CNN —A new CNN investigation documents how political campaigns have deceived the elderly and people with dementia with badgering, personalized text messages and prechecking boxes for recurring donations.
Read the report, which illustrates the aggressive text messaging and charts how recurring donations can add up to hundreds of thousands of dollars drained from retirement savings.
The team spent a significant chunk of that time gathering and reviewing the stories of elderly donors from a variety of sources: public records, complaints filed with government agencies, lawsuits and cold-calling donors.
RAPPARD: Experts we spoke to told us that elderly donors are the backbone of grassroots fundraising efforts.
It became clear to us throughout our reporting process the kind of effect these tactics were having on elderly donors.
Persons:
Blake Ellis, Melanie Hicken, Yahya Abou, Ghazala, Audrey Ash, Anna, Maja Rappard, ELLIS, WinRed, Donald, Trump, –, ABOU, Casey Tolan, ”, Donald Trump, Don Jr, Karen, Gabe Ramirez, Democratic Sens, Amy Klobuchar, Dick Durbin, WOLF, TRUMP, Marjorie Taylor Greene
Organizations:
CNN, Republican, New York Times, Republican Party, Golden Eagles, Netflix, Democratic, Federal, Commission, Republicans, Trump
Locations:
WinRed, inboxes