DHS head Chad Wolf denies endorsing We Build the Wall project during border visit
Organizers of the fundraising campaign, now charged with fraud, claimed in 2019 that Wolf endorsed the group
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf denies endorsing We Build the Wall, despite the nonprofit's claim that he did so following a 2019 visit to a section of wall funded by the group.
"I welcome all that want to be part of the solution," Wolf said Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union." "I did not specifically endorse this particular organization or what they are doing. ... Obviously, I do not endorse any fraud."
STEVE BANNON, 'WE BUILD THE WALL' ORGANIZERS ARRESTED, CHARGED WITH DEFRAUDING DONORS
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}We Build the Wall, which raised over $25 million in a crowdfunding campaign now accused of corruption, issued a press release in November 2019 claiming Wolf endorsed the group, whose founder, Brian Kolfage, was charged earlier this month with skimming $350,000 in donations.
"We had asked them to take that down time and time again," Wolf said. "I believe they did take that down, because it's not accurate."
Acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf tours new border wall construction in Texas. (Adam Shaw/Fox News)
On CNN, Wolf downplayed his interaction with We Build the Wall.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"My visit to El Paso at the time was my first trip to the border as acting secretary," he said. "We made several trips to different portions of the border wall system to include that portion. I wanted to understand how a private organization, if they were going to build this on their own using their own funding, how it integrated with what [Customs and Border Protection] was doing on the border."
In addition to Kolfage and two others, Steve Bannon, a former adviser to President Trump and an architect of his 2016 campaign, on Thursday pleaded not guilty after being indicted in connection with the online fundraising campaign.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Crowdfunding website GoFundMe told FOX Business it has been cooperating with law enforcement throughout the investigation. GoFundMe later suspended We Build the Wall over concerns about how the money would be used, according to the Department of Justice.