Reports that Matter

Final Report of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol · 2022

APPENDIX 3: THE BIG RIP-OFF: FOLLOW THE MONEY

Section 99 of 104

APPENDIX 3: THE BIG RIP-OFF: FOLLOW THE MONEY

Introduction

This appendix will consider the extent to which President Trump’s Campaign and related entities raised an unprecedented amount of political donations using inflammatory messaging alleging that the 2020 U.S. Presidential election was fraudulent or stolen. It will review what tools and methods were used to produce, transmit and optimize these fundraising solicitations; who drafted and approved the messaging and what they knew about the accuracy of the messaging; who ultimately benefitted from these donations; and the impact of these messages on their recipients.

The Select Committee’s investigation demonstrates that President Trump’s baseless claims of election fraud—the Big Lie—served a dual purpose, forming the foundation of his attempts to overturn the 2020 Presidential election and launching a fundraising effort to fund the former President’s other endeavors and to enrich his associates—the Big Rip-off.

The false election fraud narrative embedded in fundraising emails and text messages amplified the Big Lie by perpetuating a belief that the 2020 election was stolen from President Trump and effectuated the Big Rip-off by misleading donors into thinking their donations could alter the election results.

At the same time, the Big Lie helped President Trump and the Republican National Committee (RNC) raise more than $250 million after the election, much of it from small-dollar donors who were promised their money would “Stop the Steal.”

Despite what they told their supporters, however, most of their money was not used to stop any purported steal—it was diverted to accomplish the Big Rip-off. Millions of dollars that were raised ostensibly for “election defense” and “fighting voter fraud” were not spent that way at all.

Moreover, the Select Committee’s investigation shows that the RNC knew that President Trump’s claims about winning the election were baseless and that post-election donations would not help him secure an additional term in office. Yet, both the Trump Campaign and the RNC decided to continue fundraising after the election, a decision that would have come from President Trump himself.

In short, President Trump and his Campaign ripped off supporters by raising more than $250 million by claiming they wanted to fight fraud they knew did not exist and to challenge an election they knew he lost.

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Discussion

The Trump Campaign Fundraising Team

As detailed below, the Trump Campaign misled the American public and President Trump’s donors on how they planned to use, and did use, the donated funds while bombarding supporters with hundreds of emails, as many as twenty-five emails per day, stating the election had been stolen. In those emails, they used inflammatory language accusing Democrats of trying to “steal the election,” encouraged supporters to join the “Trump army”; “Defend” the election: and to “fight back” over, and over, and over again.1 Trump Fundraising Emails (@TrumpEmail), Twitter, Nov. 21, 2020, 5:30 a.m. ET, available at https://twitter.com/TrumpEmail/status/1330277503160741888 (“Democrats are attempting to STEAL this Election and the White House. This Election is far from over as long as we have YOU on our team to FIGHT BACK.”); Trump Fundraising Emails (@TrumpEmail), Twitter, Nov. 21, 2020, 7:16 a.m. ET, available at https://twitter.com/TrumpEmail/status/1330122927958859777 (“With your help, we will DEFEND the Election and keep America America.”). They sent these emails out because they knew they were effective at raising money.2 Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Hanna Allred, (Mar. 30, 2022), p. 104 (“I do think those words are effective, because people were upset and they wanted their donation to go towards an effort to – the legal effort.”). This was made possible by the creation of a fundraising machine powered jointly by the Trump Campaign and the RNC.

A. The TMAGAC Fundraising Machine

During the 2020 election cycle, President Trump operated a structure under which the Trump reelection campaign and the RNC merged programs and raised money jointly through the Trump Make America Great Again Committee (internally referred to by its acronym TMAGAC, which RNC officials pronounced “T-Magic”).3 Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Richard Walters, (May 25, 2022), pp. 15-16; Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Austin Boedigheimer, (Apr. 20, 2022), p. 9. TMAGAC was focused on raising money online through small-dollar donations.4 Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Gary Coby, (Feb. 23, 2022), p. 28; Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Hanna Allred, (Mar. 30, 2022), p. 13. Tim Murtaugh, the Trump Campaign’s communications director, described the TMAGAC fundraising operation as “an entity unto itself within the campaign.”5 Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Timothy Murtaugh, (May 19, 2022), p. 95.

