Donald Trump’s constant appeals for funds to help his ‘defense fund’ amid his own charges of fraud have raked in millions that can be used to fund future political activities or boost political candidates he favors.
In fact, according to the fine print in the drumbeat of solicitations, three quarters of every contribution goes to Trump’s new PAC, the ‘Save America’ fund.
Requests to supporters, many of whom already funded Trump’s unsuccessful campaign, have frequently stressed ‘MASSIVE’ voting problems, claiming the campaign was ‘robbed’ and seeking contributions of as little as $10.
It offers ‘matching’ awards of up to 1,000 percent, with no verification or disclosure of who might be making it.
A quarter of the take goes to the Republican National Committee, and there is no guarantee it goes to Trump’s continued efforts to overturn the election results.
The total raised since Election Day has reached about $170 million.
Most of the money came in during the initial week after Election Day.
But the appeals have persisted – a sign that Trump’s bid to contest the results continues to be a cash cow.
Attorney General Bill Barr confirmed today what the Department of Homeland Security concluded the day after the election – there is no evidence of any widespread vote fraud that would tip the election to Trump.
Cyber Security experts at Trump’s own Homeland Security called 2020 the ‘most secure’ presidential election in history.
But that isn’t stopping Trump from cashing in.
There were at least four text solicitations Monday alone – one from Donald Trump Jr. asking to ‘CRUSH’ the end of the month goal.
‘I spoke with my father and he’s REACTIVATED your 1000% offer for 1 more HOUR!’ he writes.
A text said to be from ‘Pres Trump’ tells supporters ‘We’re $53k SHORT of our Deadline Goal.’
‘We’re in the final stretch & we need YOU to DEFEND THE Election,’ said another.’
Only after donors kick in $5,000 to the pack do funds go to the recount effort – which suffered more defeats Monday when Wisconsin and Arizona certified results for President-elect Joe Biden.
Trump’s leadership PAC can make contributions totaling $5,000 to other campaign committees, providing a valuable influence tool after he leaves office.
It has far less stringent rules that those that accompany a candidate’s campaign.
‘With a candidate committee, there is a personal-use prohibition,’ Larry Noble of the Campaign Legal Center told the Washington Post.
‘So they cannot use money in a candidate committee for anyone’s personal use: They can’t pay exorbitant salaries, they can’t give gifts to people. If you’re talking about a leadership PAC or an independent expenditure PAC, there’s no prohibition on how they use the money.’
That means the funds can go for travel, rallies, salaries or even memberships.
But Trump’s efforts to overturn the election in public steamed ahead today, accompanied by a fundraising plea.
Trump urged Republican Georgia Governor Brian Kemp today to ‘do something’ about the election results there, demanding that the state call off its two Senate runoff elections next month.
‘Do something @BrianKempGA. You allowed your state to be scammed,’ the president furiously tweeted toward the governor he says he regrets endorsing.
‘We must check signatures and count signed envelopes against ballots,’ he said, further pressing: ‘Then call off election. It won’t be needed. We will all WIN!’
Twitter flagged the post, like many Trump has made about the election over the course of the last month, with a blue exclamation point followed by the warning: ‘Multiple sources call this election differently.’
The tweet comes the same day Trump’s campaign launched yet another lawsuit in Wisconsin in an attempt to overturn 220,000 absentee ballots there in an effort to also overturn the president’s loss in the key swing state.
Trump is claiming in his Tuesday morning tweet that if ballots are checked against signatures, it will prove he actually won the popular vote in Georgia.
Both the Republican governor and secretary of state of Georgia have said there was no voter fraud, and the state has already certified the results which had Joe Biden winning.
Republican Georgia Senator David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler are attempting to hold onto their seats after neither earned the 50 per cent needed for an outright win – forcing two runoff elections on January 5.
Those two elections will determine which party controls the Senate.
Trump is suggesting that if he wins the presidency, which he believes he can do in-part by overturning the results in Georgia, Republicans holding onto the Senate won’t matter as much.