Tag Archives: Bill Eigel

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Deceptive Political Fundraising: A Cautionary Tale

Politicians running deceptive political fundraising campaigns can’t count on hiding in the dark. 

A case in point.

Earlier this year I started getting bombarded with high-intensity inflammatory emails, such as one urging me to support President Trump’s use of the Insurrection Act and another telling me, “Without mandatory voter ID in ALL 50 states, your vote will be replaced by an illegal alien”. And, of course, every email asked for a contribution. 

I noticed none of the emails actually listed a political candidate associated with it, just something called Bill PAC.  It turned out BILL PAC is a political action committee associated with William C. (Bill) Eigel, a conservative former state senator from the 23rd District in Missouri’s St. Charles County who’s now seeking the post of St. Charles County Executive. Some more digging revealed he’s running a deceptive national fundraising campaign targeting vulnerable seniors. 

That motivated me to write a couple stories:

Those stories came to the attention of Rudi Keller, Deputy Editor of  The Missouri Independent, a nonpartisan, nonprofit news organization covering state government, politics and policy. It’s an affiliate of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization. The Capitol Chronicle in Oregon is part of the network. 

Keller took a more exhaustive look at Eigel’s BILL PAC  and wrote a story that ran today in the Missouri Independent and The States Newsroom. His in-depth story further exposed the deceptive tactics of Eigel’s BILL PAC:

Republican Bill Eigel is once again facing accusations that his campaign relies on deceptive fundraising tactics to lure out-of-state donors to give recurring contributions

Former State Sen. Bill Eigel of Weldon Spring, shown in a 2024 photo, is using recurring donations from across the country to finance his bid for St. Charles County executive (Rudi Keller/Missouri Independent).

Keller exposed how people across the country, overwhelmingly seniors, are being lured into contributing to BILL PAC, unaware that it is supporting a local Missouri Republican, not a national conservative campaign. 

 A retired man from Reston, VA, a consistent donor to Republican state and federal candidates and committees, made an astonishing 65 separate online donations to BILL PAC, according to reports submitted to the Missouri Ethics Commission in 2025.

Keller tracked down some donors who had unwittingly committed to monthly recurring donations. 

A retired woman in Texas has contributed $1,205 in 74 separate donations since December. All are about the same dates each month.

A 92-year-old Korean War veteran from Nebraska named Russell Wood, made 35 donations totaling $1,050 over the last year to Bill Eigel’s campaign for St. Charles County executive. But Wood told Keller he has never heard of Eigel or set foot in St. Charles County and had no idea he had made so many donations to Eigel’s campaign.

People running for public office at the federal, state and local level always run the risk of taking an “ends justifies the means” approach to campaigning, observes Judy Nadler at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University.

“The conduct of the campaign itself can say a lot about the ethical principles a candidate brings to public life,” she says.  That’s something Eigel, Missourians and all voters should ponder.

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Picking Seniors’ Pockets: Deceptive Online Political Fundraising Is Dialing Up Discord

I’ve written some of this story before.

Last time I wrote about how a local Missouri politician running for a county office is raising millions through deceptive online advertising that relies on highlighting inflammatory national issues.  

This time I’m writing about how he and his online marketers are dialing up discord while cynically targeting deceptive fundraising pleas at overly trusting and vulnerable retired seniors, exploiting them in a new form of elder abuse other politicians across the country may be tempted to emulate.

William C. (Bill) Eigel, a conservative former state senator from the 23rd District in Missouri’s St. Charles County, lost in 2024’s Missouri Republican gubernatorial primary. Now he’s running to be St. Charles, Missouri’s County Executive, probably to establish a political perch to mount another gubernatorial race in 2028.

William C. (Bill) Eigel

To support his Charles County campaign, Eigel is soliciting contributions for his Believe in Life and Liberty political action committee, BILL PAC. Why doesn’t the PAC’s name say it’s connected to Eigel?

“Some states require PACs backing single candidates or with specific donors to include the politician or the funders in their name,” the Missouri Independent has explained. “Not Missouri. Instead, PAC names can be a set of initials used for a reason no one can remember, a feel-good name that doesn’t have anything to do with the interest being promoted or even the name of a favorite television character.