The individual charged with leading the digital operation in 2020 was Gary Coby.6 Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Gary Coby, (Feb. 23, 2022), p. 10. (noting that as digital director he oversaw the digital operation). Coby first started working with the RNC in 2016 even before President Trump became the nominee.7 Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Gary Coby, (Feb. 23, 2022), pp. 6-7; Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Kevin Zambrano, (Apr. 27, 2022), p. 11. Coby explained that, as digital director, his role during the 2020 Presidential election cycle was to “oversee the digital operation.”8 Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Gary Coby, (Feb. 23, 2022), p. 10. Similarly, senior staffers at the Trump Campaign and the RNC all made clear that Coby was the individual in charge of the TMAGAC digital team.9 Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of William Stepien, (Feb. 10, 2022), p. 187 (naming Coby as person controlling fundraising operation); Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Austin Boedigheimer, (Apr. 20, 2022), p. 9 (“And then Gary Colby would have been the kind of the lead of the entire digital team for the Joint Fundraising Committee”); Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of A. Zachary Parkinson, (May 18, 2022), p. 81 (“Gary ran the campaign’s digital team”). Both high-level staffers at the Trump Campaign and at the RNC confirmed that Coby had the trust of Jared Kushner, the President’s son-in-law.10 Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Informal Interview of Kevin Zambrano, (Dec. 16, 2021), p. 3 (Zambrano stated that Coby expressed that he spoke with “the family,” meaning the Trumps, and Zambrano believed that Kushner was the family member to whom Coby spoke most frequently.); Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of William Stepien, (Feb. 10, 2022), p. 190; Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Informal Interview of Cole Blocker, (Dec. 29, 2021), p. 2 (Blocker stated that he knew Coby talked to Jared Kushner a lot, and that their relationship was common knowledge.).

Coby explained that during the 2020 Presidential election cycle, the TMAGAC digital team was a “big team with multiple organizations and vendor teams all working together as one, that include[d] RNC staff, [Donald J. Trump for President] staff, [and] maybe a half dozen vendor teams.”11 Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Gary Coby, (Feb. 23, 2022), p. 13. The RNC digital team, a subset of the TMAGAC digital team, was led operationally by Kevin Zambrano, Chief Digital Officer at the RNC. In 2020, members of the digital staff of both the RNC and Trump Campaign merged in an office building in Arlington, Virginia, with some suites jointly hosting RNC and Trump Campaign staff on the digital team, and other suites hosting third-party companies, such as Opn Sesame and Direct Persuasion.12 Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Kevin Zambrano, (Apr. 27, 2022), p. 11; Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Hanna Allred, (Mar. 30, 2022), p. 12; Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Austin Boedigheimer, (Apr. 20, 2022), p. 9. Thereafter, Zambrano assisted Coby in managing the TMAGAC digital team.13 Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Kevin Zambrano, (Apr. 27, 2022), pp. 11-13. Zambrano explained, “The majority of the staff was at the RNC doing both RNC and TMAGAC work.”14 Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Kevin Zambrano, (Apr. 27, 2022), p. 11. This work was focused squarely on fundraising.15 Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Kevin Zambrano, (Apr. 27, 2022), p. 15.

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The RNC digital team included Austin Boedigheimer, who, starting in January 2019, was the RNC’s digital deputy director16 Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Austin Boedigheimer, (Apr. 20, 2022), p. 7. and technically served as Zambrano’s deputy.17 Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Austin Boedigheimer, (Apr. 20, 2022), p. 10 (“I think that’s fair to say. I think my direct report was Kevin but then we also viewed Gary as a leader of kind of the digital JFC team”); Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Informal Interview of Ethan Katz, (Nov. 3, 2021), p. 2 (indicating Boedigheimer reported to Coby but that there may have been additional people between Boedigheimer and Coby). In reality, Boedigheimer reported to both Zambrano and Coby.18 Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Austin Boedigheimer, (Apr. 20, 2022), p. 10. Boedigheimer also led the TMAGAC digital fundraising team, which was comprised of all online fundraising efforts, including fundraising emails and text messages.19 Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Austin Boedigheimer, (Apr. 20, 2022), p. 7; Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Hanna Allred, (Mar. 30, 2022), p. 9; Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Gary Coby, (Feb. 23, 2022), pp. 16-17 (“Austin led the fundraising team . . [and] [o]versaw the variety of fundraising channels and led that team.”). At the end of the 2020 cycle, that team had 20 or 30 people within smaller teams, such as the copy team, the text message team, the data team, the advertising team, and the graphics team.20 Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Hanna Allred, (Mar. 30, 2022), pp. 9-10.

