Jesse Powell, a founder and chairman of Kraken, filed a civil lawsuit in Orange County Superior Court against the recall committee Rescue California and its former and current officials.
The citizen-led group that led the failed recall effort against California Governor Gavin Newsom during the pandemic is battling a $1 million lawsuit filed by a founder of one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges over a dispute regarding a massive contribution.
Jesse Powell, a founder and chairman of Kraken, filed a civil lawsuit in Orange County Superior Court against the recall committee Rescue California and its former and current officials. Powell first filed the lawsuit in November 2021, but it has received seldom attention as both parties have been dealing with hundreds of pages of court briefs.
According to the lawsuit reported by Politico, Powell alleges he was deceived into donating to the statewide operation and is seeking damages for their alleged theft and fraud, in addition to the $1 million Powell wired to Rescue in the lead-up to the recall vote in September 2021.
Powell is arguing the committee failed to keep his name and occupation confidential after expressing concerns about disclosure requirements as required by California law. His concern over the disclosure dispute stems from fearing for his safety after receiving previous death threats.
“[Anne] Dunsmore’s reported decades of experience in campaign fundraising, [she] did not, as she should have, clarify that her earlier statement about contributing through a corporation applied only to corporations and not LLCs,” Powell’s lawsuit states.
“Dunsmore failed to inform [Powell] that making a contribution through an LLC would lead to the disclosure of [his] identity, his company’s identity and other personal information, as the officer of the LLC responsible for approving the contribution, and as the true source of the contribution under the ‘Intermediary Rule.’”
Powell reportedly has donated to both parties but expressed interest in Rescue’s efforts after accusing Newsom of “authoritarianism” for mandating children to get a COVID-19 vaccine to return to school.
Powell argues that he demanded the money be returned after donating the $1 million to the recall effort. But Rescue’s organizers allegedly refused and channeled the money into advertisements.
Lawyers for Rescue reportedly describe a different discussion during the disclosure debate, arguing that they almost immediately spent the money upon receiving it on ads and voter contracts “based on the prior email communications.”
Anne Dunsmore, campaign director for Rescue California, told Politico that she included the following disclosure rule in the donation instructions.
“State law requires political committees to report the name, mailing address, occupation, and employer for each individual whose contributions aggregate to $100 or more.”
Rescue’s lawyers also claim that Powell didn’t suffer damages.
According to the news outlet, the trial could start as early as November.
The lawsuit comes amid Rescue’s second attempt to recall California’s governor. Rescue accuses Newsom of abandoning the state to explore his presidential ambitions, leaving behind a $68 billion budget deficit and a public safety, immigration, and education crisis.
Dunsmore and Rescue organizers received clearance in February to gather approximately 1.6 million signatures to put the recall question on a future ballot.
