President 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, the New York Times reports.
Most of the money came in during the initial week after Election Day. But the appeals have persisted – a sign that the president’s bid to contest the results continues to be a cash cow.
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.
Trump lawyer Jenna Ellis continues to raise allegations of election fraud, while the Trump campaign raises money that can be used by Trump’s leadership PAC after he leaves office. Sidney Powell (left) was fired while Joe DiGenova remains part of the team despite calling for the execution of former federal election security chief Brian Krebs
Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani has been driving Trump’s legal efforts, which have so far been a failure as states certify results and judges turn back challenges
President Donald Trump’s ‘Election Defense’ efforts have brought in a staggering $170 million
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 Tuesday, accompanied by a fundraising plea.
Trump urged Republican Georgia Governor Brian Kemp on Tuesday to ‘do something’ about the election results there, demanding that the state call of 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.
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.
President Donald Trump order Tuesday that Republican Gov. Brian Kemp ‘do something’ to stop election fraud in Georgia as he demanded the state call off Senate runoff elections there
Trump endorsed Kemp in his gubernatorial race, but says he now regrets doing so – lamenting that he has been complacent in the ‘fraud’ that occurred in Georgia in the presidential election
Joe Biden won Georgia, but by only 0.2 per cent, and Trump lost in Wisconsin by 0.7 per cent.
In 2016, Trump won both Georgia and Wisconsin.
The new lawsuit in the Wisconsin Supreme Court, reported by Fox News on Tuesday, comes after the Trump campaign was hit with another blow in the rust belt state over the weekend when they found more votes for Joe Biden in two county-wide recounts.
The legal action – just the latest in a series filed by the Trump campaign in an effort to overturn the election results – alleges there was abuse surrounding the absentee voting process in Wisconsin.
‘Exposing exactly how the election processes were abused in Wisconsin holds enormous value for this election beyond a victory for President Trump, but the fact is, our state’s electoral votes likely won’t change the overall outcome,’ Jim Troupis, a former Wisconsin Circuit Court judge now leading the president’s legal team in the state, told Fox.
‘Regardless, we’re demonstrating that the results of this election unequivocally ought to be questioned,’ Troupis said.
Troupis said that while the Wisconsin recount in Milwaukee and Dane Counties did not flip in President Trump’s favor, it gave the campaign the ‘unique ability’ to examine ballots, which he says revealed further issues.
The president’s campaign claims Wisconsin Election Commission officials and the City Clerks of Milwaukee and Madison ‘willfully disregarded the current statute and made conscious efforts to circumvent Wisconsin election law.’
They insist this resulted in tens of thousands of votes cast ‘well outside of the bounds of Wisconsin law.’
The lawsuit is expected to be filed Tuesday morning just two days after Wisconsin completed its partial recount and their Democratic Governor Tony Evers formally certified Biden’s victory Monday night.
Troupis argues that Evers certification came too soon and is suggesting that Trump’s campaign doesn’t have a right to launch more legal pursuits regarding the election.
‘With Governor Evers’ premature certification, he is saying the President of the United States has no right to go to court in order to have illegal ballots examined,’ Troupis said. ‘He’s not saying we have a frivolous lawsuit — he is saying we have no right to judicial review — that’s another level of bad.’
An election official also alleged to Fox that there was ‘inappropriate coordination between the Biden campaign’ and election officials that could disqualify many votes from the count – including those absentee ballots turned in at polling locations outside of their own county.
‘This highlights inappropriate coordination between the Biden campaign and the city’s election officials,’ the official said, noting voters ‘are not allowed to turn in their absentee ballots anywhere other than designated polling locations.’
Wisconsin further cemented Joe Biden’s victory Sunday in the two recounts that increased his lead over Trump by 87 votes.