The RNC digital team also included a team of copywriters, who were responsible for writing the fundraising emails and text messages to solicit small-dollar donations through TMAGAC.21 Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Kevin Zambrano, (Apr. 27, 2022), p. 14 (Committee Staff: “Now, the emails that Austin and Hannah and folks were working on, those are primarily drafting emails for TMAGAC, correct?” Zambrano: “Yes, I believe so.”). These copywriters reported to Hanna Allred, the RNC’s Chief Copywriter.22 Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Hanna Allred, (Mar. 30, 2022), p. 12; Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Informal Interview of Ethan Katz, (Nov. 3, 2021); Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Informal Interview of Ethan Katz, (Jan. 21, 2022), p. 2; Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Informal Interview of Alex Murglin, (Mar. 17, 2022), p. 2; Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Informal Interview of Alex Blinkoff, (Feb. 7, 2022), p. 2; Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Austin Boedigheimer, (Apr. 20, 2022), p. 10. By mid-2020, there were three copywriters who reported to Allred: Alex Murglin,23 Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Hanna Allred, (Mar. 30, 2022), p. 11 (“Alex Murglin joined I believe in March of 2020 . . . That summer, Ethan Katz and Alex Blinkoff both joined.”); Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Informal Interview of Alex Murglin (Mar. 17, 2022), p. 2. Ethan Katz,24 Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Informal Interview of Ethan Katz, (Nov. 3, 2021), p. 2. and Alex Blinkoff.25 Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Kevin Zambrano, (Apr. 27, 2022), p. 12. Blinkoff and Katz worked in that role from June 2020 until they were fired approximately three weeks after the 2020 election, while Murglin remains a copywriter at the RNC.

Although the TMAGAC team consisted of both Trump Campaign and RNC staffers, TMAGAC operated as one entity working towards one goal – raising as much money as possible.26 Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Austin Boedigheimer, (Apr. 20, 2022), p. 9 (“So, we, as in the RNC digital employees and then Campaign employees and vendors as well, came to work together on the JFC. And the general structure was all working together on that goal.”); Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Informal Interview of Hanna Allred, (Dec. 1, 2021), p. 3 (“ALLRED said that on the 5th floor, the RNC and Campaign employees all worked together for joint fundraising committee, and exactly who worked for which entity kind of didn’t matter. . . . Rather, everyone just referred to everything as TMAGAC.”).

B. The Fundraising Assembly Line

The copywriting process worked like an assembly line, where different individuals performed a task and passed on the work product to someone else, including for internal approval.27 Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Informal Interview of Ethan Katz, (Nov. 3, 2021), p. 2 (“He explained that the copywriting process worked like a Henry Ford style assembly line, where different individuals performed a task and passed on the work product to someone else.”). To generate content for fundraising communications, Allred explained, the copywriting fundraising team was “watching the messaging coming out of the committee [RNC] and the campaign and from the President himself and what his family was talking about.”28 Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Hanna Allred, (Mar. 30, 2022), pp. 15-16. For example, in a November 2020 email, Boedigheimer stated to Allred, “Good to include lines like [‘]we need the resources to make sure they don’t try to steal this election. We saw what happened on election night, we can’t let them take the senate too.[’]”29 Documents on file with the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol (Austin Boedigheimer Production), BA-0003821, (Nov. 30, 2020 email from Austin Boedigheimer to Hanna Allred, “Fwd: It’s happening again, Austin.”).

It was evident that the copywriters “would draft a lot of the content based on . . . what the President was saying.”30 Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Kevin Zambrano, (Apr. 27, 2022), p. 20. And there was no mistaking it, President Trump “was providing us [the copywriters] with a lot of content online.”31 Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Hanna Allred, (Mar. 30, 2022), p. 30. Allred said Boedigheimer was encouraging her to use this language because it would cause President Trump’s supporters to donate by “giving a purpose to their donation”32 Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Hanna Allred, (Mar. 30, 2022), pp. 103-104. and that they used this repeatedly because it worked.33 Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Hanna Allred, (Mar. 30, 2022), pp. 112-113 (“On average, yes, you repeat things that do well.”); Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Austin Boedigheimer, (Apr. 20, 2022), p. 21 (“[I]f you were sending it repeatedly[,] it’s the understanding that it’s doing well so you want to keep sending e-mails like that.”). Boedigheimer did not dispute this, and reaffirmed that such language had been successful at fundraising.34 Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Austin Boedigheimer, (Apr. 20, 2022), pp. 107-108 (“President Trump’s saying it, surrogates are saying it, everybody’s saying it. So my, you know, I don’t remember exactly this but it seems like it was, you know, we should do something like that since it’s been working.”).

