Oct. 6, 2008

More Bogus Obama Donors Surface

Donations Made Between July and Early August

  •  (AP / CBS)

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(CBS)  CBS News Investigative Producer Laura Strickler wrote this story for CBSNews.com with additional reporting from Sarah Fitzpatrick and Ariel Bashi.

CBS News has learned that two donors to the Obama campaign that gave a total of $7,722 appear to have made their contributions under fake names that look like they were written by a mouse running across a keyboard: Dahsudhu Hdusahfd of Df, Hawaii with the following employer CZXVC/ZXVZXV and Uadhshgu Hduadh listed as living in Dhff, Florida listed their employer as DASADA/SAFASF.

CBS News did not find any records of these last names, towns or employers anywhere else. Newsweek reported two questionable Obama donors over the weekend named “Doodad Pro” and “Good Will”.

Contributions from the two donors Hdusahfd and Hduadh were made on the same day starting on July 16, 2008. Federal Election Commission (FEC) records show the campaign began refunding the donations as early as August 6, 2008.

Despite numerous refunds from the Obama campaign, Hdusahfd still has a record of giving a total of $7500 to Obama which is well over the legal limit for the primary and general election of $4600. Hduadh gave $14,200 but the Obama campaign returned all but $222.00.

The Obama campaign says “out of an abundance of caution” all of these donations are in the process of being returned.

Obama spokesperson Bill Burton sent CBS News the following email statement, “We constantly review our donors for any issues and while no organization is completely protected from internet fraud, we will continue to review our fundraising procedures to ensure that we are taking every available step to root-out improper contributions.” Burton pointed to Harry Sargeant, one of McCain’s donors who is now the subject of a Congressional investigation. McCain returned $50,000 to Sargeant in early August.

The Republican National Committee (RNC) has asked the FEC to look into foreign donations to the Obama campaign. The FEC told CBS News they would not comment on the RNC’s complaint.

Other donors who gave over the legal limit to the Obama campaign contacted by CBS News said their money was refunded promptly by the campaign. Of those who spoke to CBS News, it seems their only mistake was that of enthusiasm.

Felicity Nitz, 60, of Brooklyn says she kept on clicking on Obama’s online fundraising appeals, “I just kept punching it when I got the emails,” she said, “I’m an insane supporter.”

Christian Skeem from Chicago says he got a letter back from the campaign with a check, “I couldn’t give them more than the limit because they kept sending it back, it wasn’t like they weren’t on the ball.” The reason he gave so much? “Cause I’m a fan,” he said.


By Laura Strickler
© MMVIII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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Add a Comment See all 192 Comments
by antoniof123 October 9, 2008 11:51 AM EDT
Had to pinch myself after I saw the headline to make sure I wasn''''t dreaming...does this mean CBS News is finally going to start doing some research on International Man of Mystery Barack Obama? If they keep digging, maybe they can actually find out something about his mysterious years at Columbia and in the Illinois Senate. Idea: How about requesting his transcripts from Columbia and Harvard, or his records from the Illinois legislature?

Posted by brightfame53 at 08:15 AM : Oct 08, 2008

Obama and his family has been vetted by the news media for 20 months longer than Sarah Palin has been governor of Alaska. If you still believe that Obama is a mystery then you have not been paying attention or you are just incompentent and don''t want to pay attention.

The other thing is they just refund the credit card. Not the Same as "McCain returned $50,000 to Sargeant in early August." This guy is in deep trouble with the law and fake donations.

So you want to keep it up go ahead for each one there is another one.

Both of these guys don''t know where the money comes from they just get donations for the most part.
Reply to this comment
by doctxt October 9, 2008 3:51 AM EDT
CAMPAIGN DONATIONS ARE OFTEN USED FOR POLITICIAN''S LEGAL FEES. THEY PAY NOTHING WHILE ALL OTHERS PAY OUT OF POCKET WITH NO TAX DEDUCTIONS - OBAMA''S JUST SAVING UP!!!
Reply to this comment
by clayp72 October 9, 2008 2:14 AM EDT
CBS is and will always be in the tank for the DNC and all of candidates of it''s owner, Darth Soros.
Reply to this comment
by puppyfist October 8, 2008 10:18 PM EDT
brolin_1911a: "The obvious, unasked question is, how? How can a donation be returned to a fake name and address? Since that''''s obviously impossible, what really happened to the money?"

