Former President Donald Trump’s campaign reported paying over $4.3 million to organizers of the January 6 “Save America” rally held prior to the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
Questions remain about the extent of the campaign’s involvement.
Last week, the U.S. House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol sent requests to 15 social media companies, the National Archives and Records Administration, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Department of Justice asking for information pertaining to the insurrection.
In the requests, the committee named a number of GOP-affiliated individuals who demonstrated ties to the Capitol Riot, according to OpenSecrets.
One of these individuals, Caroline Wren, who received “at least” $170,000 as the Trump campaign’s national finance consultant, was listed as a “VIP Advisor” on the permit granted by the National Park Service for the January 6 rally.
Megan Powers, one of the other rally managers listed on the permit but not included in the House request, earned around $300,000 as the Trump campaign’s director of operations. Her ties to the campaign extend further, Trump’s Make America Great Again PAC paid her over $20,000 for “recount administrative consulting.”
The committee requested records pertaining to the Women for Trump initiative co-chair, Gina Loudon, who spoke at the rally.
The committee also asked for information on Amy Kremer, who co-founded Women for America First, a nonprofit pro-Trump group that submitted the rally’s permit records to the National Park Service.
The committee also requested records related to Dustin Stockton, who served as a co-organizer of the rally and worked as a spokesman for WeBuildTheWall, a southern border fence fundraising nonprofit.
He served as the organization’s mouthpiece when former White House strategist Steve Bannon and three others tied to the group were charged with fraud for allegedly planning to use money from the organization to cover personal expenses.
According to the permit, these individuals all played some role in the “Save America” rally that transpired before the Capitol attack, with the remaining funds being doled out to other political fundraising wings tied to the matter.
It remains to be seen what direct role the campaign may have played in the efforts carried out by these individuals to organize the rally.
OpenSecrets wrote that because the Trump campaign funneled money through a number of private firms and shell companies where the ultimate payee was hidden, the public may not discover the full extent of the campaign’s role in distributing payments to the organizers of the riot.
This article appeared in Newsweek.