daniel bostic

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</div><div><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2020/11/stop-the-steal/">https://www.alternet.org/2020/11/stop-the-steal/</a></div><div>
</div><div>The <a href="https://www.salon.com/2020/07/30/trumps-properties-a-playground-for-white-nationalists-groypers-and-other-far-right-loons/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">right-wing trolls</a> behind <a href="https://www.salon.com/2020/11/06/inside-stop-the-steal-how-right-wingers-are-organizing-to-spread-baseless-claims-of-voter-fraud/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">the baseless "Stop the Steal" election fraud movement</a> have launched a political action committee (PAC) to cash in on <a href="https://www.salon.com/2020/11/16/fox-news-host-debunks-baseless-trump-voter-fraud-claims-amplified-by-his-own-colleagues/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">the false claim that the election was rigged</a> against President <a href="https://www.salon.com/topic/donald_trump" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Donald Trump</a>, according to a filing posted this weekend on the Federal Elections Commission (FEC) website.The organization, called Stop the Steal PAC, shows signs of being what <a href="https://www.salon.com/2020/10/30/watchdog-files-complaint-accusing-trumps-chief-of-staff-mark-meadows-of-campaign-finance-crimes/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">campaign finance watchdogs</a> know as <a href="https://publicintegrity.org/politics/las-vegas-police-pacs-william-pollock/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">a "scam PAC"</a> — a for-profit fundraising vehicle that professes to support a cause but in reality ends up pocketing most of the money for its members, or shuffles it off to contracted firms.Stop the Steal PAC's treasurer, Patrick Krason, and his wife Crystal are <a href="https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2019/sep/03/sanders-father-pac-aid-unasked-20190903-1/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">affiliated with a number of these small-time PACs</a>. For instance, Krason also launched the <a href="https://www.nwaonline.com/news/2019/sep/02/sanders-is-focus-as-pac-created-2019090-1/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Draft Sarah Huckabee Sanders for Arkansas PAC</a>, but lives in West Virginia, had never visited Arkansas and had no connection to the former White House press secretary or her family.Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, Sanders' father, <a href="https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2019/sep/03/sanders-father-pac-aid-unasked-20190903-1/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">warned</a> prospective donors away from Krason in 2019."[Neither] Sarah nor anyone connected to her has ANYTHING to do with it," Huckabee told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. "The person who launched it is unknown to everyone in Sarah's family, her political orbit, or her circle of friends."Earlier this year a conservative watchdog group <a href="https://www.sltrib.com/news/politics/2020/04/22/fec-complaint-alleges/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">filed an FEC complaint</a> against a Krason-led "social welfare" charity called the Stronger America Fund, alleging that he had unlawfully coordinated with a congressional campaign he was working on at the time.Several of Krason's other PACs say they aim to legalize marijuana, and others — such as Make Virginia Great Again and MAGA Coalition — draw on familiar-sounding Trump-world phraseology. He also appears to have chiefly <a href="https://www.fec.gov/data/disbursements/?committee_id=C00730689&two_year_transaction_period=2020&cycle=2020&line_number=F3-17&data_type=processed" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">paid his own firms</a> through campaigns, FEC <a href="https://www.fec.gov/data/disbursements/?committee_id=C00730127&two_year_transaction_period=2020&cycle=2020&line_number=F3-17&data_type=processed" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">filings show</a>.While Stop the Steal's FEC filing lists an address in Washington, D.C., it's only <a href="https://www.packandshipservices.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">a drop box</a> — Krason's actual <a href="https://www.krasonwoolpolitical.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">office</a> is in Charleston, West Virginia. The group's phone number is different from the one listed on Krason's own website, and directs calls to a Google subscriber mailbox after one ring.Krason told Salon in a phone interview that while he had handled federal compliance for Stop the Steal, it was not his PAC, but would not disclose the client.In addition to Krason, the PAC's registration with the FEC lists a man named Daniel Bostic as a designated agent.Bostic's 54,000-follower verified Twitter <a href="http://twitter.com/debostic" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">profile</a> says he is a former model and congressional staffer, a reference to his <a