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Former President Trump’s new Political Action Committee grossed over $ 30 million in the final weeks of 2020, giving him a great war chest to continue wielding his political influence, even if he doesn’t. is no longer in function.
Save America, a leadership PAC created after the general election, entered 2021 with more than $ 31 million in cash, according to a filing by the Federal Election Commission. Most of that money, $ 30.4 million, was transferred from the Trump Make America Great Again committee.
Save America’s money is only a fraction of what Mr. Trump and Republicans hold in various political committee accounts. His presidential campaign committee still has $ 10.7 million in the bank. Mr. Trump’s joint fundraising committees with the Republican National Committee, Trump Make America Great Again Committee and Trump Victory have around $ 63 million in cash – though the former president is not entitled to all that money.
The four committees raised more than $ 62 million in individual contributions between Nov. 24 and Dec. 31, according to FEC documents filed on Sunday. During this time, Mr. Trump has frequently solicited funds while casting doubt on the results of the 2020 election. “President Trump needs YOU to ensure that we have the resources to protect the integrity of the elections.” , implored the website in December.
While fundraising efforts were largely focused on allegations of electoral fraud or electoral integrity, a closer look at the fine print showed that as of a few weeks after election day, 75% of all donations under $ 5,000 were sent to Save America, while 25% of them went into the Republican National Committee account, according to the campaign warning. Donations over $ 5,000 went to the prosecution account or to the RNC headquarters up to a certain amount.
The RNC made more than $ 18.8 million in individual contributions during the last period of 2020 and received over $ 22 million from the Trump Make America Great Again committee. The RNC ended the year with more than $ 80 million in the bank.
Mr. Trump can contribute up to $ 5,000 of his leadership PAC to any candidate he chooses to support. He can also use Save America money to pay for rallies, travel, political advertising, and other expenses.
Save America commissioned and sent out a poll last week that showed a sizable majority of Wyoming Republicans held a negative opinion of Congresswoman Liz Cheney after her vote to impeach Mr. Trump. The PAC also made a statement on Mr. Trump’s meeting last Thursday with Parliamentary Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy in Florida, bragging about his popularity and pledging to help Republicans take back the House. “[H]This approval perhaps means more than any approval at any given time, ”the statement proclaims.
In the first 19 days after election day, Mr. Trump’s campaign, the RNC, the Joint Fundraising Committees and Save America raised $ 207.5 million, according to Mr. Trump’s campaign. These same committees reported more than $ 80 million in individual contributions between November 24 and December 31, 2020.
A CBS News analysis of FEC spending reports found that Mr. Trump’s campaign appears to have spent a fraction of what it raised after the election, or about $ 6.8 million, on legal fees to argue the outcome of the election – all labeled “legal advice” or “recount: legal advice” after Nov. 3. The FEC reports also show that the RNC spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on “legal services and compliance “after polling day, although it is not immediately clear how much of that was spent on litigation over the presidential election.
Meanwhile, the Democratic National Committee is coming out of the 2020 presidential election in much better shape than four years ago. The DNC had nearly $ 39 million in cash to start 2021 and $ 3 million in debt. Four years ago, Democrats had $ 10.5 million in the bank, $ 4 million in debt, and struggled with weak fundraising for years – until Joe Biden moved closer to the Democratic nomination . According to the New York Times, around $ 40 million is earmarked for the party through its joint fundraising operation with the Biden campaign. This joint fundraising committee had $ 44.7 million in cash at the end of 2020.
Nicole Sganga, Sarah Ewall-Wice and Kabir Khanna contributed reporting
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