FOLLOW THE MONEY: Federal grand jury launches investigation into Trump’s scam Save America PAC
Donald Trump can add one more investigation to his growing list. This time, they’re probing into his shady (are they ever anything but shady?) Save America PAC, looking to see how, when, and where the money was spent.
This latest legal look-see joins those delving into events leading up to the Jan. 6 insurrection and, of course, Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election results.
According to ABC News, a federal grand jury issued subpoenas seeking to trace the beginnings of the fundraising juggernaut.
Almost immediately after losing the 2020 election, Trump began soliciting donations from his faithful, feckless followers. According to ABC, the Federal Election Commission filing shows the PAC was formed just two days after election day.
An aggressive campaign of emails and texts went out to MAGA Republicans begging for contributions to what was then called Trump’s “Official Election Defense Fund.” It apparently worked. raising over $135 million since its inception.
With a $5000 per donor cap, the first 60% raised up to the five grand would go to Save America, per the fine print. But according to Congressional testimony back in June, the true amount was nearly double, with funds being diverted from the Defense Fund to the FPOTUS’s PAC.
Using “election integrity” as the MO, the money came pouring into a fund that many say never existed. In the words of Jan. 6 Select Committee member Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), “Not only was there the Big Lie, there was the Big Ripoff.”
According to Newsweek:
The Trump campaign sent “millions” of emails to Trump supporters about how they needed to “step up” to protect election integrity, according to the Jan. 6 committee. The money would go to the so-called the “Official Election Defense Fund” — which doesn’t appear to have actually existed, according to testimony.
"The Trump campaign knew these claims of voter fraud were false, yet they continued to barrage small dollar donors with emails encouraging them to donate to something called the Official Election Defense Fund. The Select Committee discovered no such fund existed." #January6th pic.twitter.com/tDXYCt604s
— CSPAN (@cspan) June 13, 2022
“The evidence developed by the select committee highlights how the Trump campaign aggressively pushed false election claims to fundraise, telling supporters it would be used to fight voter fraud that did not exist,” said Amanda Wick, a lawyer for the Jan. 6 committee. “The emails continued through Jan. 6, even as Trump spoke on the Ellipse. Thirty minutes after the last fundraising email was sent, the Capitol was breached.”
With a recent ruling from Trump-appointed District Court judge Aileen Cannon pumping the breaks on the Department of Justice’s criminal investigation into the twice impeached, one term president’s handling of top-secret government documents, this may be the DOJ’s end around to seeing at least some accountability for Trump’s multitude of alleged crimes.
But, as the successful prosecution of legendary mobster, Al Capone showed—follow the money.
Original reporting by Katherine Faulders and John Santucci at ABC News.
Follow Ty Ross on Twitter @cooltxchick
