Former Trump’s new political action committee contributed more than $ 30 million during the last weeks of 2020, giving him a large chest of war to continue his political influence, though no longer. is in office.
Save America, a leadership PAC created after the general election, entered 2021 with more than $ 31 million in cash, according to a statement from the Federal Electoral Commission. Most of that money, $ 30.4 million, was transferred from the Trump Make America Great Again committee.
Save America’s cash is only a fraction of what Trump and Republicans own in various political committee accounts. His presidential campaign committee still has $ 10.7 million in the bank. The joint fundraising committees of Mr. Trump with the Republican National Committee, the Trump Make America Great Again Committee, and Trump Victory, have about $ 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 Sunday. During this time, Trump often solicited funds while questioning the results of the 2020 election. “President Trump needs YOU to be able to make sure we have the resources to protect the integrity of the election,” he implored the website in December.
While fundraising efforts focused largely on claims of electoral fraud or electoral integrity, a more detailed review of the fine print showed that as of a few weeks after election day, the 75% of all donations under $ 5,000 were sent to Save America, while 25% went into the Republican National Committee’s account, according to the campaign’s exemption from liability. Donations in excess of $ 5,000 were earmarked for the RNC headquarters or legal proceedings account up to a certain amount.
The RNC contributed more than $ 18.8 million in individual contributions during the final stretch of 2020 and received more than $ 22 million from the Trump Make America Great Again committee. The RNC ended the year with more than $ 80 million in the bank.
Trump can contribute up to $ 5,000 of his leadership PAC to any candidate he chooses to support. You can also use Save America money to pay for rallies, travel, political advertising, and other expenses.
Save America commissioned and sent out polls last week that showed a sizable majority of Wyoming Republicans had an unfavorable view of Congresswoman Liz Cheney after her vote to accuse Mr. Trump. The PAC also provided a statement on Trump’s meeting last Thursday with House minority leader Kevin McCarthy in Florida, boasting of his popularity and promising to help Republicans reclaim the House. “[H]it is a guarantee means more than perhaps any guarantee at any time “, the declaration proclaims.
In the first 19 days after election day, Mr. Trump’s campaign, the RNC, joint fundraising committees, and Save America raised $ 207.5 million, according to Mr. Trump’s campaign. These same committees contributed more than $ 80 million in individual contributions between November 24 and December 31, 2020.
A CBS News analysis of FEC spending reports found that the Trump campaign appears to have spent a fraction of what it raised after the election, about $ 6.8 million, on legal expenses by litigating the outcome of the elections, all labeled as “legal advice” or “count: legal advice” after November 3rd. FEC reports also show that RNC spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on “legal and compliance services” after election day, although it is unclear how much was spent on presidential election-related litigation.
Meanwhile, the Democratic National Committee is coming out of the 2020 presidential election in much better shape than it was four years ago. The DNC had about $ 39 million in cash to start in 2021 and $ 3 million in debt. Four years ago, Democrats had $ 10.5 million in the bank, $ 4 million in debt and struggled for decades with weak fundraising, until Joe Biden closed the Democratic nomination. There are approximately $ 40 million earmarked for the party for its joint fundraising operation with the Biden campaign, according to the New York Times. That joint fundraising committee had $ 44.7 million in cash at the end of 2020.
Nicole Sganga, Sarah Ewall-Wice and Kabir Khanna helped report