WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� Consultants tied to President Donald Trump may have engaged in financial fraud, tricking donors who wanted to support the nation鈥檚 bipartisan 250th anniversary organizer into sending their money instead to set up by his administration, according to a report released Thursday by House Democrats.
draws in part on interviews by Democratic staffers of the House Committee on Natural Resources. Those interviews suggest that donors seeking to celebrate America fell for a bait-and-switch that, if true, could have violated various criminal statutes.
Donors who were intending to contribute funds to America250, a bipartisan committee created by Congress, were instead given the banking and routing numbers for a different but similarly named group, Freedom 250, the Democratic report says.
The key difference was that Freedom 250 was set up under the auspices of Trump’s Republican administration to be 鈥渁 vehicle for a Christian nationalist, partisan, and Trump-centered vision of American identity,鈥� according to the report.
Freedom 250, which has denied the report’s claims, has focused on staging big splashy events largely held in Washington, such as on Trump’s 80th birthday, on the National Mall and the upcoming July 4 celebration featuring a Trump speech and a fireworks extravaganza the president is touting as
Freedom 250 calls report 鈥榩artisan smear鈥�
Freedom 250 spokesperson Danielle Alvarez dismissed the Democrats’ report as 鈥渃ategorically false鈥� and a 鈥減artisan smear from politicians who would rather manufacture division鈥� than celebrate a national milestone.
鈥淔reedom 250 remains fully committed to uniting Americans at this historic moment and giving all Americans a spectacular birthday they can be proud of 鈥� and we won鈥檛 be distracted by those rooting for it to fail,鈥� said Alvarez, who previously served as a spokesperson for the Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee.
Democrats allege in the report that this fits a broader pattern in which Trump hijacked the nation鈥檚 , redirecting tens of millions of dollars in both taxpayer money and private donations to boost 鈥渢he President鈥檚 ego, political ideology and pet projects.鈥� Much of the spending was directed to companies connected to Trump鈥檚 political operation, including the event planners for the Trump rally that immediately preceded by at the U.S. Capitol.
鈥淭he American people are the big losers in this,鈥� said Rep. Jared Huffman, the ranking Democrat on the Natural Resources Committee. 鈥淚鈥檓 old enough to remember the bicentennial in 1976. No one cared about party labels or political agendas, religious agendas or anything else. Donald Trump stole that. He took this unifying America250 moment, and he made it all about himself.鈥�
The White House did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
Report recounts Trump administration effort to control America250
The Democratic report recounts how the Trump administration sought to control America250, the nonprofit arm of the U.S. Semiquincentennial Commission established by Congress in 2016 to plan celebrations for this year鈥檚 anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
After the Trump administration faced pushback, Freedom 250 was created last fall as a limited liability corporation that is a wholly owned subsidiary of the National Park Foundation, the fundraising arm of the National Park Service.
Freedom 250鈥檚 sole employee appears to be CEO Keith Krach, a wealthy Trump supporter who served in the State Department during the president鈥檚 first term.
Democrats said this structure enables Freedom 250 to operate as a 鈥渇inancial black box,鈥� shielded from having to comply with competitive bidding, accounting and transparency rules that would typically apply to a federally controlled entity receiving tens of millions of dollars in taxpayer funds and private donations.
Under approved by Congress last year, $150 million in federal funds was allocated to the Interior Department for events celebrating the 250th anniversary. America250 was expecting $100 million of that, though it has received only $25 million, according to the Democratic report.
Even as a member of a congressional oversight committee, Huffman said that he has no way to know exactly how much taxpayer money has been redirected into Freedom 250 by the Trump administration.
Freedom 250 CEO solicited donations from foreign government officials, Democrats allege
The Democrats alleged Krach, the Freedom 250 CEO, traveled in January to in Davos, Switzerland, to personally solicit foreign government officials and business leaders for money to help fund America鈥檚 birthday celebrations. The report says Trump appointees at the State Department, including some ambassadors, have also held fundraising events overseas and sent out written solicitations seeking foreign donations for Freedom 250.
Krach did not respond to an email seeking comment. Alvarez denied the group accepts foreign donations.
The publicly named sponsors of Freedom 250 include defense contractors, oil conglomerates and big tech companies that have federal contracts, that have regulatory issues before federal agencies and in some cases that Trump has personally invested in. Democrats said the arrangement creates the appearance of a cozy pay-to-play scheme in which donors to Trump鈥檚 pet projects could get favorable treatment from his administration.
There has been no public disclosure of how much corporate money has been raised. Freedom 250 also allows donors to request to remain anonymous, and the contributions are tax deductible.
Democrats allege donors were pressured to withdraw commitments from America250
The allegation of potential criminal wrongdoing stems from fundraising by Meredith O鈥橰ourke, who served as the national finance director for Trump鈥檚 successful 2024 presidential campaign and as a board member for the parent company of Trump鈥檚 Truth Social media platform.
O鈥橰ourke鈥檚 firm, Forward Strategies, initially worked as a contractor for America250, which coordinated with the White House to organize last year鈥檚 to coincide with Trump鈥檚 79th birthday. O鈥橰ourke is also a primary fundraiser for other projects Trump has championed, including the construction of , the planned renovation of and .
After the creation of Freedom 250 last year, the report alleges, corporate donors were pressured to withdraw fundraising commitments to America250 and shift their financial backing to the new Trump-backed entity.
Democrats say they have also interviewed donors who were misled by fundraisers, including O鈥橰ourke, into believing they were contributing to America250 but were given wire transfer instructions that routed their money to a bank account controlled by Freedom 250 鈥� a ruse the report says could constitute wire fraud.
O鈥橰ourke did not respond to a text message seeking comment.
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