Where Did the Money Go?

¶The Trump Campaign and the RNC had three of their largest fundraising days of the 2020 election cycle immediately after the election.¹⁵⁶¹⁵⁶ Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Gary Coby, (Feb. 23, 2022), p. 49 (noting that the Trump Campaign had “three of our best four fundraising days occur immediately after the election”). Together, the Trump Campaign and the RNC raised more than one hundred million dollars in three days, telling people they were raising the money for the “Official Election Defense Fund.” According to the TMAGAC fundraising pitches, the Trump Campaign and RNC team had created a so-called “Official Election Defense Fund” to help pay for legal challenges to the election results.¹⁵⁷¹⁵⁷ Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Hanna Allred, (Mar. 30, 2022), p. 86. But there was no “Official Election Defense Fund” – it was simply “a marketing tactic.”¹⁵⁸¹⁵⁸ Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Hanna Allred, (Mar. 30, 2022), p. 86 (“We frequently use funds as a marketing tactic. . . So I don’t believe there is actually a fund called the ‘Election Defense Fund,’ not that I’m aware of.”); Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Austin Boedigheimer, (Apr. 20, 2022), pp. 91-92.Show full note The TMAGAC fundraisers did not know where the donated money was actually going.¹⁵⁹¹⁵⁹ Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Hanna Allred, (Mar. 30, 2022), p. 87; Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Hanna Allred, (Mar. 30, 2022), pp. 96-97 (Allred noting that she only became aware of Save America in February 2021); Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Austin Boedigheimer, (Apr. 20, 2022), p. 92 (“From my understanding, the money was going towards, I believe this is a TMAGAC e-mail. So it was going to TMAGAC. And then how the money was spent from there, you know, that’s not something that I would do or have knowledge to.”); Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Austin Boedigheimer, (Apr. 20, 2022), p. 94 (“I’m not sure how the funds went or how they were allocated. I don’t know precisely.”).Show full note The TMAGAC copywriting team simply took the lies that President Trump told them about the need to raise money to overturn the election results and put them into emails to his supporters.

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¶The false claims of election fraud and the “Official Election Defense Fund” were so successful President Trump and his allies raised more than $250 million after the election.¹⁶⁰¹⁶⁰ Shane Goldmacher and Rachel Shorey, “Trump Raised $255.4 Million in 8 Weeks as He Sought to overturn Election Result,” New York Times, (Jan. 31, 2021), available at https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/31/us/politics/trump-voter-fraud-fundraising.html (“President Donald J. Trump and the Republican Party raised $255.4 million in the eight-plus weeks following the Nov. 3 election, new federal filings show, as he sought to undermine and overturn the results with unfounded accusations of fraud.”).Show full note However, the Trump Campaign was raising too much money to spend solely on their legal efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election. The Trump Campaign continued to publicly state the election had been stolen by “the Left,” while behind closed doors they prepared a new plan to spend their supporters’ money.

A. The Creation of the Save America PAC

¶On November 9, 2020, President Trump created a separate leadership PAC called Save America that allowed him to keep millions of dollars raised after the election and spend it with very few restrictions in the future. Jared Kushner worked with Alex Cannon, Deputy General Counsel for the Trump Campaign, in creating the entity.¹⁶¹¹⁶¹ Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Alexander Cannon, (Apr. 13, 2022), p. 153. Prior to the formation of Save America, any money raised by the Trump Campaign could effectively only be spent on recount and election-contest related expenses, and to pay off campaign debt.¹⁶²¹⁶² Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Justin Clark, (May. 17, 2022), p. 143 (“After election day . . . you can raise money for a recount and to pay off debt.”). But now the money raised into Save America could allow President Trump to pay for his personal expenses, such as travel or hotel stays. After Save America was formed, it was added to the TMAGAC joint fundraising agreement with the RNC, and the percentage of the proceeds allocated to the Trump Campaign began to flow to Save America.¹⁶³¹⁶³ Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Gary Coby, (Feb. 23, 2022), p. 125; Jarrett Renshaw and Joseph Tanfani, “Donations under $8K to Trump ‘election defense’ instead go to president, RNC,” Reuters, (Nov. 11, 2020), available at https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-trump-fundraising-insigh/donations-under-8k-to-trump-election-defense-instead-go-to-president-rnc-idUSKBN27R309 (“The emailed solicitations send supporters to an ‘Official Election Defense Fund’ website that asks them to sign up for recurring donations to ‘protect the results and keep fighting even after Election Day.’ The fine print makes clear most of the money will go to other priorities. A large portion of the money goes to ‘Save America,’ a Trump leadership PAC, or political action committee, set up on Monday, and the Republican National Committee (RNC).”).Show full note

