campaign. And when asked about whether he had actually made those donations, he said, no, he hadn't. He can't afford to do that. He's like, maybe I donated like $100. But that was it.

[00:04:34] And there are numerous examples of this, not just here in North Carolina, all over the country, of people that have made large donations that say they never made them. Now, they're not, they haven't been robbed, right? They haven't had any of their money taken and given to these campaigns or anything. That's not the, that's not the allegation.

[00:04:57] The allegation is that they're being used as essentially straw purchasers or donors, straw donors. In other words, if you want to donate $20, I want to donate a million. But I have limits on how much I can donate or I'm not an American citizen, so I'm not allowed to donate.

[00:05:25] So they will take my donation and attribute it to you. And this has occurred. They've got evidence of this all over the country, multiple races and stuff. It's what prompted the Congress to start looking into ActBlue and their practices, which also then prompted ActBlue to lock down some security measures, which they had been warned about but refused to lock down, but then eventually locked them down after Congress started looking into them.

[00:05:55] Well, we got some more problems over at ActBlue. ActBlue, according to the New York Times headline, faces internal chaos. Dare I call it disarray? ActBlue, the online fundraising organization that powers Democratic candidates, has plunged into turmoil

[00:06:15] with at least seven senior officials resigning late last month and a remaining lawyer suggesting that he has faced internal retaliation. The departures from ActBlue, which helps raise money for Democrats running for office at all levels of government, come as the group is under investigation by congressional Republicans.

[00:06:38] They have advanced legislation that some Democrats warn could be used to debilitate what is the party's leading fundraising operation. The exodus has set off deep concerns about ActBlue's future. Last week, two unions representing the group's workers sent a blistering letter to ActBlue's board of directors that listed the seven officials who had left.

[00:07:07] The letter described, quote, an alarming pattern of departures that was eroding our confidence in the stability of the organization. What prompted so many longtime ActBlue officials to leave? Don't know. It is not clear, according to the New York Times, because none of the former officials agreed to be interviewed on the record.

[00:07:34] A spokeswoman for ActBlue named Megan Hughes said, quote, like many organizations, as we undergo some transition heading into this new election cycle, we are focused on ensuring we have a strong team in place. See, here's the thing, though. They did not have a problem raising money. Right. Especially after they got rid of Joe. Right. That was used. Right.

[00:08:02] The fundraising threat of it drying up was used in order to push Joe Biden out in the Democrat coup. But when Harris came in, you remember all of the stories, right? Within the first week, we heard all these stories about how, you know, the fundraising was going gangbusters. Now that Joe was out, we made the right decision, you know, by not allowing our voters to pick our nominee for democracy purposes. We made the right call.

[00:08:31] Look at all the money that's coming in. Right. So it doesn't seem like the fundraising was the problem for Democrats last cycle. And in fact, after they lost so badly. What did they say? They said it was. Well, they always say this. It was that we couldn't get our message out, which is not what ActBlue is supposed to do. Their fundraising platform. Right. The messaging side, that's up to that's up to the party and the campaigns and stuff. So.

[00:08:59] I'm not really sure why a new election cycle would prompt so many people to be leaving ActBlue as if it's, you know, some sort of a normal cycle of events. You're putting in a strong team. Are you saying the last team wasn't strong? Because, again, you guys said fundraising was really strong. That's what ActBlue does. So why are all these people leaving?

[00:09:24] Senior staff departures began on February 21st. That day, ActBlue's customer service director and partnerships director. Who had both worked at the group for more than a decade. Both of them left on the same day. That's unusual. Right. That would be unusual. These two top people leaving on the same day.

[00:09:51] The next week, several other senior officials left, including the associate general counsel. That's a lawyer. Who was the highest ranking legal officer at ActBlue. Also leaving, the assistant research director. A human resources official. And the chief revenue officer. As well as an engineer.

[00:10:15] Who had spent 16 years building and maintaining the electronic pipes through which the group's donations flow. So, like an IT guy, sounds like. Like when I heard engineer. I thought, why do you have an engineer? Is he drawing up plans or whatever? No. He maintained the network stuff. Why are they all leaving? Do they know something?

[00:10:40] Is something about to happen to ActBlue, the Democrats' biggest fundraising platform? Here's a great idea. How about making an escape to a really special and secluded getaway in western North Carolina, just a quick drive up the mountain. And Cabins of Asheville is your connection. Whether you're celebrating an anniversary, a honeymoon, maybe you want to plan a memorable proposal, or get family and friends together for a big ol' reunion.

