MARTIN: Is there a problem with that? I mean, what does the law require him to reveal about the money he collects? I mean, don`t campaigns often say, hey, we usually need money for our political efforts? Save America`s joint fundraising committee did not immediately answer a question about whether there is a separate fund for money entering the official Trump defense fund or where that money goes. Information on this month`s fundraising and spending will not be available until it is presented to the Federal Election Commission in September. « Throughout the committee`s investigation, we found evidence that the Trump campaign and its proxies misled donors about where their funds would go and what they would be used for, » said Democratic Representative Zoe Lofgren, who serves on the committee. « There`s nothing inherently wrong with profiting from information gathering — and it`s obviously very evocative for your base — as long as it serves the stated purpose, » said Danya Perry, a defense attorney and former U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York. « If [donor funding] remains in the political arena, even if it wasn`t used for the political purposes for which it was collected, I think it`s a difficult case for a prosecutor to really care, » he said. « You`d need some facts about the plot, if you will, behind this fundraiser, » Gross said. « Intent will come into play. Prosecutors will need certain aggravating factors before prosecuting. But Torres-Spelliscy and Gross both cited another example, when a Trump aide was linked to allegations of misuse of donations, even though it wasn`t related to an official campaign for the job. In 2020, prosecutors charged Steve Bannon, a former political adviser to Trump, with wire fraud after raising $25 million as part of a campaign to build a wall on the southern border — but allegedly took millions of dollars of those donations to line his pockets.

David Becker, executive director of the nonpartisan Center for Election Innovation and Research, said the non-existent « election defense fund » added a new layer to the Jan. 6 investigation. In addition to riots, riots and a coup attempt, the American people have now learned about Grift. There were no funds to campaign as part of Trump`s false and ultimately vain « big lie » that the presidency had been stolen from him. Instead, the money flowed into Trump`s new fundraising unit, Save America Pac, from where millions of dollars were distributed to pro-Trump organizations, including his own hotel properties and the company that produced the Ellipse rally in Washington on Jan. 6, just hours before the storming of the Capitol. The Trump campaign has reportedly accepted $250 million in donations from supporters it says would go to an election defense fund to pay for the legal fees needed to overturn the 2020 presidential election results. But the fund was never really created, Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., one of the committee members, said Monday at the panel`s second public hearing.

Fahrenthold`s reporting to Swiss Post revealed other irregularities. Trump has used more than a quarter of a million dollars from his charitable foundation to cover legal costs incurred in lawsuits related to his profitable businesses. « This decision is a victory for black voters who have been directly affected by the various tactics of President Trump and other defendants to prevent the counting of legally cast ballots and the certification of election results to ensure President Trump remains in office despite the defeat of the 2020 presidential election, » said Sam Spital, LDF`s General Counsel and LDF`s lead counsel in the case. « We are pleased that the court has agreed that there is an imminent threat of similar attempts at electoral subversion in the future and will move the case forward. Despite the nuances, all the millions of emails sent from @victory.donaldtrump.com said essentially the same thing. They urged Trump supporters to back the Official Election Defense Fund with their hard-earned dollars. Lofgren called the posts a « big scam, » adding: « Donors deserve to know where their funds are really going.