Radar tricks screening process for presidential donations

Presidential campaigns always bring out the best worst in "gotcha journalism," but in this cycle folks seem a lot more willing to use donations in order to set up the story.

After Hillary Clinton's campaign announced they would refund money tied to donors linked to Norman Hsu, they also said they would run background checks on donors. Radar magazine tried to test this background check:

But maybe they should be running them on small donors as well: Last month, Radar made $5 donations to the Clinton, Giuliani, Obama, and Romney campaigns in the names of JonBenét Ramsey obsessive John Mark Karr; Joe Power, outspoken president of the North American Man/Boy Love Association's California chapter; and Sam G. Dickson, race-baiting lawyer for the Council of Conservative Citizens, an infamous white separatist group.

Contributions were made through the candidates' respective websites using customized gift cards. In each case, we supplied each donor's real name, address, employer, and position. The conclusion: All four candidates accepted our dirty money without a second thought.

There have already been a lot of critics to this story - including some who point out that the author probably broke federal election laws by stealing idenities in order to give to campaigns.