WASHINGTON, D.C. — A congressional investigation released on Thursday found that Trump administration officials misled individuals who intended to donate to the America250 initiative. The investigation states that officials redirected these donors to the administration's Freedom 250 group instead of the America250 effort.

House Democrats released a report based on newly obtained documents and whistleblower accounts. The report alleges the White House repeatedly steered donors toward Trump's Freedom 250, despite the America250 effort being established by Congress ten years ago. Some donors and sponsors were informed by the Trump administration that they lacked a 'green light' to contribute to America250.

The report claims donors were pressured to redirect their contributions to Freedom 250. Democrats accuse allies of the former president of diverting $75 million in taxpayer funds initially allocated by Congress to America250. The report also states that Freedom 250 reached out to America250 donors with donation requests, which reportedly confused some corporate executives who did not understand the distinction between the two groups. The report suggested that any leftover money is expected to be retained by the White House.

The report detailed how Freedom 250 officials explicitly directed money away from America250 toward projects favored by Trump. One instance cited involves America250 receiving a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services to fund Freedom Trucks, which are mobile museums designed to teach American history. That grant was subsequently transferred to Freedom 250, which produced its own version of the trucks. According to the report, these trucks contained history lessons that present a distorted image of U.S. history.

Representative Jared Huffman commented on the findings. "I'm a lawyer, and I know better than to pronounce that a crime has been committed," Huffman said. "But I do know the elements of fraud, and there is evidence of all those elements here." The staff of Freedom 250 reportedly includes many former employees of Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency initiative, which, according to the report, harvested user data. Officials with the bipartisan America250 stated they have shifted their focus to events outside of Washington, D.C., while Freedom 250 handles events within Washington, D.C.