Not only is Eigel blurring his association with BILL PAC, but his online nationwide fundraising campaign is reaching out to potential supporters by emphasizing inflammatory national hot-button issues, not St. Charles County concerns. Recent email pleas focus on “mass deportations” and deporting “criminal illegal aliens”, federal payment of $5,000 “DOGE checks” to citizens, and “mandatory voter ID in ALL 50 states”.

A BILL PAC email that came today urged me to sign a petition to deport Ilhan Omar, a controversial Democratic congresswoman from Minnesota. An email I received recently went so far as to urge recipients to support President Trump’s use of the Insurrection Act, an alarming move that would gives him broad powers to authorize uses of the military in the domestic sphere while providing neither a role for Congress nor a basis for serious judicial review. Eigel’s message:

We only have until midnight to act, so sign our petition in support of using the Insurrection Act to destroy Antifa once and for all and reclaim our cities from these anarchists.

The Missouri Ethics Commission (MEC) requires that political candidates file quarterly reports on their fundraising and spending. The reports filed by Bill PAC in 2025 reveal that about 99% of the contributions Eigel has reported receiving have come from people who live out of state and identify themselves as “Retired”.  It’s clear that retirees outside Missouri are Eigel’s primary target. 

Seniors are a prime target for all sorts of online scams due to factors like social isolation, a trusting nature and declining cognitive function. Many also live alone, have significant savings and have no one overseeing their spending. (By the way, I’m retired, which is probably why I’ve been getting Eigel’s emails.)

The most recent emails I received from BILL PAC focused on deporting undocumented immigrants and “defunding a United Nations Global Climate tax”, issues that are hardly within the purview of St. Charles’ County Executive.

The deportation email said only:

“122 residents of your neighborhood have signed the GOP petition to deport every illegal alien, but your name is MISSING!

 Join your neighbors ASAP:

JOIN YOUR NEIGHBORS: SIGN NOW“

If you “Sign Now” you’ll be asked for a donation of $12.50 to $250 and up. And if you don’t uncheck a yellow box, you’ll be committing to making a recurring monthly donation of your initial pledge Ad infinitum. This is a practice the ACLU says  “routinely takes advantage of older donors and first-time donors who are unfamiliar with navigating campaign fundraising platforms”.

Most individual online donations to Eigel detailed in reports submitted to the Missouri Ethics Commission in 2025 have been in small amounts, but they add up over time.  Frequently, individuals have been making multiple contributions on the same day, almost as though they have been stuck in a loop, forgetting they’d already given that day:

For example, a retired man from Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey made six separate donations ($10, $2.50, $2.50, $2.50, $2.50, $4.75) on June 29, 2025. Another retired man from Spokane, WA made seven contributions ($20.24, $35, $10, $10, $10, $9.50, $10) on April 27, 2025.

Many prolific contributors seem almost addicted to online donations. An 86-year-old  retired woman from Lititz, PA made online donations to Bill Eigel’s Believe in Life and Liberty political action committee, BILL PAC, 26 times.[1] A retired woman from Dalton, Georgia made donations 28 times[2].

Then there’s a retired man from Reston, VA, a consistent donor to Republican state and federal candidates and committees, who made an astonishing 65 separate online donations to BILL PAC, according to reports submitted to the Missouri Ethics Commission in 2025[3].

Organizations including the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the National Council on Aging and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) repeatedly warn seniors about financial scams targeting them. The warnings, however, usually caution seniors about things such as funeral scams, phony investment schemes, telemarketing/phone scams and impersonation scams. 

Clearly, it’s time to warn seniors about political fundraising scams, too. 

[1] $36.44, $36.44, $36.44; $18.22; $36.44; $36.44; $36.44;$33.25; $15, $15, $20, $20.82, $10.41, $10.41, $15; $12.50, $13.01, $6.51, $6.51, $15; $12.50, $3.25, $3.25; $12.50; $15; $15.