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Further, the emails that were signed by President Trump or “Team Trump” were intentionally drafted to capture President Trump’s voice, tone and messaging.35 Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Kevin Zambrano, (Apr. 27, 2022), p. 23; Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Hanna Allred, (Mar. 30, 2022), p. 28; Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Michael Reed, (July 20, 2022), p. 8 (agreeing that copywriters sought to capture the voice and tone of President Trump in its messaging); Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Michael Reed, (July 20, 2022), p. 9 (agreeing that President Trump was focused on a particular issue, copywriters they would also tend to focus on similar issues). Boedigheimer explained, “[President Trump] obviously has a very aggressive[,] excitable tone, and we would try to incorporate that in our messaging as well.”36 Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Austin Boedigheimer, (Apr. 20, 2022), p. 12; Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Austin Boedigheimer, (Apr. 20, 2022), p. 45 (“I think we’ve determined that it’s aggressive language. We would want to use that for this.”). The goal was to make the millions of recipients of aggressive, hyperbolic fundraising emails believe that the emails were coming from President Trump himself. In Zambrano’s words, the purpose was to give recipients “red meat.”37 Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Kevin Zambrano, (Apr. 27, 2022), pp. 25-29.

C. The Approvals Process

The Structure

Draft emails were submitted for approval to a designated group that handled approvals of all TMAGAC fundraising copy (the “Approvals Group”).38 Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Austin Boedigheimer, (Apr. 20, 2022), pp. 23-24. Boedigheimer retained responsibility for ensuring that TMAGAC’s fundraising copy was approved before being sent to the public.39 Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Kevin Zambrano, (Apr. 27, 2022), pp. 14, 49 (“Austin would have reviewed all the content before it would go up to the approval chains or Hannah.”). Zambrano stated that, on a day-to-day basis, he was not very involved in overseeing Boedigheimer’s handling of the copywriting process. Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Kevin Zambrano, (Apr. 27, 2022), p. 16.

The Approvals Group consisted of three sets of stakeholders from the RNC and the Trump Campaign,40 Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Kevin Zambrano, (Apr. 27, 2022), p. 43. and included a variety of other interested staffers, including Zambrano, Boedigheimer, and Allred.41 Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Hanna Allred, (Mar. 30, 2022), p. 44. TMAGAC’s fundraising copy could not be sent without approval from the legal, communications and research departments.42 Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Kevin Zambrano, (Apr. 27, 2022), pp. 63-64.

Perceived Responsibilities

After election day, a small group of staffers in the Approvals Group actively reviewed and approved the numerous fundraising emails and text messages that spread false election fraud claims. These staffers included:

Boedigheimer, as head of the fundraising team handling the drafting and propagation of fundraising messaging, told the Select Committee his understanding of the role the three components of the Approvals Group (legal, communications, and research) performed when reviewing emails and text messages.

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Regarding communications, Boedigheimer stated that the communications staffers in the Approvals Group were reviewing the content and “[m]aking sure that it’s on message and good from a comms perspective.”50 Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Austin Boedigheimer, (Apr. 20, 2022), p. 51.

Lastly, Boedigheimer explained that the research team was “looking for . . . things that are inaccurate.”51 Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Austin Boedigheimer, (Apr. 20, 2022), p. 51.

Although Boedigheimer provided only a vague explanation of the role of the Approvals Group, he emphasized that he had to “trust that the research, the comms, and the legal team are going to do their processes to make sure it’s [the TMAGAC fundraising copy was] accurate.”52 Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Austin Boedigheimer, (Apr. 20, 2022), p. 58. He further noted, “[I]t was the approval chain[’]s job to see what the accuracy of the email is and whether it’s true or not. . . . We were sending information and then leaning on our approval chain to make sure that it’s accurate.”53 Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Austin Boedigheimer, (Apr. 20, 2022), pp. 60, 75-76 (“I think what I said earlier was, at the time the election wasn’t over, President Trump was saying those things. I didn’t have a reason to believe it was false. So as far as the accuracy of that in the approval chain, that was up to them to decide.”).