[00:11:04] Cabins of Asheville has the ideal spot for you, where you can reconnect with your loved ones and the things that truly matter. Nestled within the breathtaking 14,000 acres of the Pisgah National Forest, their cabins offer a serene escape in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Centrally located between Asheville and the entrance of the Great Smoky Mountain National Park, it's the perfect balance of seclusion and proximity to all the local attractions.

[00:11:29] With hot tubs, fireplaces, air conditioning, smart TVs, Wi-Fi, grills, outdoor tables, and your own private covered porch. Choose from 13 cabins, 6 cottages, 2 villas, and a great lodge with 11 king-sized bedrooms. Cabins of Asheville has the ideal spot for you for any occasion. And they have pet-friendly accommodations. Call or text 828-367-7068.

[00:11:54] Or check out all there is to offer at cabinsofashville.com and make memories that'll last a lifetime. Got a message here on Twitter. It's a Pete tweet from Dinah who says, If Act Blue had safeguards in place to ensure illegal money pass-throughs were not happening, then the organization would not be in disarray. Maybe so. So, that might be part of the reason.

[00:12:21] So, as all of the people started leaving, February 21st, two people quit. These are like high-ranking people. Then a week later, a bunch of other people quit. As they left, the last remaining lawyer in the Act Blue general counsel's office, a guy by the name of Zane Ahmad, wrote in an internal message board called Slack, the internal messaging system.

[00:12:52] You know, these Slack chats that people talk in. On February 26th, he wrote in a Slack message that his access to email and other internal platforms had been cut off and that other messages he had posted in Slack had been deleted. What was I think? Something dies in darkness. Is it the Democrat Party dies in darkness? Never mind.

[00:13:20] Mr. Ahmad is now on leave from Act Blue. Ahmaud wrote, please be advised, we have anti-retaliation and whistleblower policies for a reason. That's what he wrote. And apparently, either that one was deleted, he had his access cut off. So it sounds like Zane Ahmad, one of the lawyers in Act Blue,

[00:13:50] was a whistleblower or defending a whistleblower or something, right? Something's going on. A bunch of people are quitting over something that nobody wants to talk about. And one lawyer who said, hey, we have anti-retaliation policies and whistleblower policies for a reason. And then they put him on a leave of absence. They kicked him out. And don't have a reason for it.

[00:14:21] The union's letter that it sent to the, or they sent to, I guess there's multiple unions, they sent to the board of directors at Act Blue, called Ahmaud's assertions on the Slack platform, quote, unsettling and disturbing and part of a growing pattern of volatility and toxicity stemming from current leadership.

[00:14:48] The unions asked the board to hire an outside counsel to take investigatory actions to, quote, better understand the current state of the organization and evaluate if our CEO is doing her job in an appropriate, competent, and responsible manner. The chief executive, Regina Wallace-Jones, did not respond to requests for comment.

[00:15:20] If Act Blue were to become severely diminished, according to this New York Times article, Democrats running for office at all levels of government could face setbacks in their efforts to raise money. Candidates for office, ranging from school boards and city councils to the presidency, rely on this platform for their online fundraising, while Republicans have spent years trying to catch up. And while there are some alternative platforms,

[00:15:48] none have the scale or the reach of Act Blue. Democrats, for years, have credited Act Blue with giving them the edge over Republicans by creating a universal and trusted platform for donating. Which makes sense, right? Because it's centralization, and the left is all about centralizing this stuff.

[00:16:15] Um, Act Blue is based in Massachusetts, says it has raised more than $16 billion for Democrat candidates and causes since it was founded in 2004. Um, in recent weeks, congressional Republicans have demanded answers from Act Blue about its security and fraud prevention measures,

[00:16:40] as well as how the group prevents certain foreign donors from illegally contributing to candidates. This is what I went over to start the hour. These issues have been going on for a while, right? A similar thing happened, I mentioned also, with Barack Obama, who built, like, he built the infrastructure. It really, it really was amazing.

[00:17:06] I remember talking about, he hired a bunch of these tech experts, I forget from which companies, like, founders of various tech companies, and they came in and built him this, you know, internet digital machine to, um, to hit people with the, uh, the fundraising appeals. Five dollars here, ten dollars, like, now we just take it for granted that we're spammed all the time asking for five bucks. But before Obama came along, that, that was not normal.