[2] $10.41, $7.81, $7.81, $7.50, $7.50, $7.50, $20, $14.25, $10, $5.21, $5, $2.50, $5, $10.41, $3.75, $3.75, $3.75, $19, $12.50, $15, $15, $10, $15, $5, $12.50, $10, $15, $10

[3] $5.87, $5.87, $5.87, $6.11, $3.06, $6.11, $4.57, $5.87, $6.11, $3.06, $3.06, $3.06, $4,  $12.50, $13.01, $6.51, $3.25, $18, $9.37, $4.68, $10, $5.21, $5.21, $10.41, $4.16, $4.75, $10.41, $5.21, $5.21, $10.41, $15.62, $15.62, $15.62, $15.62, $15.62, $4.75, $5.87, $6.11, $6.11, $5.87. $6.11, $6.11, $3.06, $6.11, $4.57, $5.87, $6.11, $3.06, $3.06, $3.06, $4, $12.50, $13.01, $6.51, $3.25, $18, $9.37, $4.68, $10, $5.21, $5.21, $10.41, $4.16, $4.75

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Missouri County Executive Candidate Using Deceptive Targeted Fundraising Tactics Nationwide


William C. (Bill) Eigel, a conservative former state senator from the 23rd District in Missouri’s St. Charles County, may have come in second place in 2024’s Missouri Republican gubernatorial primary.  And he may have lost in his push to be chairman of the state Republican Party in 2025. But he hasn’t abandoned his political drive or lost his fundraising bravado.

St. Charles Missouri County Executive candidate, Bill Eigel

 In October 2024, he filed paperwork with the Missouri Ethics Commission (MEC) that let him raise money for a possible run for St. Charles County Executive. On February 3, 2025, shortly after he lost his bid to become chair of the Missouri Republican Party, he confirmed that he would run for St. Charles County Executive in 2026. The election will be held on November 3, 2026, following party primaries on August 4, 2026.

According to the Missouri Independent, “no one sees the move as evidence that Eigel is ready to step off the statewide stage. To the contrary, the campaign is seen by Jefferson City denizens as Eigel simply looking for a political perch to mount another primary challenge against Kehoe in 2028.”

To support his Charles County campaign, Eigel is soliciting contributions for his Believe in Life and Liberty political action committee, BILL PAC. Why doesn’t the PAC’s name say it’s connected to Eiger?

“Some states require PACs backing single candidates or with specific donors to include the politician or the funders in their name,” the Missouri Independent has explained. “Not Missouri. Instead, PAC names can be a set of initials used for a reason no one can remember, a feel-good name that doesn’t have anything to do with the interest being promoted or even the name of a favorite television character.

On his Facebook page, Eigel is highlighting that “over 200 patriots showed up to our campaign event” on Sept. 27, suggesting high local enthusiasm for his candidacy. But what stands out when you examine the contributions in BILL PAC’s July 2025 report is how few are from locals. Most, in fact, are coming in from out of state. I haven’t contributed, but Eigel’s email came to me in Oregon.

Eigel faced criticism during his gubernatorial campaign for relying on nationwide out-of-state donors pursued by Targeted Victory, a Virginia consulting firm. This time he’s using a different firm for the same purpose. 

In a July 2025 Quarterly Report to MEC, BILL PAC reported total receipts of $209,659.91.

In a list of itemized expenditures over $100, BILL PAC reported fundraising expenses of $93,304.66 paid to Nineonesix, 2311 Wilson Blvd., Suite 200, Arlington, VA 22201. Nineonesix defines itself as a “mobile marketing agency” that serves only Republicans. “We design and execute media plans with a focus on emerging digital platforms, using thumb-stopping mobile creative to drive results,” it says.

BILL PAC’s only other fundraising expense over $100 identified in its that quarter was $2,388.83 to the Old Hickory Golf Club in St. Peters, Missouri. 

The July report to the MEC lists by name and address donations to BILL PAC from persons giving more than $100 to BILL PAC. 

One interesting anomaly with the contributions to BILL PAC in the July report, some as small as $3 and some as high as $500, is that more than 99% of them came from people who identified themselves as retired. That suggests retired people have been Nineonesix’s primary online target. Seniors are a prime target for online scams due to factors like social isolation a trusting nature and declining cognitive function. Many also live alone and have no one overseeing their spending. (By the way, I’m retired, which is probably why I’ve been getting Eigel’s emails.)

The report also showed many donors made multiple donations over time, resulting in aggregate donations of as much as $2,000, which suggests multiple email appeals driven by repeated responses. 

