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GoFundMe To Reimburse Border Wall Campaign Donors

The page’s organiser now says he’s sending the donations to his self-created nonprofit instead of the government.

GoFundMe may reimburse more than $20 million to people who contributed to an Iraq War veteran’s fundraiser to build a southern border wall.

That’s because its organizer, Brian Kolfage, has suddenly changed the direction of the money, planning now to send it to a nonprofit he created rather than the federal government.

Last month, when his GoFundMe page was started, Kolfage vowed that “100% of your donations will go to the Trump Wall.”

“If for ANY reason we don’t reach our goal we will refund your donation,” he added.

Those statements have since been removed from the page, where Kolfage, a veteran living in Florida, announced Friday that he cannot get the money to the Trump administration.

“The federal government won’t be able to accept our donations anytime soon,” the update read.

As a replacement, Kolfage said, has decided to send the donations to “We Build the Wall, Inc.,” the nonprofit he has formed along with a board of advisers.

“Our highly experienced team is highly confident that we can complete significant segments of the wall in less time, and for far less money, than the federal government, while meeting or exceeding all required regulatory, engineering, and environmental specifications,” he wrote on his fundraising page.

However, those who donated to his GoFundMe campaign must opt in to send their money to the nonprofit. If they don’t, GoFundMe will return their contribution.

Kolfage has voiced outrage over news of the refunds, claiming at the top of his page, “The media is falsely reporting all money is being refunded and it’s over. They are WRONG.”

GoFundMe spokesman Bobby Whithorne told The Hill the refunds came about because Kolfage broke the rules by switching the destination of the money.

In his statement, Whithorne pointed out the change in statements on the page, noting that Kolfage promised to return all donors’ money if his goal wasn’t reached.

“However, that did not happen,” he said. “This means all donors will receive a refund.”

Although Kolfage attempted to assure donors the campaign wasn’t a scam when it began, he previously ran into trouble online.

In December, NBC News reported that Kolfage’s Facebook page, Right Wing News, was taken down in a major sweep by the company as part of its initiative to rid the platform of pages run by fake accounts or those being used as “ad farms using Facebook to mislead people into thinking that they were forums for legitimate political debate.”

On Thursday, BuzzFeed News revealed that Kolfage allegedly has a history of making money by spreading false news. One of his ventures, the outlet said, included another GoFundMe page that raised thousands of dollars for mentorship of veterans in military hospitals, but spokespeople at the facilities reportedly had no record of his work there or any sign that he donated the money.

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