#Trump ORDERED [yeah, he’s not allowed to do that] US AG #PamBondi to investigate allegations “regarding the unlawful use of online fundraising platforms to make ‘straw’ or ‘dummy’ contributions or foreign contributions to political candidates & committees.” #GOP-led congressional committees have put forth similar #ConspiracyTheories about #ActBlue’s practices over the past few years, but the claims have never been substantiated with evidence.

#Trump campaigned extensively last year on a promise to exact #revenge on his political adversaries & frequently spread #ConspiracyTheories about Democratic fundraising.

In a memo Thurs, Trump alleged that “online fundraising platforms have been willing participants in schemes to launder excessive & prohibited contributions to political candidates & committees.”

Day 26 cont

“#Kooyong MP #MoniqueRyan had just remarked that the national broadcaster’s annual budget was “about as much as we spend on keeping 100 refugees on #Nauru and #PNG” when a man’s voice suddenly bellowed from the back of the room.

“We’re just here to ask about immigration and crime,” he said.

…

A meeting of Kooyong candidates led to a heated confrontation between agitators and other attendees.
In a room at the #KewLibrary filled with #CivicMinded locals waiting to hear from the Kooyong candidates about the state of the media, the arrival of the three unexpected men disrupted the calm.

Leading them was a bald man with a #goatee, wearing a black T-shirt emblazoned with the logo of the “#AustralianWorkersAlliance” – a self-described nationalist organisation whose mission includes the “preservation of #WesternCulture and identity”. One of the other men wore a leather jacket and filmed the room with his #phone – a dead giveaway that the goal was to capture a viral “gotcha” moment. The third man, dressed in a grey hoodie and sneakers, loitered nearby with his hands in his pockets as back-up.”

The old LNP, Advance create scene, capture distribute trick.

#AusPol / #Independent / #Kooyong / #FarRight / #extremism / #Advance / #SandraBourke / #LNP / #Liberal / #Nationals <https://archive.md/V3knV> / <https://www.theage.au/politics/federal/victoria-s-hot-seats-live-updates-federal-election-2025-continues-muslim-lobby-group-rolls-out-attack-ads-against-labor-20250421-p5lt3t.html> (paywall)

Day 25 cont

“#Greens election corflutes have been #defaced with #swastikas and #Islamophobic slurs in what the party says is the “tip of the iceberg” of the #racism and #hate it is facing during the campaign.

The #NSW Greens senator, Mehreen Faruqi, and the Greens’ candidate in the inner-west Sydney seat of #Grayndler, Hannah Thomas, have had swastikas drawn on election posters in #Erskineville and #Stanmore respectively.”

#AusPol / #propagand / #elections / #extremism / #FarRight <https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/live/2025/apr/22/australia-election-2025-live-pm-leads-tributes-to-pope-francis-pre-poll-voting-begins-ntwnfb?page=with%3Ablock-68073b208f08195611b6c854#block-68073b208f08195611b6c854>

@w7voa

"#Deranged despot" is more like it

These "Republicans" made #Trump and the #fascist #extremism possible

#RepublicansDidThis

These #GOP members should apologize to America and the entire world, hang their heads in shame, and renounce the #Republican Party

#Trump has particularly threatened #universities over campus #protests against #US ally #Israel's devastating military assault on #Gaza after a deadly Oct 2023 attack by Palestinian #Hamas militants.

Trump casts the protesters as #ForeignPolicy threats who are antisemitic & sympathetic to Hamas. Protesters, including some #Jewish groups, say Trump wrongly conflates their advocacy for #Palestinian rights & criticism of Israel's actions in Gaza w/support for #extremism & #antisemitism.

Day 20 cont ️

“A video shared thousands of times on a Chinese (#CCP) #SocialMedia platform claiming a re-elected #Albanese government would adopt “the far-left agenda” of the #Greens and potentially seize vacant homes was created by a member of a #WeChat group campaigning for the Liberal party in a marginal Melbourne seat.

The six-minute video, narrated by a woman who refers to herself as #AuntieGuoer, also claims any minority Albanese government that might rely on the Greens would “crackdown on the #MiddleClass” and lead to the #decline of “traditional #SocialStructures”.”

