Christine Blasey Ford and GoFundMe
In her testimony last Thursday, Christine Blasey Ford mentioned GoFundMe campaigns that had been established to aid in her expenses. Searching the GoFundMe campaigns for "Blasey Ford" returned 20 campaigns that mentioned her name. Most were people trying to get attention to their campaign by using her name where the campaign was obviously a joke or the campaign did not intend for the money to go to Dr. Ford.
Three of the campaigns were intended to directly benefit Dr. Ford:
| Campaign | Goal | Amount Raised |
|---|---|---|
| Help Christine Blasey Ford | $150,000 | $528,475 |
| Cover Dr. Blasey’s security costs | $175,000 | $209,987 |
| Honor Dr. Blasey as an Educator | $25,000 | $25,986 |
These three funds total $764,448 going to Dr. Ford, minus the charges by GoFundMe. In no way am I trying to imply that Dr. Ford was paid for her testimony, instead I want to talk about a broader topic. Can anyone think of a better way to pay off a bribe to someone? One could simply tell the person being bribed that a GoFundMe campaign will be set up in the amount of the bribe and the briber will insure the campaign generates the appropriate amount.
The bribe payoff is happening completely publicly and others that feel sympathetic unknowingly help payoff the bribe. Donations to the campaign can be made anonymously and the campaign can be set up without disclosing the organizer. In the first of the campaigns above, the campaign was organized by "Team Christine Blasey Ford".
While there are laws against witnesses being paid, particularly if they are being paid to purger themselves, it's less clear to me if there are laws against a witness simply benefiting financially from the act of testifying. Regardless of the legality or illegality of benefiting financially from testifying, in Dr. Ford's case it's my opinion that it damages her credibility. My opinion is based not on a belief that she was paid for her testimony since without proof she is considered innocent until proven guilty. It's a shame the same "innocent until proven guilty " standard isn't being awarded to Judge Kavanaugh.