[00:17:35] And he used this, this new machine to tear down the Clinton machine. That, that was the, you know, the ruler of the roost in the Democrat Party. That's what made it so surprising, that he built this whole thing, took over the party, right? But they did not enact basic controls. It was literally a toggle switch, like, you click the check box, you know, to say, don't allow foreign donations.

[00:18:05] And they didn't click it. And even when they were told, hey, you should click that thing, because you're, otherwise, you could be taking in all these foreign donations. And they were like, yeah, no, that's all right. And then when they were investigated for it by the FEC, and then he wins, and then the FEC is like, no problem. Because he won. Oh, and by the way, he did that at the same time as not taking the federal financing, right? After promising he would, and John McCain promised he would,

[00:18:35] and then John McCain did. And then Barack Obama said, no, you know what? I'm going to break that promise. And that allowed him to raise, like, a billion dollars. And McCain had to run with, like, 200 million. All right. If you're listening to this show, you know I try to keep up with all sorts of current events. And I know you do, too. And you've probably heard me say, get your news from multiple sources. Why? Well, because it's how you detect media bias, which is why I've been so impressed with Ground News.

[00:19:04] It's an app, and it's a website, and it combines news from around the world in one place, so you can compare coverage and verify information. You can check it out at check.ground.news.com. I put the link in the podcast description, too. I started using Ground News a few months ago, and more recently chose to work with them as an affiliate because it lets me see clearly how stories get covered and by whom.

[00:19:30] The Blindspot feature shows you which stories get ignored by the left and the right. See for yourself. Check.ground.news.com. Subscribe through that link, and you'll get 15% off any subscription. I use the Vantage plan to get unlimited access to every feature. Your subscription then not only helps my podcast, but it also supports Ground News as they make the media landscape more transparent. In a mere, I don't know, 10 minutes or so,

[00:19:57] we're going to have a special guest to end the program. It's going to be a new tradition I'm starting. You'll find out. News Talk 1110-993-WBT. See, Axios reporting that House Democrat leadership is privately confronting members that disrupted President Trump's speech to Congress.

[00:20:25] It's not, they're not getting yelled at, right? This is a safe space, but it has been described as a come-to-Jesus meeting. I know, I don't know, Jeff Jackson would not have, he would not have been there. He's not in Congress anymore. Many progressives defied the House Minority Leader, Hakeem Jeffries,

[00:20:54] request to avoid making themselves the story. Now, if that's what he told them, he said, don't make yourselves the story. If that's what he actually told them, yeah, they, they absolutely failed. Okay? They failed in that endeavor. Jeffries wrote a dear colleague letter before the speech, urging a, quote, strong, determined, and dignified Democratic presence in the chamber.

[00:21:24] Trump's speech was instead rocked by constant heckling. Democrats held up signs and other props. And then, you know, Al Green, Democrat from Texas, got ejected. In meetings and discussions with leadership this week, Democrats who heckled, walked out in protest, or were otherwise disruptive, were given a talking to. Ooh. Ooh. Leadership is very unhappy

[00:21:54] with those who went beyond traditional protest tactics like outfit coordination and refusal to clap. So those were the traditional protest tactics. We don't, I mean, that's always been the case. Like, they're not going to clap for stuff they don't like, right? Obviously. And then they did, remember when they all wore white? And some of them wore white last time, this past time. Some of them wore pink, and then some of them wore black. So they like, they like segregated themselves,

[00:22:23] which is very on brand for Democrats. Roughly a dozen Democrat disruptors were called into the Come to Jesus meeting on Thursday morning, according to a senior Democrat who talked to Axios on condition of anonymity. A source familiar with the matter, don't know what that means, stressed that these lawmakers are not getting yelled at. Quote, it's a consultative process.

[00:22:52] We understand the pressure they are under. What pressure? Oh, from the activist crowd, from the base, from the people, from the theater kid base that wants to see some demonstrative protests, right? Rather than just don't go, they want you to make a show out of it. So, this person said, they're not being talked to like they are children. We are helping them understand. Well,

[00:23:22] you're kind of talking to them like children right now in this comment. Like, we're helping them understand why their strategy is a bad idea. See, it's not, it's not you, it's just what you're doing. See? your strategy is a bad idea. Yes, as evidenced by the mountains of coverage that you received, that was not good.

