2020 ELECTION: THE ROLE OF ELECTION FRAUD MESSAGING
2020 ELECTION: THE ROLE OF ELECTION FRAUD MESSAGING
A. The Decision to Continue Fundraising after Election Day
¶Heading into election night of the 2020 Presidential race, as Americans across the country waited in line to vote on election day, the Trump Campaign and the RNC were planning what they would tell the American public about the results in the upcoming days. On election day, Boedigheimer and Darren Centinello, a Trump Campaign staffer, discussed the three message options that the Trump Campaign had on the table.78 Documents on file with the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol (Austin Boedigheimer Production), BA-0006823, (Nov. 3, 2020, Signal chat between Austin Boedigheimer and Darren Centinello); Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Kevin Zambrano, (Apr. 27, 2022), p. 54 (“Austin could have. I’m not sure if people on the campaign instructed anyone else on the campaign or anything, but I wouldn’t be surprised if there were a couple different scenarios floating around most people’s heads on that.”); Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Kevin Zambrano, (Apr. 27, 2022), p. 54 (“I don’t recall specific—I don’t recall conversations around it, other than there may have just been general [‘]we need to be ready for whatever may come[’].”).
777¶The first option was to send out copy claiming President Trump had won the 2020 election. But the Campaign knew this message was false, and Boedigheimer told Centinello that he could not get this messaging approved yet.79 Documents on file with the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol (Austin Boedigheimer Production), BA-0006823, (Nov. 3, 2020, Signal chat between Austin Boedigheimer and Darren Centinello). The Trump Campaign’s second option was an email stating they were still waiting on the election results. This message would have been the truth. The Campaign rejected this option.
¶Instead, the Trump Campaign chose a third option. Boedigheimer confirmed that TMAGAC fundraisers had received approval for copy claiming that the Democrats are going to “try to steal the election” before election night.80 Documents on file with the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol (Austin Boedigheimer Production), BA-0006823 (Nov. 3, 2020, Signal chat between Austin Boedigheimer and Darren Centinello); Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Austin Boedigheimer, (Apr. 20, 2022), p. 39 (“I’m basically saying on the victory topic, which is the first one that he covered. We’re waiting until closer to election results are coming in to be able to get that approved and then I’m giving him some copy about how they are trying to steal the election that has already been approved.”).
¶Zambrano confirmed that it would not surprise him that TMAGAC was immediately claiming that Democrats were trying to steal the election, because President Trump has been pushing that message.81 Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Kevin Zambrano, (Apr. 27, 2022), p. 55. Zambrano added, “That was the President’s phrasing in the messaging that the team was sourcing from.”82 Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Kevin Zambrano, (Apr. 27, 2022), p. 55; Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Kevin Zambrano, (Apr. 27, 2022), p. 56 (“But, again, this was the President’s messaging and his phrasing”). Importantly, Boedigheimer confirmed that the TMAGAC copywriting team did not base its use of the “trying to steal” language on any awareness of actual fraud.83 Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Austin Boedigheimer, (Apr. 20, 2022), p. 44 (“I didn’t have a great understanding of what was going to happen or what happened on the ground. I wouldn’t have really any knowledge into that.”).
B. Post-Election Fundraising Off the Big Lie
¶Both the Trump Campaign and the RNC directed TMAGAC to continue fundraising after the election.84 Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Kevin Zambrano, (Apr. 27, 2022), pp. 52-53; Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Hanna Allred, (Mar. 30, 2022), p. 55; Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Hanna Allred, (Mar. 30, 2022), p. 66 (“. . . reported to Austin, so I would’ve received direction from him”); Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Gary Coby, (Feb. 23, 2022), pp. 52-54. Justin Clark, the deputy campaign manager, explained that the decision to continue fundraising after the election would have come from President Trump himself.85 Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Justin Clark, (May. 17, 2022), p. 146 (“Well, it would have been approval by the principal. So Mr. Trump would have had to do that.”).
¶Starting after the election and until January 6th, the Trump Campaign, along with the RNC, sent millions of emails to their supporters, with messaging such as claiming that the election was “RIGGED.”86 Trump Fundraising Emails (@TrumpEmail), Twitter, Nov. 20, 2020 7:24 a.m. ET, available at https://twitter.com/TrumpEmail/status/1329762574494298112. The Trump Campaign viewed the TMAGAC emails as another avenue to get out President Trump’s post-election messaging about the alleged fraud.87 Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Gary Coby, (Feb. 23, 2022), p. 104 (“Yeah, I think they [the Trump Campaign] viewed that as helping to get the message out, especially, you know, that’s the base, right?”). These emails used false claims of voter fraud to create a sense of urgency that the election was being stolen. The Trump Campaign and the RNC told their supporters that their donations could stop Democrats from “trying to steal the election.” They consistently encouraged donors to give money to continue “uncovering” fraud that had not occurred. These emails were sent out after being reviewed and approved by the Approvals Group.88 Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Hanna Allred, (Mar. 30, 2022), p. 57.
¶The TMAGAC fundraisers used inflammatory language and false election fraud claims after the election because it was both effective at fundraising and accurately captured President Trump’s ongoing tone and messaging.89 Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Kevin Zambrano, (Apr. 27, 2022), pp. 56-57. When the digital fundraising team drafted emails claiming, for example, that “Democrats are trying to steal the election,” they did not bother to confirm whether or not those inflammatory statements were true, and instead they merely took President Trump’s words and made an effective fundraising email.90 Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Kevin Zambrano, (Apr. 27, 2022), p. 57. As Zambrano stated, “the President issuing statements or tweets would be the genesis of the copy that would then go into the approval process for edits, for checks. That is why the approval process worked.”91 Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Kevin Zambrano, (Apr. 27, 2022), p. 67. President Trump was the source of the lies. Not only was President Trump’s fundraising driven by his daily deluge of lies about the election, but these lies were also able to go unchallenged before being spread because TMAGAC had an ineffective process when it came to scrutinizing and correcting those lies.
778¶The TMAGAC fundraising machine continued to churn out hundreds of fundraising emails and text messages regardless of external developments. For example, Zambrano said that, after former Vice President Biden was widely declared the winner of the election, TMAGAC’s fundraising efforts moved ahead the same way they had previously,92 Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Kevin Zambrano, (Apr. 27, 2022), p. 86. even though he “would say it wasn’t looking good” as soon as one week after the election.93 Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Kevin Zambrano, (Apr. 27, 2022), pp. 86-87.