Not only was there the Big Lie, there was also the “Big Ripoff” — as we learned from the Jan 6 Hearing today,
The “Big Ripoff” solicited donations for the “Election Defense Fund” — when no such fund existed.
And even though the Save America PAC existed — it was more a slush fund for Trump, than it was a legal defense fund. Indeed most of those funds, are still waiting for someone to spirit them away.
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From a early post of mine:
Trump’s PAC collected $75 million this year, but so far the group has not put money into pushing for the 2020 ballot reviews he touts
by Josh Dawsey and Rosalind S. Helderman, Washington Post — July 22, 2021
Former president Donald Trump’s political PAC raised about $75 million in the first half of this year as he trumpeted the false notion that the 2020 election was stolen from him, but the group has not devoted funds to help finance the ongoing ballot review in Arizona or to push for similar endeavors in other states, according to people familiar with the finances.
Instead, the Save America leadership PAC — which has few limits on how it can spend its money — has paid for some of the former president’s travel, legal costs and staff, along with other expenses, according to the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the group’s inner workings. The PAC has held onto much of its cash.
[...]
by Bev Levin, Vanity Fair — July 23, 2021
The Save America PAC “is probably the most lucrative thing he’s had in terms of cash flow since the Plaza casino in Atlantic City,” Tim O’Brien, a Trump biographer, told the Post. “This is just as lucrative. He has recognized because of what happened after the election—he can make money as a candidate.”
Of course this isn’t the first time Trump has scammed supporters out of money. In April, New York Times reporter Shane Goldmacher revealed that the Trump campaign had ripped off supporters for tens of millions of dollars through a scheme in which when they donated money, the default option authorized the campaign to transfer the pledged amount from people’s bank accounts not once but every single week. Later the campaign introduced a second prechecked box that doubled a person’s contribution and was thus known internally as a “money bomb.”
[...]
All in a day’s work, in Trump-world.
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Trump blatantly lied to his supporters about the Election being “stolen” — despite being told time and time again by his staff and administration: there was no widespread fraud. Or put more bluntly by AG Barr “Their claims of Election fraud are all Bullshit!”
Undeterred, Trump proceeded to conn-vince his loyal supporters to part with their hard earned cash — cash that he spent, doled out, or stashed — to the tune of $106 Million, as the the last quarterly report.
Or put more simply in a language that even Trump could understand:
Liars have to lie — it’s just the art of the Steal.
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As others have mentioned this Save America scam is likely an open and shut case of Wire Fraud.
Any other person in America running such a Big Ripoff scam, would have been indicted and likely convicted a long time ago.
Because afterall as Mark Meadows accurately described the Big Lie, when given the actual Election Facts:
So there is No There there ...
No Stolen Election. No Case to made in court. No lost Election “to defend” — despite all the urgent emails to supporters, claiming there was ...
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