¶Importantly, Save America, as a leadership PAC, was not even legally permitted to pay for recount and election-contest related expenses in excess of the Federal Election Campaign Act (“FECA”) limit of $5,000.¹⁶⁴¹⁶⁴ Federal Election Commission, Advisory Opinion 2006-24, (Oct. 5, 2006), p. 6, available at https://www.fec.gov/files/legal/aos/2006-24/2006-24.pdf (The Act “prohibits Federal officeholders and candidates, their agents, and entities directly or indirectly established, financed, maintained or controlled by or acting on behalf of one or more Federal officeholders or candidates, from soliciting, receiving, directing, transferring, or spending funds for expenses related to a recount of the votes cast in a Federal election, including the recount activities described above, unless those funds are subject to the limitations, prohibitions, and reporting requirements of the Act. . . . [A] Federal candidate’s recount fund must not receive or solicit donations in excess of the Act’s amount limitations . . . [A]ny recount fund established by a Federal candidate may not receive donations that in the aggregate exceed . . . $5,000 per multicandidate political committee.”).Show full note Save America never hit that limit in 2020, as it spent no money on recount and election-contest related expenses.¹⁶⁵¹⁶⁵ FEC Reported Disbursements in 2020 by Save America, (last accessed on Nov. 18, 2022), available at https://www.fec.gov/data/disbursements/?committee_id=C00762591&two_year_transaction_period=2020&data_type=processed.

¶Several reporters noticed the switch and contacted the Campaign asking about the “bait and switch” and the “misleading” nature of the emails. One reporter said directly: “it’s misleading to raise money for a committee marked on the website as an ‘election defense fund’ if it’s going to a leadership PAC.”¹⁶⁶¹⁶⁶ Documents on file with the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol (Timothy Murtaugh Production), XXM-0011244, (Nov. 11, 2020, emails between Timothy Murtaugh and Justin Clark, “Re: [EXTERNAL]Trump legal defense and leadership PAC”). Another reporter asked, “Why is the campaign telling its supporters they are contributing toward an ‘Election Defense Fund’ if only a small percentage of those funds are actually going toward funding legal efforts?” and “How can the campaign justify directing 75% of contributions intended for a 2020 legal fund toward the President’s political action committee?”¹⁶⁷¹⁶⁷ Documents on file with the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol (Timothy Murtaugh Production), XXM-0013276, (Nov. 24, 2020, emails between Timothy Murtaugh and Justin Clark, “Re: [EXTERNAL]Re: Fundraising questions”).

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¶The Trump Campaign came up with a messaging plan about this tactic, which President Trump personally approved.¹⁶⁸¹⁶⁸ When the Trump Campaign learned that reporters were going to write about their misleading fundraising, Murtaugh advised further comment from the Campaign would “serve to highlight the argument that the fundraising pitch is misleading.” Documents on file with the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol (Timothy Murtaugh Production), XXM-0018627, (Dec. 1, 2020, emails between Timothy Murtaugh, Jason Miller, Sean Dollman, Justin Clark, and Bill Stepien, “Re: [EXTERNAL ]$$$$$$”). Murtaugh further noted that “POTUS is on board with how it will be described.” Documents on file with the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol (Timothy Murtaugh Production), XXM-0018627, (Dec. 1, 2020, emails between Timothy Murtaugh, Jason Miller, Sean Dollman, Justin Clark, and Bill Stepien, “Re: [EXTERNAL ]$$$$$$”).Show full note Tim Murtaugh, the Trump Campaign’s communications director, repeatedly asked Justin Clark, the deputy campaign manager, whether they should respond to the reporters.¹⁶⁹¹⁶⁹ Documents on file with the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol (Timothy Murtaugh Production), XXM-0011244, (Nov. 11, 2020, emails between Timothy Murtaugh and Justin Clark, “Re: [EXTERNAL]Trump legal defense and leadership PAC”), (Murtaugh asking Justin Clark, “Still ignoring?”); Documents on file with the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol (Timothy Murtaugh Production), XXM-0013276, (Nov. 24, 2020, emails between Timothy Murtaugh and Justin Clark, “Re: [EXTERNAL]Re: Fundraising questions”), (Murtaugh telling Justin Clark, “FYI – Still not answering.”).Show full note When Murtaugh flagged that the communications team was not responding to the reporters, Justin Clark said, “Good. Don’t.”¹⁷⁰¹⁷⁰ Documents on file with the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol (Timothy Murtaugh Production), XXM-0013276, (Nov. 24, 2020, emails between Timothy Murtaugh and Justin Clark, “Re: [EXTERNAL]Re: Fundraising questions”).

