The second day of public hearings for the House Committee investigating the attack on Capitol Jan. 6, 2021 concluded. Rep. Zoe Lofgren linked the Trump campaign’s false claims of election fraud and its repeated litigation of 2020 to its fundraising strategies.
The California Democrat stated that if the litigation had ended Dec. 14, there would not have been a fight to defend the election or a clear path to continue raising millions of dollars.
This hearing was the second in a series on the findings of the committee and focused on the role of former President Donald Trump in perpetuating the lie about 2020’s election being stolen.
Lofgren played a video featuring Amanda Wick, senior investigator counsel for the committee. Her comments were interspersed by snapshots of Trump campaign email fundraising emails sent out to donors between Election Day, Jan. 6, and many of which claimed that the “left-wing mob” was undermining election.
Wick stated that “as the select committee demonstrated, Trump campaign knew these voter fraud claims were false, but they continued to bombard small-dollar donors with emails encouraging them to give to an Official Election Defense Fund.”
Wick stated that “Claims that the election had been stolen were so successful, Donald Trump and his allies raised nearly $100 million in just the first week following the election.”
She also stated that the committee had discovered that the fund was not actually exist.
She explained how Trump created a separate entity, the “Save America” PAC, on Nov. 9, 2020.
She stated that “most of the money raised went towards this newly formed PAC, and not to election-related lawsuit,” adding that the committee found that the PAC had made millions in contributions to proTrump organizations.
Lofgren stated that political fundraising is an integral part of the electoral process, and that it allows voters to speak out. However, they believe that the truth about the use of those funds is important.
Lofgren stated that “not only was there the Big Lie,” but also “there was the Big Rip-Off.”
Last week’s first hearing argued that Trump is responsible for Jan. 6 riot and that democracy is under threat. A third hearing is planned for Wednesday.
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