Despite Court Failure, Fraud Allegations Earn Trump $207 Million
Published in UOL
(Brazil) on 4 Dec 2020
by Vicente Toledo (link to original)
While Donald Trump’s attempts to overturn the outcome of the U.S. presidential election fail in court, supporters willing to finance his legal battle fill the campaign coffers and the president's pockets.
Political entities associated with Trump and his allies have raised more than $207 million since Nov. 3, easily exceeding the monthly amount received during the president's reelection campaign. In September, for example, Trump's campaign collected around $80 million.
By refusing to grant Joe Biden the victory and promoting a false narrative that the election was stolen, Trump keeps his voters engaged and ready to open their wallets. In the past month, his campaign sent more than 400 emails and 100 text messages asking for contributions to the "Official Election Defense Fund."
However, most of the $207 million went into the coffers of the Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee. A portion went to an entity called Save America, a political action committee created by Trump to finance his political activities after the end of his term.
Federal laws prevent politicians from spending PAC money on their own election campaigns, but the limits on the use of these resources do not go much beyond that, which means that Trump will leave the White House with his pockets full.
And as long as the money is flowing in, the president will continue to contest his defeat by Biden and attack the legitimacy of the election, trying to seize the moment to consolidate the support of the Republican base around his 2024 presidential bid.
Trump Bombards His Own Party Members in Decisive State
Trump's aggressive strategy, however, threatens the Republican Party's control of the U.S. Senate, which is at stake in January in the runoff for the two Georgia senate seats.
Republicans are guaranteed 50 senators, compared to 48 for Democrats, and need to elect just one more to secure the majority and control of the Senate. President-elect Biden's Democratic Party, on the other hand, needs to win both races in Georgia to take control of the Senate. (In the event of a tie, Vice President Kamala Harris has the deciding vote.)
Biden won the presidential election in the state by about 12,000 votes, but the president alleges there was voter fraud, blaming a conspiracy involving Gov. Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, who belong to Trump’s own Republican Party.
One of the president's lawyers, Sidney Powell, accused Gov. Kemp of taking bribes from Dominion, a company that specializes in election technology and that could have manipulated data to shift large amounts of votes from Trump to Biden.
Strategy Puts Republican Congressional Strength at Risk
Instead of campaigning to secure the reelection of Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, Trump insists that he was robbed in Georgia, undermining his voters' confidence in the electoral process and discouraging their participation just weeks before the runoff.
"There should not be a runoff, certainly not on Dominion machines. I think I would encourage all Georgians to make it known that you will not vote at all until your vote is secure," said Powell, who went so far as to criticize the Republican candidates themselves for not taking up the fraud allegations.
Most Republicans in Georgia are unlikely to boycott the runoff Senate election, but the first round results were extremely tight, and polls show the same trend for January. If 1% of Republican voters decide to stay home, the conspiracies promoted by Trump and his allies could make a difference and hand Senate control over to the Democrats.
Political entities associated with Trump and his allies have raised more than $207 million since Nov. 3, easily exceeding the monthly amount received during the president's reelection campaign. In September, for example, Trump's campaign collected around $80 million.
By refusing to grant Joe Biden the victory and promoting a false narrative that the election was stolen, Trump keeps his voters engaged and ready to open their wallets. In the past month, his campaign sent more than 400 emails and 100 text messages asking for contributions to the "Official Election Defense Fund."
However, most of the $207 million went into the coffers of the Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee. A portion went to an entity called Save America, a political action committee created by Trump to finance his political activities after the end of his term.
Federal laws prevent politicians from spending PAC money on their own election campaigns, but the limits on the use of these resources do not go much beyond that, which means that Trump will leave the White House with his pockets full.
And as long as the money is flowing in, the president will continue to contest his defeat by Biden and attack the legitimacy of the election, trying to seize the moment to consolidate the support of the Republican base around his 2024 presidential bid.
Trump Bombards His Own Party Members in Decisive State
Trump's aggressive strategy, however, threatens the Republican Party's control of the U.S. Senate, which is at stake in January in the runoff for the two Georgia senate seats.
Republicans are guaranteed 50 senators, compared to 48 for Democrats, and need to elect just one more to secure the majority and control of the Senate. President-elect Biden's Democratic Party, on the other hand, needs to win both races in Georgia to take control of the Senate. (In the event of a tie, Vice President Kamala Harris has the deciding vote.)
Biden won the presidential election in the state by about 12,000 votes, but the president alleges there was voter fraud, blaming a conspiracy involving Gov. Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, who belong to Trump’s own Republican Party.
One of the president's lawyers, Sidney Powell, accused Gov. Kemp of taking bribes from Dominion, a company that specializes in election technology and that could have manipulated data to shift large amounts of votes from Trump to Biden.
Strategy Puts Republican Congressional Strength at Risk
Instead of campaigning to secure the reelection of Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, Trump insists that he was robbed in Georgia, undermining his voters' confidence in the electoral process and discouraging their participation just weeks before the runoff.
"There should not be a runoff, certainly not on Dominion machines. I think I would encourage all Georgians to make it known that you will not vote at all until your vote is secure," said Powell, who went so far as to criticize the Republican candidates themselves for not taking up the fraud allegations.
Most Republicans in Georgia are unlikely to boycott the runoff Senate election, but the first round results were extremely tight, and polls show the same trend for January. If 1% of Republican voters decide to stay home, the conspiracies promoted by Trump and his allies could make a difference and hand Senate control over to the Democrats.
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