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The Final Report: Appendix 3 -- Follow The Money [1]

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Date: 2022-12-23

"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion;" [... unlike some people who would rather terminate the Constitution, than explain their "evidence."]

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The Final Report of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th

Attack on the United States Capitol

january6th.house.gov

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APPENDIX 3

THE BIG RIP-OFF: FOLLOW THE MONEY

[ pg 770 ] [Emphasis from source]

INTRODUCTION [...]

The false election fraud narrative embedded in fundraising emails and text messages amplified the Big Lie by perpetuating a belief that the 2020 election was stolen from President Trump and effectuated the Big Rip-off by misleading donors into thinking their donations could alter the election results. At the same time, the Big Lie helped President Trump and the Republican National Committee (RNC) raise more than $250 million after the election, much of it from small-dollar donors who were promised their money would “Stop the Steal.” Despite what they told their supporters, however, most of their money was not used to stop any purported steal—it was diverted to accomplish the Big Rip-off. Millions of dollars that were raised ostensibly for “election defense” and “fighting voter fraud” were not spent that way at all. Moreover, the Select Committee’s investigation shows that the RNC knew that President Trump’s claims about winning the election were baseless and that post-election donations would not help him secure an additional term in office. Yet, both the Trump Campaign and the RNC decided to continue fundraising after the election, a decision that would have come from President Trump himself. In short, President Trump and his Campaign ripped off supporters by raising more than $250 million by claiming they wanted to fight fraud they knew did not exist and to challenge an election they knew he lost.

[ pg 772 ]

B. The Fundraising Assembly Line The copywriting process worked like an assembly line, where different individuals performed a task and passed on the work product to someone else, including for internal approval.[27] To generate content for fundraising communications, Allred explained, the copywriting fundraising team was “watching the messaging coming out of the committee [RNC] and the campaign and from the President himself and what his family was talking about.”[28] For example, in a November 2020 email, Boedigheimer stated to Allred, “Good to include lines like [‘]we need the resources to make sure they don’t try to steal this election. We saw what happened on election night, we can’t let them take the senate too.[’]”[29] It was evident that the copywriters “would draft a lot of the content based on ... what the President was saying.”[30] And there was no mistaking it, President Trump “was providing us [the copywriters] with a lot of content online.”[31] [...]

[ pg 784-5 ]

The false claims of election fraud and the “Official Election Defense Fund” were so successful President Trump and his allies raised more than $250 million after the election.[160] However, the Trump Campaign was raising too much money to spend solely on their legal efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election. The Trump Campaign continued to publicly state the election had been stolen by “the Left,” while behind closed doors they prepared a new plan to spend their supporters’ money. A. The Creation of the Save America PAC On November 9, 2020, President Trump created a separate leadership PAC called Save America that allowed him to keep millions of dollars raised after the election and spend it with very few restrictions in the future. Jared Kushner worked with Alex Cannon, Deputy General Counsel for the Trump Campaign, in creating the entity.[161] Prior to the formation of Save America, any money raised by the Trump Campaign could effectively only be spent on recount and election-contest related expenses, and to pay off campaign debt.[162] But now the money raised into Save America could allow President Trump to pay for his personal expenses, such as travel or hotel stays. After Save America was formed, it was added to the TMAGAC joint fundraising agreement with the RNC, and the percentage of the proceeds allocated to the Trump Campaign began to flow to Save America.[163] Importantly, Save America, as a leadership PAC, was not even legally permitted to pay for recount and election-contest related expenses in excess of the Federal Election Campaign Act (“FECA”) limit of $5,000.[164] Save America never hit that limit in 2020, as it spent no money on recount and election-contest related expenses.[165] Several reporters noticed the switch and contacted the Campaign asking about the “bait and switch” and the “misleading” nature of the emails. One reporter said directly: “it’s misleading to raise money for a committee marked on the website as an ‘election defense fund’ if it’s going to a leadership PAC.”[166] Another reporter asked, “Why is the campaign telling its supporters they are contributing toward an ‘Election Defense Fund’ if only a small percentage of those funds are actually going toward funding legal efforts?” and “How can the campaign justify directing 75% of contributions intended for a 2020 legal fund toward the President’s political action committee?”[167] The Trump Campaign came up with a messaging plan about this tactic, which President Trump personally approved.[168] Tim Murtaugh, the Trump Campaign’s communications director, repeatedly asked Justin Clark, the deputy campaign manager, whether they should respond to the reporters.[169] When Murtaugh flagged that the communications team was not responding to the reporters, Justin Clark said, “Good. Don’t.”[170] B. Outlays to Trump-Associated Individuals and Companies The Trump Campaign spent the money on President Trump, giving donations to his associates, and keeping it for himself in Save America. Hundreds of millions of dollars that were raised to go towards “election defense” and “fighting voter fraud” were not spent that way at all. To the contrary, most of the funds remain unspent, and millions have been paid to companies that are known affiliates of President Trump, [...]