B. Outlays to Trump-Associated Individuals and Companies

¶The Trump Campaign spent the money on President Trump, giving donations to his associates, and keeping it for himself in Save America. Hundreds of millions of dollars that were raised to go towards “election defense” and “fighting voter fraud” were not spent that way at all. To the contrary, most of the funds remain unspent, and millions have been paid to companies that are known affiliates of President Trump, or payments to entities associated with former Trump administration officials. Since the election, former Trump officials who are still working for President Trump’s PACs, and are publicly receiving salaries as FEC-reported “payroll,” are also associated with these companies.

¶For example, from July 2021 to the present, Save America has been paying approximately $9,700 per month to Dan Scavino,¹⁷¹¹⁷¹ FEC Reported Disbursements to Daniel Scavino by Save America, (last accessed on Nov. 10, 2022), available at https://www.fec.gov/data/disbursements/?data_type=processed&committee_id=C00762591&recipient_name=scavino%2C+dan. a political adviser who served in the Trump administration as White House Deputy Chief of Staff.¹⁷²¹⁷² Katelyn Polantz and Ryan Nobles, “Trump’s former deputy chief of staff, Dan Scavino, not ready to cooperate with January 6 committee, attorney says,” CNN, (Oct. 21, 2021), available at https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/20/politics/dan-scavino-january-6-committee/index.html. Save America was also paying $20,000 per month to an entity called Hudson Digital LLC. Hudson Digital LLC was registered in Delaware twenty days after the attack on the Capitol, on January 26, 2021,¹⁷³¹⁷³ “Hudson Digital LLC,” State of Delaware Division of Corporations, (last accessed on Dec. 9, 2022), available at https://icis.corp.delaware.gov/Ecorp/EntitySearch/NameSearch.aspx (search “Hudson Digital LLC” in the “Entity Name” field). and began receiving payments from Save America on the day it was registered.¹⁷⁴¹⁷⁴ Schedule B (FEC Form 3x) Itemized Disbursements by Save America, (July 31, 2021), available at https://docquery.fec.gov/cgi-bin/fecimg/?202107319465699743. Hudson Digital LLC has received payments totaling over $420,000, all described as “Digital consulting.”¹⁷⁵¹⁷⁵ FEC Reported Disbursements to Hudson Digital LLC, (last accessed on Nov. 10, 2022) available at https://www.fec.gov/data/disbursements/?data_type=processed&recipient_name=hudson+digital+llc. No website or any other information or mention of Hudson Digital LLC could be found online.¹⁷⁶¹⁷⁶ An unrelated company, Hudson Digital, has operated for approximately 10 years in Hudson, NY, over 80 miles from the addresses associated with Hudson Digital LLC. Though Hudson Digital LLC is registered as a Delaware company, the FEC Schedule B listing traces back to an address belonging to Dan and Catherine Scavino.¹⁷⁷¹⁷⁷ Schedule B (FEC Form 3x) Itemized Disbursements by Save America, (July 31, 2021), available at https://docquery.fec.gov/cgi-bin/fecimg/?202107319465699743.

¶Nick Luna, President Trump’s former personal assistant and “body man,” was being paid from April 2021 to December 2021 approximately $12,000 per month by Save America for “payroll.”¹⁷⁸¹⁷⁸ FEC Reported Disbursements to Nicholas Luna by Save America, (last accessed on Nov. 10, 2022), available at https://www.fec.gov/data/disbursements/?data_type=processed&committee_id=C00762591&recipient_name=luna%2C+nicholas. The Make America Great Again PAC (MAGA PAC) – formerly the authorized committee of President Trump’s reelection campaign, Donald J. Trump for President – paid $20,000 per month to a limited liability corporation called Red State Partners LLC from April 2021 through October 2021, and Save America paid Red State Partners LLC $20,000 in February 2022.¹⁷⁹¹⁷⁹ FEC Reported Disbursements to Red State Partners LLC, (last accessed on Nov. 10, 2022) available at https://www.fec.gov/data/disbursements/?data_type=processed&recipient_name=red+state+partners. The company was registered in Delaware on March 11, 2021¹⁸⁰¹⁸⁰ “Red State Partners LLC,” State of Delaware Division of Corporations, (last accessed on Dec. 9, 2022), available at https://icis.corp.delaware.gov/Ecorp/EntitySearch/NameSearch.aspx (search “Red State Partners LLC” in the “Entity Name” field). and has received a total of $170,000.¹⁸¹¹⁸¹ FEC Reported Disbursements to Red State Partners LLC, (last accessed on Nov. 10, 2022) available at https://www.fec.gov/data/disbursements/?data_type=processed&recipient_name=red+state+partners. Though it is registered in Delaware, disclosures filed with the Federal Election Committee (FEC) list Red State Partners at an address in Miami, Florida, that is an address for Nick Luna and his wife, Cassidy Dumbauld.¹⁸²¹⁸² Schedule B (FEC Form 3x) Itemized Disbursements by Make America Great Again PAC, (Dec. 2, 2021), available at https://docquery.fec.gov/cgi-bin/fecimg/?202112029469645374.

