Donor sues pro-Trump group over failure to prove voter fraud: ‘Empty promises’

A donor has sued a pro-Trump group for $2.5 million over “empty promises” after he says it failed to prove voter fraud in the presidential election.

Fred Eshelman sued Houston-based True the Vote Inc., which promised to “investigate, litigate and expose suspected illegal balloting ad fraud in the 2020 general election,” Bloomberg reported. 

Eshelman, founder of Eshelman Ventures LLC, claimed that he “regularly and repeatedly” asked for updates on the initiative but was met with “vague responses, platitudes, and empty promises.” 

True the Vote said its efforts included filing lawsuits in several swing states, collecting whistleblower complaints, increasing GOP legislative support in key states and conducting “sophisticated data modeling and statistical analysis to identify potential illegal or fraudulent balloting,” according to the suit in Houston federal court.

Eshelman decided to wire True the Vote $2 million on Nov. 5 and another $500,000 a week later after the group’s president said more money would be needed to achieve their goals, according to the suit. He asked for his money to be returned after the group failed to provide reports on its progress, saying it became obvious the group would not be able to execute its plan. 

Eshelman said in the complaint that True the Vote offered him $1 million if he wouldn’t sue them, Bloomberg notes.

True the Vote filed four lawsuits in the weeks after the election, Bloomberg notes, but it dropped all of them last week. The suits were filed in Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, all states that President-elect Joe Biden won.

True the Vote did not respond to Bloomberg’s request for comment. 

President Trump and his allies have repeatedly alleged baseless claims of widespread voter fraud in the election, and his reelection campaign has mounted legal challenges in a handful of key battleground states seeking to challenge or overturn the results. 

The campaign’s legal efforts have thus far been unsuccessful, and no evidence has emerged of any widespread issues that would have influenced the outcome of the election.