Former President Donald Trump and the Republican National Committee (RNC) amassed $86 million in fundraising during the same time period in which they were denying the results of the November election.
Friday filings with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) show Trump and the GOP raised at least $207.5 million in the 19 days after the November 3 election, with donor solicitations utilizing false claims about widespread voter fraud. The RNC's online contribution platform, WinRed, reported raising $68 million, which it then funneled directly into Trump political action committees and Republican campaign coffers. On January 6, the same day that Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol, the Trump Make America Great Again group pled for donations, claiming the election had been "stolen."
Some critics say Trump formed the Save America PAC following the November 3 election as a way for him to amass personal cash that he could use after leaving office on January 20. Between November 24 and the end of the year, as Trump called for "wild" protests against the election results, the president and GOP raised $86 million.
A Center for Responsive Politics report last week found the Trump campaign paid eight individuals and one firm which helped in organizing and conducting the Washington protests that ultimately left five people dead. Several people who were granted permission by the National Park Service to conduct January 6 protests were paid directly by the Trump campaign, records show. Organizers who were paid tens of thousands of dollars apiece by the Trump campaign held titles such as "VIP Advisor" and "VIP Lead" on the National Park Service permits that allowed them to oversee the January 6 protests.
The Trump campaign disclosed paying more than $2.7 million to individuals and firms behind the demonstrations, but the FEC filings don't illustrate the direction of millions of additional payouts. The Trump campaign has repeatedly stated that they did not pay organizers of the January 6 protests, and that the individuals and the firm who had received money from them were no longer collecting such cash when they organized the deadly demonstration.
As Bloomberg reported Saturday, the amount of money transferred between Trump Make America Great Again, Save America and the RNC will not be disclosed to the election commission until Sunday. The RNC managed to raise $3.5 million separate from Trump's committees, but full end-of-year 2020 disclosures won't be made available until the end of the weekend.
Dean Enrich, a New York Times financial investigative reporter, told MSNBC on Saturday that Trump needs cash on-hand to deal with creditors. The author of Dark Towers: Deutsche Bank, Donald Trump, and an Epic Trail of Destruction said the longtime real estate businessman could normally ask to refinance his debt. But multiple pending investigations have put an end to such delays.
"He's going to need to come up with a lot of cash quickly or he's going to be at risk of defaulting," Enrich said. "In the case of Deutsche Bank, if he defaults, the bank has recourse to his personal assets. They could go to court to seize his property or the money he has in various banking accounts. So he's going to need to come up with cash very quickly and his businesses right now are struggling, so it's very unclear to me where he might be able to get that money."
Newsweek reached out to the former president's office as well as the FEC for additional remarks Saturday morning.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Benjamin Fearnow is a reporter based out of Newsweek's New York City offices. He was previously at CBS and Mediaite ... Read more
