The Patriot Legal Defense Fund website, seemingly established to support aides and employees of former President Donald Trump with their rapidly increasing legal expenses, has been hacked. The home page has been defaced to strike through Trump’s name and add an “America Is Already Great!” strapline. But the hacker has altered far more than just the banner.
As first reported by Raw Story, the Patriot Legal Defense Fund website defacement was apparently hacked late on Friday, August 18. At the time of publication, the site remains up and is still defaced.
The site banner has been altered to strike through Trump’s name and add the word “HEY!” with a strapline underneath of “AMERICA IS ALREADY GREAT!” to replace the MAGA slogan. This is followed by a heading that implores visitors not to support what the hacker calls “Donald Trump’s fraudulent Patriot Legal Defense Fund.”
But the defacement goes much further than this, replacing the entire home page with an essay about personal character and truth and a long rant against Trump. The donation links at the bottom of the page have been changed from the original to supporting the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, American Civil Liberties Union, Brennan Center for Justice, and Rock the Vote.
The fund was first reported in July, to be created as a separate entity to Trump’s Save America leadership PAC. However, an August 13 report published by The Daily Beast said that the “Donate Now” link on the original site went “directly to Trump’s 2024 campaign website.” Registration of the patriotlegaldefensefund.com domain name was made on July 31; the day after news stories broke regarding the possible creation of the Patriot Legal Defense Fund itself. Administrative and technical contact details for the domain are hidden using GoDaddy privacy controls, and there appears to be no valid press contact for the fund. The timing of the initial press reports, along with the registration date for the website domain, however, does leave some room for speculation as to whether the site was ever actually genuine.
I have reached out to the Trump 2024 campaign and the office of the former President, along with former Trump election strategy advisor Michael Glassner who has been linked to the creation of the fund by news reports, for a statement.
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