A shady Republican political action committee (PAC) is asking supporters of Fox News host Laura Ingraham for money to help support her 2018 run for Senate.
There’s just one problem: Ingraham has made clear that she’s not running for Senate and has repeatedly warned her supporters to be wary of scam PACs using her name to solicit donations.
The PAC, Conservative Freedom Fighters, is asking Ingraham supporters for donations between $25 and $1,000 to support the fictional Senate run. In an email to The Daily Caller, Ingraham called the PAC “totally fraudulent” and said it “represents everything people hate about politics.”
“I’m not running for Senate and no one should give this PAC a cent,” she said.
This super PAC claiming to fundraise for a Laura Ingraham Senate run is “totally fraudulent,” Ingraham told The Daily Caller.
In emails, the PAC hypes Ingraham as a conservative challenger to Democratic Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine. Fundraising emails ask supporters to “help elected Laura Ingraham to the U.S. Senate” or “help Laura Ingraham defeat Tim Kaine.”
The only listed operative for Conservative Freedom Fighters is Denver-based Republican lawyer Alexander Hornaday, the PAC’s treasurer. Hornaday previously was a treasurer for the Denver County Republican Party and a spokesman for the Colorado Log Cabin Republicans, a pro-gay GOP group.
Hornaday has worked as a treasurer for shady PACs in the past, the Washington Free Beacon reported last year.
An email sent to Hornaday received an automatic response saying he is “currently in trial” and “will only be able to check email sporadically.” (RELATED: Sheriff Clarke Denounced This ‘Scam PAC’ — Why Won’t They Stop Using His Name For Money?)
Super PACs which are established independent of political campaigns, are typically set up as a way for major political donors to circumvent campaign contribution limits.
Some PACs, often referred to as “scam PACs,” will instead use popular grassroots figures to target small-dollar donors, soliciting contributions for dubious political campaigns. (RELATED: Sketchy Pro-Carson Super PAC Pressed Retirees For Donations)
Ingraham called this PAC “totally fraudulent”
At the bottom of its fundraising emails, Conservative Freedom Fighters promised supporters that it’s “unlikely” that Ingraham won’t run, even though Ingraham herself has repeatedly and explicitly said she isn’t running.
In that “unlikely event,” the PAC assured potential donors the money would go to the “most conservative candidate.”
The Fox News host has previously warned her supporters about scam PACs hoping to take their money.
“Ignore any and all fundraising appeals claiming to represent me or a potential Virginia senate run,” she wrote on Twitter in February. “They are SCAMS and fraudulent.” She sent a similar warning in April about another PAC, telling supporters not to give it one dime.