[00:23:50] The party is in a rut, according to Axios, stumbling on finding the most effective counterattack to Trump's full-bore assault on the federal bureaucracy. That struggle played out on primetime television on Tuesday night. This sets up a potential clash between party traditionalists and its more combative anti-Trump wing. Did you know this is like,

[00:24:18] this is like Hamas and the military wing of Hamas or whatever? Like, no, no, no, no, no, it's not the same organization or anything, not the same people. It's totally separate. Right? The anti-Trump wing is different than the, quote, traditionalist wing or something. I'm not buying that. They're all anti-Trump. Every single one of them in the Democrat Party. Come on. That's just silly. But, you know me, I am all about solutions

[00:24:47] and so, I have an idea. I have an idea because the Democrats are, as it says, in a rut, right? Stumbling to find the most effective counterattack and part of this is due to the fact that they really don't have a leader. Not you, Chuck Schumer. Right? No. No. Who is going to come forward? I have an idea. And, this person is in need of some sort of an on-ramp again

[00:25:17] because they have fallen out of favor and so, to me, this looks like a win-win. And, I'm going to go over this with my next guest. All righty, News Talk 1110-993-WBT-704-570-1110. Email is Pete at thepetecalendorshow.com. I would like to welcome to the show the special guest

[00:25:46] for pre-gaming with Brett Winterbull. Hello, Brett. Hello, it's good to be with you, Pete. I just realized that, not just realized, actually, it's probably last week when I first floated this idea to you, that I have been on your show because you graciously invited me to work longer and stick around for the Hangover segment on Fridays. Yes, sir. And I will still do that today. I do it every Friday with you on your show, but I was never exposing

[00:26:17] my audience to you. And so I said, how can I get Brett on, I mean, not too much because I didn't want you to dominate my show because you're colonizing everyone shows. This has a stated mission. You have said this. You figured, yes, you've picked up what I've dropped. Right. So, I figured, well, if I do the Hangover, Yes, sir. I feel like we should pre-game. Yeah, oh yeah. And so we're calling this pre-gaming with Brett for now. I don't know. I like that. It's a good slogan. I like it. Okay, so,

[00:26:47] before I brought you in. Yes, sir. And by the way, Brett is on three to, was it like midnight or something you're doing now? Seven. Okay. Three to seven. Three to seven. And you should listen. You can get the WBT app, listen live, or download the podcast on any of your podcasting platforms. But, so, Democrats are in a bit of a rut as the Axios report talked about and they had this meeting where they were like, hey, all you people that disrupted

[00:27:16] the president's speech, bad strategy. They didn't want to, they were not yelling at them, but it was a come to Jesus meeting or something. So, it seems like they need a leader and not Chuck Schumer, right? Right. I think I heard you talk about that a couple days ago. Like, Chuck is not it. No. So, I have an idea. Okay. This is my solution. Oh, good. I want this. I'm going to run this past you. I like this. Because he needs some work. Okay. He's, he's fallen on some tough times. Oh, gosh. Hunter Biden. Wow.

[00:27:46] Because, he says he is now millions of dollars in debt. Yes. He, and for some reason that he cannot figure out, nobody is buying his art anymore. Yeah. I don't, look. He should lead the Democrat Party. I mean, trying to be diplomatic and, and decorum here. Okay. Uh-huh. You know, he did put all of himself into that art. And then some. Yeah. So you would think. No, no, these are the paintings,

[00:28:16] not the digital art. I'm talking about the paintings. He, he utilized every bit of Hunter. Okay. In those. I heard it, I heard it compared to hotel lobby art. That's, that's, that's not bad. I mean, I could see that, but he, now he's in California. He lives in California now, which means he can get elected. That's true. In any place of his choice. He's pardoned. Of course. Right. So, so he's got nothing, nothing but,

[00:28:46] but blue skies. Right. And so I would say he would be phenomenal to replace Nancy Pelosi. Hmm. Nancy Pelosi. I mean, look, what better way to make it up to Joe Biden? For real. Really? Right. And. I mean, she blew him up. Right. Put Hunter in. Helped push him out. San Francisco, not, you can't get in trouble in San Francisco too much. Yeah. No, I don't think so. It's a good district for him to represent. Yeah.

[00:29:16] Shares a lot with, a lot of the behaviors of the constituents there. Has experienced a lot of them. Right. Without a doubt. Yeah. So, also, I think it might increase the value of the paintings. Yes. Right. He could, he could, yes, he could be. Wins Congress and then now all of a sudden his paintings are going to be worth a lot more money for some reason that we can't, we don't know. We don't know that. We don't know why somebody would just now want to spend tens of thousands of dollars on hotel art. I feel like that's an insult to the hotel art. I do too.

