A three-judge panel on the Eighth Circuit of Appeals on Wednesday ruled Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison’s investigation into Republican donation processor WinRed’s recurring charge scam as violation of state consumer protection laws could proceed, the Daily Beast reports
“Minnesota’s deceptive-practices prohibition applies to WinRed and General Ellison can investigate whether WinRed violated it,” the judges wrote in their opinion. WinRed, which took a $6 million loss during the 2022 midterm cycle, had tried to argue that federal campaign finance laws superseded state-level oversight and not only did the judges reject this, they ruled that the FEC itself had asked Congress to enact laws to prohibit the recurring donations scam.