President Donald Trump’s Justice Department has opened up an investigation into a Democratic group located in Texas after a new viral video revealed an operative providing details about the “roundabout” way it has been using to pay people to vote in the midterm elections. A source close to the situation confirmed that the DOJ’s probe into Texas Majority PAC is currently ongoing.
Hidden camera footage that was initially released by conservative news outlet Townhall in the early part of September showed Sky McAdams, a now-fired organizing manager for Texas Majority PAC unknowingly sitting down for a chat with an undercover journalist concerning a loophole the group found and now uses to get around federal election law.
“We are paying people $25 to attend a one-hour Zoom class to learn why voting is important and why the Republicans are causing all of these bad things,” McAdams went on to say in the footage. “So it’s like a roundabout way of paying people for their votes, essentially,” he then stated, referring to the the move as a bit of a “gray” area.
According to a report from The New York Post, federal law currently forbids payments in exchange for voting or not voting for specific candidates. Those who violate this law could be tossed behind bars for two years. You can’t pay someone to vote for someone,” McAdams also stated. “You can’t be like, ‘Here’s $25, go vote for me.’ You can say, ‘Attend a one-hour class and you can receive $25.’”
McAdams later told the undercover journalist, “If I was a Republican, I would be pissed. I would be like, that’s shady as f–k.” Eddie Vale, a spokesman for Texas Majority PAC, spoke with Fox News and said that what McAdams was trying to explain is the “relational organizing program” and that the way he described it was wrong, insisting that everything about the program was being done above board.
“We hire Texans to join events where they are taught how to organize their friends and family,” Vale told the news outlet. “They encourage their friends and family to turn out and vote and send them regular reminders. They are compensated for their organizing work, just like any other job.” Vale then described the program himself.
“Texas Majority PAC runs a relational organizing program, which for years has been a standard part of every campaign’s playbook,” Vale continued. “Participants in the program are being paid for grassroots organizing work. The way it was described by one rogue employee is factually incorrect, not how we operate, and they were immediately fired.”
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Rep. Pat Fallon (R-TX) called on U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche to open an investigation into Texas Majority PAC following the video going viral on social media. “Texas Majority PAC, through its documented partnership with Relentless, has openly admitted to defying the law and purchasing votes in the US Senate race,” Fallon stated in a letter to Blanche last week. “If this is true, this criminal behavior has no place in America and our elections.
“The government has a responsibility to investigate and hold accountable those that seek to circumvent free and fair elections through bribery of voters,” Fallon continued. When the folks at the New York Post and at Fox News tried to reach out and get a comment from Texas Majority PAC, but as of this writing, they have not received a response.
Featured Image: screenshot from embedded video