Mysterious pro-Kari Lake PAC paid fake elector $2 million for ads and promotion - The Verge
Rep. Jake Hoffman and his firm 1TEN has received more than $2 million to boost the candidacy of GOP Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake — and no one is sure where the money is coming from, raising new concerns over Lake’s ties to Turning Point USA.
An alleged troll farm operator has received more than $2 million to boost the candidacy of GOP Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake — and no one is sure where the money is coming from.
A former Turning Point USA employee, Arizona state Rep. Jake Hoffman was banned from Facebook in 2020 for operating a troll farm. More recently, he was named on the false slate of electors put forward to overturn the 2020 election and secure Donald Trump’s reelection.
Over the past two months, Hoffman’s political advertising firm 1TEN has received $2.1 million to build websites, design digital ads, and purchase cable and broadcast advertising spots to boost Trump-endorsed candidate Kari Lake in her campaign against Karrin Taylor Robson for the GOP candidacy for governor of Arizona.
The Put Arizona First PAC registered in late April and began making payments to 1TEN in the first week of May. It reported a sole source of funding, but the true identity of that contributor is still unknown. In FEC reports, the PAC identified SPH Medical, a PPE and medical supplies company, as its only donor. But the filing listed the company’s address as a UPS Store in Phoenix, and SPH Medical appears to be based in California. There’s no SPH Medical registered with the Arizona Corporation Commission, according to public records. Speaking first with Azcentral on Tuesday and later with The Verge on Wednesday, Tony Coleman, the owner of the California-based SPH Medical, claimed that his company did not make those contributions.
“No, we did not make the donation. No, we’re not involved in any political races anywhere,” Coleman told The Verge on Wednesday. “We’re not involved in politics at all.”
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