I see this is happening in the seat of #Aston and past Liberal seat of a political favourite of mine, #TudgyFudge Given the subject matter I’d lay a bet this is the work of ex AFP Officer, #SandraBourke and #MatthewSheahan who now has removed all biographic links. Why?

#AusPol / #Advance / #propaganda / #extremism / #ForeignInterference / #CounterDemocratic / #LNP / #Liberal / #Nationals <https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/apr/18/mandarin-wechat-video-labor-greens-election-claims-made-by-member-of-aston-liberal-party-campaign-group-melbourne-ntwnfb> / <https://www.advanceaustralia.org.au/time-to-put-the-greens-last>

Day 18 cont

“When it came to #TheGreens, however, #Advance’s research showed that 52 per cent of respondents said the Greens stood for looking after the local environment, water and wildlife, while 26 per cent nominated action on climate change.

Only 20 per cent of respondents said the party stood for nothing. Eight per cent said the Greens were about looking after the #disadvantaged, and 6 per cent saw the party as either #LeftLeaning, #progressive or #socialist.

“There’s 78 per cent of the #Australian people – not just #GreensVoters but all voters – think they either stand for action on climate or protecting the environment,” #MatthewSheahan said. “So, they clearly have the strongest brand in this country, politically.”

#AusPol / #propaganda / #extremism / #DirectAction / #SandraBourke / #AFP <https://archive.md/tvTUg> / <https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/politics/2024/08/17/advances-plan-destroy-the-greens> (paywall)

Day 18 cont

“#DanielJones, who has served as a bodyguard to #FarRight figure #AviYemini, said on #SocialMedia on Wednesday that he had walked unchallenged into the hotel lobby before he confronted #Albanese and asked him questions about #immigration.

Jones, a self-proclaimed self-defence #expert, has previously posted online that people should “train to make it easy to be able to #kill”.”

Show me people who #ASIO and #ASIS take an interest in?

When the DG of the Intelligence services talks about foreign influence, this is what it looks like. What foreign country paid our proclaimed SME for this kind of political action?

#AusPol / #ForeignInfluence / #PoliticalInterference / #extremism / #propaganda / #LNP / #Labor <https://archive.md/IeE6w> / <https://www.theage.com.au/national/who-are-the-far-right-agitators-who-confronted-the-pm-in-a-hotel-lobby-20250416-p5ls5c.html> (PayWall)

Day 18 cont

“Multiple #FederalPolice officers now flank #Albanese and #Dutton at press conferences. They’re not worried about the questions – both men mangle the English language enough to defuse any threat they may pose.

The police are concerned about the #PhysicalThreat. The person willing to shout angrily, to get in the face of the men vying to be the next PM, to win a few minutes of fame on #SocialMedia for their cause. Or, to the most #extreme end, something much worse.”

“It followed an incident on Sunday when about 30 people dressed in black, their faces obscured with #hoods and stockings, stood outside the #Melbourne office of #Liberal senator #JamesPaterson and chanted racist #slogans.”

#AusPol / #extremism / #propaganda / #slogan / #PhysicalAction / #fear / #Labor / #Colition <https://archive.md/xwLAi> / <https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/i-ve-followed-our-leaders-for-10-elections-now-society-is-getting-angrier-20250416-p5ls81.html> (paywall)

Day 18 cont

April 13 “The rightwing #advocacy group #Advance has acknowledged it is paying for election materials attacking the #Greens to be used by third-party groups during the election campaign.

“Advance is working with hundreds of volunteers from dozens of community groups to defeat Greens candidates and we make no apology,” a spokesperson said.

The spokesperson said Advance did not fund groups directly but “we absolutely pay for anti-Greens campaign material to be at the disposal of volunteers”.

“This includes 2m #flyers and thousands of #TShirts and #corflutes. Again, we make *no apologies*.” — #MatthewSheahan

Is this also the work of Advance?

#AusPol / #extremism / #influence / #propaganda / #LNP / #Liberals / #Nationals <https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/apr/13/rightwing-lobby-group-advance-says-it-makes-no-apology-for-support-given-to-anti-greens-groups>