Trump’s Biggest Con: Used the Run-Up to the January 6 Insurrection to Raise Millions

 

His biggest and maybe last con

(But, maybe more in the works)

Trump gets million in donations prior to January 6 Capitol insurrection – report here from NBC News – very enlightening article with this headline:

“Capitol rioters Trump donations show how much they bought into his election fraud lie”

An NBC News analysis of campaign finance filings found that in the five weeks after the election, those charged in the Capitol riot increased their political donations by about 75% compared to the five weeks leading up to the election. Many had made very few or no donations at all in previous years, but they began escalating their numbers of contributions as Trump was trying to overturn Joe Biden's victory. Trump and his aligned groups, including the RNC raised $207.5 million in the 19 days after the election.

After President Donald Trump lost his re-election campaign, he immediately began asking his supporters for money, a plea that he insisted was necessary to bankroll his fight built on the false claim that the election was stolen through rampant fraud.

James Uptmore, like hundreds of other people, opened his wallet. Weeks later, he was among those who stormed the U.S. Capitol, federal prosecutors say. Uptmore, 63, of San Antonio, made just a single $250 donation to a Trump PAC between Trump's first run for president and the 2020 election, according to the Federal Election Commission. That all changed in the weeks after the November 3 election.

On November 15, the day Trump wrote on Twitter that he would not concede, Uptmore made five contributions to the president and his aligned groups. Three days later, Trump tweeted:  “I WON THE ELECTION. VOTER FRAUD ALL OVER THE COUNTRY.”

The very next day, Uptmore made four more donations as Trump's attorneys held a news conference spreading wild conspiracies about the vote. And on December 18 — when Trump tweeted at Republican senators to “FIGHT FOR IT. Don't let them take it away!”

Uptmore then made six such contributions. In total, Uptmore would make nearly 40 donations to Trump, the RNC and aligned groups after Trump's loss. On January 6, federal prosecutors allege that Uptmore and his son, Chance, were among the crowd that illegally breached the Capitol.

Kurt Braddock, an assistant professor of public communication at American University and a fellow at its Polarization and Extremism Research and Innovation Lab said: “I think, quite simply, it shows the effectiveness of Trump's messaging in the weeks leading up to the election and then how much his stolen election lie resonated with his base after the election. Trump sold the idea to his followers that not only was the election stolen, but also that it was up to his constituents to help make things right.”

John Horgan, who runs the Violent Extremism Research Group at Georgia State University, said he found the increase in contributions to be “unsurprising because Trump had primed supporters for months.” Horgan then added: “Trump successfully convinced many of his followers that unless they acted, and acted fast, their very way of life was about to come to an end. He presented a catastrophic scenario whereby if the election was — for him — lost, his followers would suffer as a result. He made action not just imperative, but urgent, convincing his followers that they needed to do everything they could now, rather than later, to prevent the 'enemy' from claiming victory.”

Among the first 311 people who face federal charges after the January 6 riot, about 90 have histories of making political contributions. And the overwhelming majority of them were made to Trump or his aligned groups and within the past year. The donations shed light on the political activities and leanings of the people accused in the riot — and on the effectiveness of Trump's post-election messaging, which has netted him hundreds of millions of dollars.

Elizabeth Neumann, who was assistant secretary of homeland security for counterterrorism and threat prevention before she left the Trump administration and endorsed Biden, said: “The donor findings reveal a useful proof point to the argument that there were monetary drivers behind the Big Lie. It's also a useful quantitative metric for demonstrating the increased level of grievance of Trump supporters post-election. A donor's history could be useful to the Justice Department should it seek to make a seditious conspiracy or incitement-to-violence case. It shows a direct tie between the lies that the election was stolen and people's deepening passion for Trump — they were seeing the money roll in and knew that the messaging was working.”

Some of those charged in connection with the riot made their first political contributions after the election, donating to Trump, the RNC or groups like the Trump MAGA committee. Several more made their first donations to political causes and candidates during the 2020 campaign cycle.

Eric Wilson, a Republican political technologist, said in an interview, pointing to analysis that showed that some people accused in the riot did not vote in the election said: “I think the thing that's clear is that the people who took over the Capitol are not interested in the political process. They donated to campaigns after the votes had already been cast revealing that they are only interested in the chaos, not the process. I don't know that there's a bigger story to tell other than there are a lot of dumb people in the world, and a lot of them stormed the Capitol on January 6th.”

More than 50 politicians, PACs, and other groups and causes received donations from those charged in the riot, including: Republican Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler both of GA; House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of CA; Sens. Steve Daines of MT; Lindsey Graham of SC; and, Susan Collins of ME, as well as Reps. Burgess Owens of UT and Elise Stefanik of NY 

NOTE: Stefanik is my Rep. I have never supported her – she is a total grandstander.

Also, failed House candidates like Kim Klacik in MD, or Joe Collins in CA; and failed Senate candidate, Kris Kobach from KS all received campaign donations as did the GOP’s NRSC and NRCC committees.

However, the bulk of the donations went directly to Trump and his aligned groups — about 75% of the more than 900 such donations funneled there in total.

Thomas Zeitzoff, an associate professor of political science at American University who studies political violence said in an interview: “Part of this, there's this very cynical view that this was just a total cash cow for people to fundraise off of vulnerable folks.”

Yet a number of Republicans have claimed that the riot was not the product of a pro-Trump mob. They say it was driven by left-wing groups trying to damage Trump — which a majority of Trump voters believe, according to a Suffolk University/USA Today poll last month.

Some Democrats also got donations from people alleged to have been rioters, including a handful of years-old contributions to former President Barack Obama and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), and more recent contributions to Democratic presidential candidates Andrew Yang and Tulsi Gabbard, who had followings on the political right.

A man charged in the riot, Brian McCreary, who was photographed inside the Capitol alongside the QAnon Shaman, Jacob Chansley, made 34 donations to Yang from 2018 through 2020.

My 2 cents: As I and many have said for a very long time, Trump was in office and wanted to stay in office where the golden egg rested, or at least that was his aim. 

This story underscores that by showing his money-raising con to appeal to his supporters to help him disrupt the final step in the process as Congress with VP Pence supervising the final EC certification count. 

Hence the January 6 Capitol insurrection effort that failed with 5 deaths including one Capitol police officer. In a word: Trump was a poor president and that final event proves it.

Thanks for stopping by.