The Select Committee’s investigation revealed that the Approvals Group did not operate that way, however. The Select Committee interviewed members of the Approvals Group handling the communications, research, and legal functions and confirmed that members of the Approvals Group typically engaged only in cursory reviews of the fundraising messages and did not review substantive claims of election fraud for accuracy.

Zach Parkinson, the Trump Campaign’s Deputy Director of Communications and Research Director, represented the Trump Campaign’s communications and research functions in the Approvals Group. Parkinson made clear, “Generally, our role when it came to fundraising emails and texts was to approve them for the communications team.”54 Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of A. Zachary Parkinson, (May 18, 2022), p. 77. Parkinson noted that that he was typically the person who weighed in on behalf of the Trump Campaign’s communications and research team.55 Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of A. Zachary Parkinson, (May 18, 2022), p. 78. He added, “we would review them for messaging consistency, sometimes we would review them for factual accuracy, and then we would provide the communications approval for those.”56 Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of A. Zachary Parkinson, (May 18, 2022), p. 77.

Parkinson clarified that the scope of review for “factual accuracy” was limited. Specifically, his review of fundraising emails and text messages for accuracy was limited to questions concerning items such as time and location.57 Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of A. Zachary Parkinson, (May 18, 2022), pp. 77-78.

Critically, Parkinson did not review statements regarding election fraud in the fundraising copy for accuracy because “most political text messages and fundraising emails are political rhetoric, and so a lot of them don’t necessarily require fact checking.”58 Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of A. Zachary Parkinson, (May 18, 2022), p. 77. He added that “political rhetoric,” such as “Democrats are trying to steal the election,” was not something he and his team were “necessarily tasked to say no to.”59 Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of A. Zachary Parkinson, (May 18, 2022), pp. 86-87. Parkinson made clear that he thought the legal department, namely Alex Cannon, would handle reviewing for accuracy, noting “I deferred to the legal team on the legitimacy and the ability to substantiate claims that were made that were put through these approvals and whether or not we could, again, substantiate them or they were in line with our legal efforts.”60 Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of A. Zachary Parkinson, (May 18, 2022), pp. 88-89 (“I, as best I recall, that is who I assumed would be doing that type of review [about whether it was true that Democrats were trying to steal the election].”). Parkinson, as the head of the research team, the very campaign team meant to fact-check and ensure accuracy in the Trump Campaign’s statements, said he was “simply looking for messaging consistency.”61 Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of A. Zachary Parkinson, (May 18, 2022), p. 91. Whether Democrats were engaged in fraud to steal the election was a “political argument” to Parkinson, which he did not review for accuracy.62 Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of A. Zachary Parkinson, (May 18, 2022), p. 96.

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Like Parkinson, Michael Reed, then the RNC’s Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications, was not reviewing the TMAGAC emails about election fraud for broader accuracy. Notably, Reed could not recall a single email that he researched to do a fact-check or follow up on to see if claims contained in the email were, in fact, true.63 Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Michael Reed, (July 20, 2022), pp. 54-55.

Boedigheimer and the copywriters believed the research staffers were looking for messages that they believed were inaccurate, but they were doing no such thing.

Alex Cannon, the Trump Campaign’s legal representative in the Approvals Group, was no different—the TMAGAC fundraisers thought he was doing far more than he was in fact doing. The Select Committee received a November 4, 2020, email from Nathan Groth, counsel for the Trump Campaign, to Alex Cannon. This email reflected that Cannon was not tasked with substantively reviewing fundraising emails like Boedigheimer thought. Groth wrote to Cannon, “Matt [Morgan, Trump Campaign’s General Counsel] has instructed me to hand off all compliance matters, including approvals, to you.”64 Documents on file with the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, (Alexander Cannon production), AC-0001631, (Nov. 4, 2020, “Re: Hand-off on Compliance Review”). Cannon confirmed, “I saw myself as doing exactly what I was instructed to do here, which is do what Nathan had previously been doing. So it’s this. It’s compliance issues like disclaimers and typos.”65 Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Alexander Cannon, (Apr. 13, 2022), p. 138. Therefore, when Cannon received emails that included claims such as “the Democrats are trying to steal the election,” he viewed reviewing the veracity of this statement as “outside the purview of what [he] was tasked.”66 Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Alexander Cannon, (Apr. 13, 2022), p. 140. When asked, Cannon stated that he did not know who was tasked with ensuring that fundraising emails were true and accurate.67 Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Alexander Cannon, (Apr. 13, 2022), p. 140.