[ pg 787-8 ]

From January 2021 to June 2022, Save America has also reported over $2.1 million in “legal consulting.” Many firms perform different kinds of practice, but more than 67% of those funds went to law firms that are representing witnesses involved in the Select Committee’s investigation who were subpoenaed or invited to testify. Additionally, Save America has reported other expenditures, like: • $1,000,000 donation to America First Policy Institute, home to several former Trump officials and witnesses subpoenaed to testify before the Committee.[197]

• $1,000,000 donation to Conservative Partnership Institute, a conservative nonprofit organization where Mark Meadows is a senior partner.[198]

• More than $10.6 million to Event Strategies, Inc., the preferred staging company for President Trump that staged the January 6th rally.[199]

• More than $327,000 in payments to the Trump Hotel Collection and Mar-A-Lago Club since the 2020 election.[200]

• An “event sponsorship fee” of $165,937.50 to American Conservative Union,[201] the Chairman of which is Matt Schlapp. Schlapp and his wife have offered to pay the legal fees of witnesses called to testify before the January 6th Committee and have extensive ties with former President Trump.

• A little over $140,000 to National Public Affairs, LLC,[202] a consulting company started by former Trump Campaign Manager Bill Stepien and Deputy Campaign Manager Justin Clark.[203] Stepien testified that he knew the claims of voter fraud were false, that he didn’t think what was happening was necessarily honest, and that he was stepping away from the Trump Campaign.[204] However, he continues to work and receive hundreds of thousands of dollars consulting for President Trump and several other congressional candidates who continue to spread false voter fraud claims related to the 2020 election.[205] [...]

[ pg 789 ]

CONCLUSION In the weeks after the 2020 election leading up to January 6, 2021, President Trump’s Campaign and his allies sent his supporters a barrage of emails and text messages pushing lies about a stolen election and asking for contributions to challenge the outcome of the election. In reality, the funds raised went primarily towards paying down the Trump Campaign’s outstanding 2020 debt, financing President Trump’s newly created Save America PAC, and raising money for the RNC. Overall, only a small amount of the contributions ever went to President Trump’s recount account or were otherwise obviously used in connection with post-election recounts or litigation. As President Trump used the Big Lie as a weapon to attack the legitimacy of the 2020 election, his Campaign used that same Big Lie to raise millions of dollars based on false claims and unkept promises. Not only did President Trump lie to his supporters about the election, but he also ripped them off.

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How much of this illicit fund-raising went to pay-for:

Witness tampering

Rally coordination, including their tactics and staging

Personal expenses of Trump and his close associates

Employing former Trump staffers

How much of this illicit fund-raising went to pay-off:

Insider co-conspirators

The lawyers protecting the interests of Trump and the RNC

“several other congressional candidates who continue to spread false voter fraud claims”

It would seem that the DOJ would really want to know the answers to these questions.

If there were any Justice left in the world; if there were any fight left in the FEC ...

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You can find additional damning evidence here, in the pdf of the 1-6 Committee’s Final Report (via Jan 6th Select Committee — thank you, for taking your Oath of Office seriously.)

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For related content:

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/12/23/2143528/-The-Final-Report-Appendix-3-Follow-The-Money

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