href="https://www.jakes-take.com/2013/03/5-questions-with-daniel-bostic/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">"full-time" work</a> as a homeschooled South Carolina 17-year-old in the Washington office of then-Rep. Tim Scott, R-S.C. (Scott is now a U.S. senator.) The 20-something activist also claims a producer credit on a recent documentary about the widely-mocked efforts of Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., to discredit the Russia investigation. Bostic is an active member of the Stop the Steal movement, which he heavily promotes on social media.But Bostic is just one of a number of MAGA-world second-stringers who appear to see Stop the Steal as a way to <a href="https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2020/11/stop-the-steal/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">ride the fantasy of a stolen election</a> into a future of relevance, influence and income after Trump departs the White House.While the movement's name may suggest a reaction to the 2020 election, its roots trace to the 2018 midterms — and specifically Florida Republican Sen. Rick Scott's 2018 narrow victory over then-incumbent Democrat Bill Nelson. That was when <a href="https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/roger-stone-is-scheming-another-brooks-brothers-riot-in-florida/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Roger Stone launched the group</a> as a coda to the "Brooks Brothers riot" of 2000.At the time, Stone had the help of a far-right operative and conspiracy theorist named <a href="https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2020/11/stop-the-steal/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Ali Alexander</a>, an itinerant provocateur who signed on to recruit for the "Stop the Steal" campaign and appears to be the organizing force behind this year's post-Trump iteration.Alexander's current approach echoes the eclectic appeal he envisioned in a Periscope <a href="https://youtu.be/AoPFO2JEa-g" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">video</a> in 2018, as reported in <a href="https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/roger-stone-is-scheming-another-brooks-brothers-riot-in-florida/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Right Wing Watch</a>, where he hoped to motivate not just Republicans, but QAnon followers, Democrats and "homeless people in all the adjacent counties" to keep an eye on the vote count.But Alexander, <a href="https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/10/29/trump-cernovich-milo-yiannopoulos-richard-spencer-alt-right-2018-221916" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">formerly known as</a> Ali Akbar, has a checkered history even by the loose standards of the alt-right movement, and today he does not have the full confidence of MAGA-world, some of whom suspect him of being <a href="https://twitter.com/johncardillo/status/1252015105639923716?s=10" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">a disingenuous grifter</a>.As Ali Akbar, he was <a href="https://www.breitbartunmasked.com/2012/06/06/national-bloggers-club-founder-ali-akbar-convicted-felon/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">convicted</a> of theft and credit card fraud in 2007 and 2008. He entered national politics as a John McCain campaign staffer in 2007, when he was apparently reprimanded — ironically enough — for <a href="https://archive.fo/KIPeC" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">discussing opportunities to committing voter fraud</a> during the Republican primary campaign. (Former McCain campaign officials contacted by Salon did not recall him, or the alleged incident.)More recently, in the final weeks of the 2016 campaign, a PAC affiliated with Alexander got a <a href="https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/10/29/trump-cernovich-milo-yiannopoulos-richard-spencer-alt-right-2018-221916" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">$60,000 injection</a> from billionaire far-right financier Robert Mercer. The next year he <a href="https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/10/29/trump-cernovich-milo-yiannopoulos-richard-spencer-alt-right-2018-221916" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">popped up</a> amid the Unite the Right controversy, and in 2018 tried to help kickstart a short-lived Trump-centric alternative to the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), called the <a href="https://www.politico.com/story/2018/12/07/american-priority-conference-trump-1052214" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">American Priority Conference</a>. He followed that up with an <a href="https://www.insider.com/jacob-wohl-police-report-death-threat-fake-twitter-account-2019-3" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">ill-fated joint troll operation</a> in Minneapolis with right-wing personality Laura Loomer and indicted felon Jacob Wohl.Today, Alexander is the organizing force behind Stop the Steal, which last weekend organized demonstrations in several U.S. cities to protest President Trump's defeat. The demonstrations served a dual role as promotional platforms for a hodgepodge of conservative and alt-right media personalities — e.g., Jack Posobiec, Mike