This Woman Gave ActBlue $22 the Day We Met Her, But She Had No Internet

Milan — Elizabeth Waffle, the 88-year-old retiree who found internet fame as an unwitting political super-donor, is still living in a squalid trailer deep in the Michigan countryside.

And Waffle still has no electricity, no running water, and no Wi-Fi.

But being a true believer in liberal causes, and having no family beyond Georgie the arthritic hound, Waffle continues to donate a small portion of her modest retirement check to ActBlue, the online donation platform for Democratic candidates and causes.

But even Waffle herself was surprised to learn last July about the extent of her supposed giving. According to FEC filings, there were more than 13,000 transactions attributed to her, totaling more than $130,000 over the past five years.

“I think there’s something in there that’s off,” she said then. “I don’t have that kind of money.”

And something continues to be “off.”

Since our last visit, another 562 transactions totaling nearly $4,500 have been credited to Waffle in just six weeks. Among those transactions were four totaling $22 on the very day we first visited, despite the fact that Waffle had no access to the internet.

Among the recipients of Waffle’s alleged largesse over those 45 days is Abdul El-Sayed, the king of the Michigan micro-donors, who clocked in with a cool $51.

So we returned to the tattered trailer last week to show Waffle the printouts.

Then something strange happened. When the scope of our findings dawned on the old woman, she was not overcome with outrage, or even curiosity, but with latent hostility. She wondered if we were preparing a hit piece on ActBlue, the conduit to her cherished causes.

“I think it’s a bunch of hogwash,” she said of our questions. “If they’re cheating on the other side,” she meant the Republicans.

“Fight fire with fire?” I asked.

“Yeah,” she said. “Exactly.”

Now, I believe in many of the causes that Waffle does. Clean air. Healthy forests. Affordable medicines. A good day’s pay. And I told her as much. But what I do not believe in is the apparent theft of an elderly person’s identity to launder donations from overseas or those that exceed the contribution limits. Fraud does not create a better world, I said.

She softened. “I believe in honesty,” she said. “I do care if somebody is fudging and putting stuff in.”

“So don’t you want me to continue to look?” I asked.

“Yeah, if they are,” she said.

“Then you want to know?”

“Yes.”

“Then I give you my word. I’ll keep going.”

As we walked back to the car, I wondered if at that very moment another campaign transaction was being made in Elizabeth Waffle’s name.