[00:29:45] I feel like the hotel art was done in a nice, sort of a. It's catch and strays. That's my bad. I'm sorry. Catch and strays there. I wasn't, yeah, no, it's no offense intended to the hotel artistry industry. Right. So he said though in some court filings, get this, in the, this timeline's very suspicious to me, but in the two to three years prior to December 2023. Yes, sir. So two to three years

[00:30:15] before the end of 23. Okay. All right. So you got the time frame down. Hazy, but yes. Okay. He says, I sold 27 pieces of what? Art. Okay. Of art, Brett. Yeah. At an average price of $54,000 plus. Per? Per. That's the average. 54K. Per piece. 27 pieces. 27 pieces. Yeah. But since then. Yeah. Since December of 23,

[00:30:45] he has only been able to sell one piece of art. Who, who would buy it? For $36,000. Okay. That's not bad. No. That's 36K. I mean, that's going to get you. Right. They also point out in this filing, which by the way, he's filing this in a lawsuit that he filed. Mm-hmm. And now he wants dropped. He wants to drop the lawsuit. That's right. Because the guy was, yes, was besmirching him. Right. Well,

[00:31:14] publishing the laptop contents. Yes. So he sued the guy. Yep. And now he wants to stop suing him because he doesn't have any money anymore. So, wow. No, Hunter doesn't have any money. I'm saying, so like, if we did something wrong and if I just say I don't have any money, Right. I remember the episode of Seinfeld where you're going to have to be his butler. Remember? You have to be their butler. That's like every Brady Bunch contest too. Yes. It was. It was. So,

[00:31:44] he says also his memoir Yeah. from 2021 called Beautiful Things. Does he remember what the memoir was? Well, I think the passages that got highlighted in the trial. Yeah. Right. when they used it against him to prosecute him for the buying a gun while you're hooked on drugs. He remembers that part I think. I mean, because it was in the legal briefs but beautiful things that the sales for this memoir also

[00:32:14] have declined. Wow. Really? Going from 3,200 copies sold over a six month period that would be mid-2023 and then it dropped to just 1,100 copies in the next six months. And so, he doesn't really understand why the interest in his work has evaporated It's a different but it's a different world now. Right? It's a different world now.

[00:32:45] So, Like after 9-11 everything changed. Technically, yes. Okay. I mean, specifically, yes. You are correct about that. Look, painting is so passe at this stage of the game. There's only one medium that he two mediums that he could probably profit very well. Only fans? Absolutely, number one. Number two, MSNBC. Oh, gosh, yeah.

[00:33:14] They could give him a show. Yeah. And he could do interviews and he could kind of clean up a little bit, make some money. They got money. I mean, why not put him on there? Would you not just watch it for the curiosity factor? I think he would do very well initially, yes. I mean, he's a lawyer. Right. He's a gas energy expert. Very much. Speaks Romanian. Right. I think. Lots of contacts in Iran. He could go remote in a lot

[00:33:44] of places, right? Iran. Right. China. China. Ukraine. Yeah. I mean, when's the last time he went over there? I don't know. That's maybe why Zelensky's so cranky. That's true, too. When's the last time? Hasn't had any parties at that hotel. Yeah. Hunter S. Call me. Yeah, no. So I think if the Democrats play their cards right here, I think they could actually get Hunter into an office. Yes. It solves Hunter's problems. Yes. Of, you know, now not being able to, you know, trade on the family name. Now he will

[00:34:13] be the family name, so he'll be able to profit off of that. And then his family can also continue profiting. Yeah. And the Democrats get a leader. He could get, they could get a leader and, and look, he could become an honorary Kennedy. Savage. Savage. All right, that's Brett Wernibull. We're calling it pre-gaming with Brett Wernibull. Pre-gaming with Wernibull. The pre-game, okay. Wernibull's coming up next. Stick around. I'll see you Monday. Don't break anything while I'm gone.

[00:34:44] All right, that'll do it for this episode. Thank you so much for listening. I could not do the show without your support and the support of the businesses that advertise on the podcast. So if you'd like, please support them too and tell them you heard it here. You can also become a patron at my Patreon page or go to thepetecalendorshow.com. Again, thank you so much for listening and don't break anything while I'm gone.