Cernovich, Scott Presler and Amy Kremer — described in a Mother Jones <a href="https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2020/11/stop-the-steal/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">profile</a> of the event as "a collection of disgraced right-wing internet figures."Their rhetoric and messaging has been amplified by Trump himself and his high-profile allies, who have repeatedly peddled <a href="https://www.salon.com/2020/11/06/will-mitch-mcconnell-back-trumps-delusional-last-ditch-battle-so-far-the-signs-are-ominous/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">baseless claims</a> that Democrats have "stolen" the election, making unfounded allegations about "missing" military ballots, "illegal ballots" and chicanery in vote-counting sites in multiple key battleground states.The Stop the Steal PAC was born on Saturday, the day of the scheduled protests. That also coincided with a change to the group's <a href="https://stopthesteal.us/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">website</a>, which appears to have removed its "donate" button after it was <a href="https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2020/11/stop-the-steal/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">revealed</a> that contributions went straight to Alexander's personal accounts, including his PayPal, CashApp and Amazon Wishlist.Given the <a href="https://www.salon.com/2020/07/30/trumps-properties-a-playground-for-white-nationalists-groypers-and-other-far-right-loons/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">warring factions within TrumpWorld</a>, Stop the Steal's future as a cohesive movement appears tenuous, especially without the bonding agent of Trump at the top of U.S. politics. Alexander's apparent cash grab has already begun <a href="https://twitter.com/TweetWordz/status/1326727303569825792" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">to draw fire</a> from inside the tent. While the movement may now have the imprimatur of an officially FEC-registered PAC, the name defines the mission, and there are two full years ahead with no steal to stop.Bostic and Alexander did not respond to multiple requests for comment.<div class="around-the-web" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="from-your-siteheadline" style="text-transform: uppercase;">FROM YOUR SITE ARTICLES</div><ul class="around-the-weblist" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; display: inline-block; width: 589.446px; list-style: none;"><li class="from-your-siteitem"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2020/11/arizona-officials-vow-to-continue-our-job-as-armed-trump-backers-some-armed-with-ar-15s-gather-at-local-election-building/" class="from-your-sitelink" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s; line-height: normal; display: inline-block; margin-top: 10px;">Arizona officials vow to 'continue our job' as armed Trump backers ... ›</a></li><li class="from-your-siteitem"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2020/08/election-theft-expert-says-trump-has-a-plan-to-steal-the-election-legally-and-the-usps-isnt-the-problem/" class="from-your-sitelink" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s; line-height: normal; display: inline-block; margin-top: 10px;">Election-theft expert says Trump has a plan to steal the election ... ›</a></li><li class="from-your-siteitem"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2020/11/the-next-two-years-of-american-politics-are-going-to-suck/" class="from-your-sitelink" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s; line-height: normal; display: inline-block; margin-top: 10px;">The GOP's formula for destruction is back in play — here's how ... ›</a></li></ul><div class="around-the-webheadline" style="text-transform: uppercase; margin-top: 10px;">RELATED ARTICLES AROUND THE WEB</div><ul class="around-the-weblist" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; display: inline-block; width: 589.446px; list-style: none;"><li class="around-the-webitem"><a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/13/business/stop-the-steal-disinformation-campaign-invs/index.html" class="around-the-weblink" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s; line-height: normal; display: inline-block; margin-top: 10px;">Stop the Steal's massive disinformation campaign connected to ... ›</a></li><li class="around-the-webitem"><a href="https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/2020/11/14/trump-supporters-dispute-michigan-vote-count-stop-steal-rally/6282744002/" class="around-the-weblink" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s; line-height: normal; display: inline-block; margin-top: 10px;">Trump supporters dispute Michigan vote count at 'Stop the Steal' rally ›</a></li><li class="around-the-webitem"><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/11/05/facebook-trump-protests/" class="around-the-weblink" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s; line-height: normal; display: inline-block; margin-top: 10px;">Facebook bans 'Stop the Steal' group that was organizing pro-Trump ... ›</a></li></ul></div></div><div>
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