One donor, a retired woman from Abilene, Texas, typically gave $3.50 each time, for an aggregate of $194.16 as of April 27, 2025. Not to be outdone, a retired man from North Prince George, Virginia, gave a total of $83.50 in eleven separate donations ranging from $4 to $23 spread out over the quarter. In another case, a retired man from Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey made six separate donations ($10, $2.50, $2.50, $2.50, $2.50, $4.75) on  just one day, June 29, 2025. 

The PAC’s April and January 2025 quarterly reports to the Missouri Ethics Commission are similar in showing heavy reliance on retired out-of-state donors.

The oddest thing about BILL PAC’s appeals is that they don’t mention Bill Eigel’s name or even what office he’s running for. Instead, they rely on highlighting all sorts of hot-button issues and inflammatory stories that have nothing to do with the St. Charles race and are about issues over which a St. Charles County Executive would have no jurisdiction

On Oct.15, I received an email from BILL PAC calling on me to sign a petition calling for mandatory nationwide voter ID and to send money:

“Without mandatory voter ID in ALL 50 states, your vote will be replaced by an illegal alien. We need 2,500,000 signatures to our SECURE THE VOTE Petition before midnight to make a strong push to secure our elections ONCE AND FOR ALL:“

Another email I recently received from BILL PAC, labelled a “Voter Identification Survey” asks a series of questions, such as ” Do you believe Democrats are opposed to Voter ID laws because they negatively affect their chances of winning elections?” and “Should illegal immigrants be included in the US Census?” before asking for donations.

Then here’s this message I got from BILL PAC:

Friend, you can’t make this crap up!

A CRIMINAL, illegal alien FUGITIVE became a superintendent of a public school in Iowa.

When law enforcement caught him after he attempted to evade arrest, he was found in possession of a loaded handgun, $3,000 in cash, and a hunting knife.

This was the SAME MAN who was the superintendent of a public school. Radical Democrats have put the safety and well-being of our children SECOND to an illegal alien.

How many other invaders are in positions of power in our country? The open-border invasion Biden helped cultivate is damaging our safety, schools, communities, and country.

We MUST ramp up deportations for these illegal criminals ONCE AND FOR ALL.

We need a strong wave of support before MIDNIGHT TONIGHT, demanding that all illegals are deported ASAP>>

END THE ILLEGAL INVASION

SPEED UP MASS DEPORTATIONS NOW

Click on “We need a strong wave of support…” and you go to a donations page that also allows you to make a single or monthly recurring donation. 

At the bottom of the email in small print is the following:

Paid for by BILL PAC
1020 S Benton Avenue
St. Charles, MO 63301

That’s all. A recipient would have to be motivated to do some digging to find out the email is from a PAC supporting Bill Eigel’s run for County Executive of St. Charles County in Missouri.

I also got this email message from BILL PAC, along with an appeal for a donation:

Friend, the fate of the $5,000 DOGE checks can go one of two ways:

They can be paid to YOU and the American people.

OR: They can be revoked, and continue to fund liberal pet projects.

I’D PREFER A $5,000 CHECK

KEEP FUNDING LIBERAL PET PROJECTS

And this message from BILL PAC urging me to sign a petition supporting deporting Rep. Ilhan Omar, a Democrat from Minnesota, along with an appeal for a donation:

“If America is “so terrible,” and Somalia is “so great,” then let’s send her back! Sign the petition ASAP in support of deporting Ilhan Omar >>

 And this email from BILL PAC, including an appeal for a donation:

We tried emailing you last week, but received no response. 

We hope this isn’t a dead email, so this is your FINAL ATTEMPT to finalize your personalized DOGE Audit.

We can’t pass this audit over to the next patriot in your neighborhood until yours is complete, so we’re hoping you can end this logjam and complete the DOGE census of your area by TONIGHT!

COMPLETE DOGE AUDIT

HELP GET THE DOGE AUDIT TO OTHERS
So far, 1,076 patriots have completed this audit, so don’t be the first person to refuse to complete it and leave DOGE in the dust!

On his Facebook page, Eigel describes himself as “Christian, Husband, Father, USAF Veteran, Small Business Owner, Former State Senator for St. Charles County, and the conservative candidate for St. Charles County Executive.” 

The deceit and inflammatory messaging in his fundraising campaign aimed at vulnerable seniors doesn’t seem very Christian to me.