Turning Point USA is facing a fresh wave of public scrutiny after alleged fundraising letters, signed by the organisation's COO and conservative activist Riley Gaines, began circulating online this week.

Researcher and podcaster@leahfilesposted photographs of the letters on X, alleging they were received in the current week, and questioned why an organisation that allegedly brings in over £67m ($85m) annually was soliciting small-dollar donations from college students. The letters invoke the September 2025 assassination of TPUSA founder Charlie Kirk and use language one social media user characterised as 'desperate,' including the claim that a student chapter will 'free your children and grandchildren from the Left.'

IBTimes UK cannot independently verify the authenticity or completeness of the fundraising letters shared on social media. This article reports on a public controversy arising from those posts. Readers should treat all unverified claims in this article with appropriate caution.

The first alleged letter, purportedly signed by Justin Streiff, who isconfirmed by TPUSA's own websiteas the organisation's Chief Operating Officer, asks recipients to complete an 'Emergency Reply Form' and donate between £28 ($35) and £398 ($500) to help open a new conservative student chapter.

The letter states that since Kirk's 'murder,' TPUSA has allegedly received 'more than 160,000 requests from patriots to start or join chapters.' IBTimes UK cannot verify that specific figure; afterKirk's assassination, TPUSA publicly claimed it had received approximately 120,000 campus chapter enquiries, according to Britannica's documented record of the organisation.

TPUSA is sending out bizarre letters (received this week) asking college kids to donate money to open new chapters, while simultaneously bringing in over $100M to do just that? The letter itself screams desperate, saying things such as "A student chapter will free your children…pic.twitter.com/M9RS56tUt1

The letter's language is striking. It describes Turning Point USA as engaged in tearing 'young people out of the clutches of the Left,' warns that 'radical students and professors are still desperate to keep Turning Point USA OFF their campuses,' and closes with the assertion that donating is the best way to honour Kirk's legacy. The postscript again refers to 'Charlie's murder,' a factually accurate description. Kirk was shot and killed on 10 September 2025 at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, by Tyler James Robinson, who has since been charged with aggravated murder.

A second alleged letter, shared in reply to the original X thread by @AndreaGettman, is purportedly signed by Riley Gaines, the former collegiate swimmer turned conservative commentator who became a prominent figure in debates over transgender athletes in women's sport.

I received this one from Riley Gaines the other day. Asking for money for campus tours. I have previously supported them but after CK died and they pulled a massive 180 on the trajectory he was taking TPUSA; I cannot support them.pic.twitter.com/ywOEdBh0tb

That letter, also invoking Kirk's death, solicits donations for what it describes as the 'This is the Turning Point Tour,' calling Kirk's death an 'assassination.' Gaines writes that she 'cannot support' TPUSA as it stands post-Kirk, yet the letter is explicitly a fundraising appeal on TPUSA's behalf. @AndreaGettman stated she had previously supported TPUSA but no longer does following what she described as a 'massive 180' in direction since Kirk's death.

Source: International Business Times UK