An Iraq War veteran in charge of a GoFundMe campaign, who claimed the funds would privately fund portions of President Donald Trump’s proposed border wall at the southern border, faces scrutiny after some have started to wonder, what has happened since the fund began?
Instead of beginning construction on the wall, the founder of the said campaign appears to be making some pretty lavish purchases, according to an anonymous source who says they have knowledge of his purchases.
Brian Kolfage announced last year his intention to build a border wall between the U.S. and Mexico, using privately-raised funds from donors submitted by users across the country.
Kolfage, an Iraq War veteran who is a triple amputee and a Purple Star recipient, is known for peddling a “fake news” website prior to creating this latest venture. His website, “Right Wing News,” frequently espoused support for far-right conspiracy theories, according to NBC News, doing so in order to increase his wealth through clickbait stories that would generate ad revenue on his home site, whether they were truthful or not.
BREAKING: A source close to the Florida man who raised over $22 million on GoFundMe in the “We The People Will Build the Wall” campaign just revealed today that the money has been diverted to pay for a ‘million dollar’ yacht and high-flying lifestyle https://t.co/pxPiKUsach
— Jon Cooper (@joncoopertweets) May 12, 2019
A source speaking to the site The Stern Facts stated that recent purchases from Kolfage indicated that he was using the money for inappropriate purchases instead of building the wall, including buying a yacht and booking private air flights.
The Stern Facts also reported on a response from Kolfage, who denied any wrongdoing. The purchase for the boat, he said, came from an order made in 2017.
Yet the source who divulged Kolfage’s wrongdoing also pointed out that Kolfage was dealing with financial difficulties at that time of the yacht purchase. The unnamed source suggested that, whether the purchase was made recently or in the past really didn’t matter.
“Whether he ordered it last year with the year before is irrelevant — it’s still nearly a million dollar boat,” the source pointed out. “Those new toys are very expensive as is flying private. Where did he get the money if his business was destroyed by Facebook?”
As a result of discrepancies between Kolfage and the source, The Stern Facts sent a list of questions to Kolfage to help clear up the matter. They asked Kolfage to provide information on plans to “break ground” on the border project earlier this year. They also asked him to provide proof of starting the project if he claims he did so, per reporting from The Stern Facts.
Kolfage has yet to respond to The Stern Facts‘ request.
Kolfage has a history of creating fundraising efforts and not backing up what he claims they will pay for. A separate journalist has revealed Kolfage and his wife created a mentoring program for wounded veterans, but kept the cash from the fundraiser themselves rather than provide any help to service members.
Kolfage had promised that his border wall project could raise $1 billion, and that groundbreaking on the wall could begin between May 1 and June 1. So far, it appears that’s not the case.
According to past statements by Kolfage, eight locations have been in mind by the organization over where the next portion of the border wall would be. None of those locations’ names have been announced by him, however, per reporting from the Washington Post.