Boedigheimer, and other members of the digital fundraising team he led, claimed to see the Approvals Group as a guardrail of sorts in the fundraising effort to protect from the dissemination of false messaging about the election, but the Approvals Group served no such role. The very staffers in the Approvals Group repeatedly told the Select Committee that they did not review the claims about election fraud to confirm whether they were even true.

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When all was said and done, no one in the Trump Campaign claimed to be responsible for confirming the accuracy of President Trump’s words, or other allegations of election fraud, before they were blasted to millions of Americans.68 Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of A. Zachary Parkinson, (May 18, 2022), p. 89.

Thus, after the election, the TMAGAC team drafted emails filled with inflammatory and unfounded claims, and the members of the Approvals Group tasked with fact checking these claims did no such thing—effectively, President Trump’s claims were treated as true and blasted to millions of people with little to no scrutiny by those tasked with ensuring accuracy. This process was a fertile ground for the Big Lie to spread through hundreds of emails and text messages.

D. Focus on Fundraising Metrics

Boedigheimer spoke with Coby and Zambrano often about how much money TMAGAC was raising, and they provided feedback regarding fundraising goals.69 Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Austin Boedigheimer, (Apr. 20, 2022), p. 17. Trump Campaign leadership was fully aware of post-election fundraising totals. According to Coby, President Trump’s son-in-law and senior advisor Jared Kushner “had the most interest in the digital program” and “would just check in on [fundraising] results,” and routinely received updates regarding fundraising from Coby.70 Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Gary Coby, (Feb. 23, 2022), pp. 19-20. Coby also made clear that Kushner was heavily involved in the Campaign’s budget process71 Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Gary Coby, (Feb. 23, 2022), p. 26. and that he updated Kushner on TMAGAC’s post-election fundraising totals.72 Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Gary Coby, (Feb. 23, 2022), p. 116.

The Select Committee received documents confirming Kushner’s involvement. For example, on November 8, 2020, Kushner requested that a daily tracker be created showing the Trump Campaign’s financial position from election day forward.73 Documents on file with the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol (Jared Kushner Production), JK_00367, (Nov. 8, 2020, email from Jared Kushner to Sean Dollman, Gary Coby, Bill Stepien, Justin Clark, and Eric Trump, at 5:51 pm, and Nov. 7, 2020 email from Sean Dollman to Jared Kushner at 2:54 pm). In an email, Kushner noted that the tracker would allow the Campaign to consider its cash flow ahead of the creation of “a new entity for POTUS[’s] other political activities.”74 Documents on file with the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol (Jared Kushner Production), JK_00367, (Nov. 8, 2020, email from Jared Kushner to Sean Dollman, Gary Coby, Bill Stepien, Justin Clark, and Eric Trump, at 5:51 pm, and Nov. 7, 2020 email from Sean Dollman to Jared Kushner at 2:54 pm). Just days after the election, and after the Campaign had three of its four best fundraising days ever on November 4th, 5th, and 6th,75 Documents on file with the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol (Jared Kushner Production), JK_00416, (Nov. 7, 2020, text messages between Jared Kushner and Gary Coby). Kushner was preparing for the launch of President Trump’s new leadership PAC, Save America. Kushner stated that he needed this new daily tracker because the Trump Campaign was going to continue fundraising post-election.76 Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Jared Kushner, (Mar. 31, 2022), p. 200. Kushner continued to receive these detailed daily trackers, which included Save America’s fundraising hauls, through at least December 2020.77 Documents on file with the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol (Sean Dollman Production), DOLLMAN-0003821, (Dec. 23. 2020, emails between Jared Kushner, Sean Dolman, Gary Coby, Justin Clark, and Cassie Dumbauld “Re: [EXTERNAL]Re: 12/22/20 Cash Position Update”). Despite email communications showing his involvement in the Campaign’s finances through late December 2020, Kushner claimed that, from around November 13 onward, he was only “nominally involved” with the Campaign’s budgeting and fundraising. Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Jared Kushner, (Mar. 31, 2022), p. 205.