Election-Defense Solicitations and Recurring Donations
What happened
promisedocumented Trump campaign solicitations told donors their money would support an Official Election Defense Fund.
- U.S. House of Representatives: Final Report of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol2022-12-22 · Appendix 3, pages 798-806, solicitation examples
actiondocumented The committee found that no election-defense fund existed as described and that allocation language routed much of the money to Save America and other political committees.
- U.S. House of Representatives: Final Report of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol2022-12-22 · Appendix 3, pages 799-803, fund structure and transfers
beneficiarydocumented The House committee reported that the campaign and Republican allies raised approximately $250 million after the election, with allocations to Save America and other political committees.
- U.S. House of Representatives: Final Report of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol2022-12-22 · Appendix 3, post-election receipts and committee allocations
- U.S. House of Representatives: Final Report of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol2022-12-22 · Appendix 3, pages 798-806, solicitation examples
outcomereported An analysis of FEC records reported $122.7 million in Trump campaign refunds during 2020 after recurring-payment complaints.
- Forbes: Trump Campaign Reportedly Forced To Refund More Than $122 Million To Donors2021-04-03 · Refund total, rate and recurring-box paragraphs
- Forbes: Trump Campaign Reportedly Forced To Refund More Than $122 Million To Donors2021-04-03 · Campaign response near end
administration responsereported The campaign said its dispute rate was below one percent and that the fundraising operation was lawful and highly successful.
- Forbes: Trump Campaign Reportedly Forced To Refund More Than $122 Million To Donors2021-04-03 · Campaign response near end
Amounts and affected parties
paymentPost Election Fundraisingabout $250 million raised after the election - Paid by / source
- Post-election donors
- Received by
- Trump campaign, Save America, and allied Republican committees
payment2020 Refunds$122.7 million refunded - Paid by / source
- Trump campaign and WinRed
- Received by
- 2020 donors receiving refunds
People and organizations
- Trump political donorsaffected party
- Trump political donorsbeneficiary
- Save Americabeneficiary
- Trump political donorspayer
- Donald J. Trump for President, Inc.payer
- Trump political donorsrecipient
- Donald J. Trump for President, Inc.recipient
- Save Americarecipient
- Republican National Committeerecipient
Assessment
Where the money went, and how the interface was built, contradicted the message the solicitations led with. The post-election $250 million and full-year $122.7 million refund totals overlap in time and measure different things, so they are never added.