The reason it wasn''t asked is because the answer is pretty commonsense. The donor would have, with near certainty, donated online. To do that, you would need a credit card. Credit card = identifying information. All they have to do is refund it to the credit card from which the money was donated.
Reply to this comment
by brolin_1911a October 8, 2008 2:28 PM EDT
According to the article, the Obama campaign claims to have refunded the contributions of donors with made-up names living at made-up addresses. The obvious, unasked question is, how? How can a donation be returned to a fake name and address? Since that''s obviously impossible, what really happened to the money?
Reply to this comment
by brightfame53 October 8, 2008 11:15 AM EDT
Had to pinch myself after I saw the headline to make sure I wasn''t dreaming...does this mean CBS News is finally going to start doing some research on International Man of Mystery Barack Obama? If they keep digging, maybe they can actually find out something about his mysterious years at Columbia and in the Illinois Senate. Idea: How about requesting his transcripts from Columbia and Harvard, or his records from the Illinois legislature?
Reply to this comment
by erikjay-2009 October 8, 2008 3:44 AM EDT
Some sleepwalker wrote of Obama: "He is an honest and great man who will lead us all to peace and prosperity."

Are you out of your freakin'' mind? No one is going to lead anyone into "peace and prosperity" and especially not people who raise taxes and scapegoat business. The current economic woes are called, by the same kind of somnambulists, proof that the free market doesn''t work. What free market is that? The Feds (including, in particular, the Federal Reserve) have been rigging the game since at least the time of the Jekyll Island meeting. (Look that up if you must.)

There are no white knights -- no half-white ones, either. A line from a cool tune advises, "Hey, I''m not Superman, and I''m not going to fly down to your rescue..."

And say what you want about McCain, I will probbly agree with all of it, as he''s scary, too. There is no lesser evil here. I won''t vote for either of them.
Reply to this comment
by oscarmild October 8, 2008 3:14 AM EDT
PinkToeNails mentioned the Stanford U study of politics and racism. Some things from that survey:

1. It found Republicans weren''t voting against Obama because of his race. Most Republicans wouldn''t vote for any Democrat for president--white, black or brown.

2. On the other side of the racial coin, Obama is drawing almost unanimous support from blacks.

3. Race is not the biggest factor driving Democrats and independents away from Obama. Doubts about his competency loom even larger, the poll indicates. More than a quarter of all Democrats expressed doubt that Obama can bring about the change they want, and they are likely to vote against him because of that.

Interesting stuff. Thank you for your comments and info Toenails.
Reply to this comment
by erikjay-2009 October 8, 2008 2:49 AM EDT
Some sleepwalker wrote of Obama: "He is an honest and great man who will lead us all to peace and prosperity."

Are you out of your freakin'' mind? No one is going to lead anyone into "peace and prosperity" and especially not people who raise taxes and scapegoat business. The current economic woes are called, by the same kind of somnambulists, proof that the free market doesn''t work. What free market is that? The Feds (including, in particular, the Federal Reserve) have been rigging the game since at least the time of the Jekyll Island meeting. (Look that up if you must.)

There are no white knights -- no half-white ones, either. A line from a cool tune advises, "Hey, I''m not Superman, and I''m not going to fly down to your rescue..."

And say what you want about McCain, I will probbly agree with all of it, as he''s scary, too. There is no lesser evil here. I won''t vote for either of them.
Reply to this comment
by erikjay-2009 October 8, 2008 2:48 AM EDT
Some sleepwalker wrote of Obama: "He is an honest and great man who will lead us all to peace and prosperity."

Are you out of your freakin'' mind? No one is going to lead anyone into "peace and prosperity" and especially not people who raise taxes and scapegoat business. The current economic woes are called, by the same kind of somnambulists, proof that the free market doesn''t work. What free market is that? The Feds (including, in particular, the Federal Reserve) have been rigging the game since at least the time of the Jekyll Island meeting. (Look that up if you must.)

There are no white knights -- no half-white ones, either. A line from a cool tune advises, "Hey, I''m not Superman, and I''m not going to fly down to your rescue..."

And say what you want about McCain, I will probbly agree with all of it, as he''s scary, too. There is no lesser evil here. I won''t vote for either of them.
Reply to this comment
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