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¶Further, Vince Haley, Taylor Swindle, and Ross Worthington are corporate officers of a company known as Pericles LLC.¹⁸³¹⁸³ “Pericles, LLC,” District of Columbia Department of Business Licensing Division, (last accessed on Dec. 9, 2022), available at https://corponline.dcra.dc.gov/BizEntity.aspx/ViewEntityData?entityId=4292880. Haley is a former policy advisor to President Trump,¹⁸⁴¹⁸⁴ “Vincent M. Haley,” ProPublica: Trump Town, (last accessed on Nov. 10, 2022), available at https://projects.propublica.org/trump-town/staffers/vincent-m-haley. Swindle is the Chief Financial Officer for Gingrich 360¹⁸⁵¹⁸⁵ “Taylor Swindle,” Gingrich360, (last accessed on Nov. 10, 2022), available at https://www.gingrich360.com/about/gingrich-360-team/taylor-swindle/., and Ross Worthington is the former White House speechwriter¹⁸⁶¹⁸⁶ “Ross Worthington,” ProPublica: Trump Town, (last accessed on Nov. 10, 2022), available at https://projects.propublica.org/trump-town/staffers/ross-worthington. who wrote the speech President Trump delivered on the Ellipse on January 6th.¹⁸⁷¹⁸⁷ Documents on file with the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, (National Archives Production), 076P-R000007531_0001, (January 6, 2021, emails between Ross Worthington, Robert Gabriel, Jr., Vincent Haley, and others). Pericles LLC was registered on January 27, 2021,¹⁸⁸¹⁸⁸ “Pericles, LLC,” District of Columbia Department of Business Licensing Division, (last accessed on Dec. 9, 2022), available at https://corponline.dcra.dc.gov/BizEntity.aspx/ViewEntityData?entityId=4292880. the day after Scavino’s Hudson Digital LLC, and, since then, has received payments from Save America totaling at least $352,700.¹⁸⁹¹⁸⁹ FEC Reported Disbursements to Pericles LLC by Save America, (last accessed on Nov. 10, 2022) available at https://www.fec.gov/data/disbursements/?data_type=processed&committee_id=C00762591&recipient_name=pericles+llc.

¶Another former speechwriter for President Trump, Robert Gabriel, Jr., has also been receiving payments from Save America. Gabriel was involved in writing the speech President Trump delivered on the White House Ellipse on January 6th, and specifically told the speechwriters, including Worthington, to reinsert previously removed incendiary lines about Vice President Pence into the speech.¹⁹⁰¹⁹⁰ Documents on file with the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, (National Archives Production), 076P-R000007531_0001, (January 6, 2021, emails between Ross Worthington, Robert Gabriel, Jr., Vincent Haley, and others). This direction came after Vice President Pence told President Trump that he would not try to change the outcome of the election.¹⁹¹¹⁹¹ Documents on file with the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, (National Archives Production), 076P-R000007531_0001, (January 6, 2021, emails between Ross Worthington, Robert Gabriel, Jr., Vincent Haley, and others). In September 2021, Gabriel formed called Gabriel Strategies LLC,¹⁹²¹⁹² The organization was originally formed as Believe in America LLC, then changed its name the following day to Gabriel Strategies LLC. See “Gabriel Strategies LLC”, State of New Jersey Division of Revenue and Enterprise Search, (last accessed on Dec. 9, 2022), available at https://www.njportal.com/DOR/BusinessNameSearch/Search/BusinessName (search “Gabriel Strategies LLC” in the “Business Name” field).Show full note which began receiving payments from Save America the following month.¹⁹³¹⁹³ Schedule B (FEC Form 3x) Itemized Disbursements by Save America, (May 5, 2022), available at https://docquery.fec.gov/cgi-bin/fecimg/?202205059502664518. Since October 2021, Save America has paid Gabriel Strategies LLC at least $167,674.00.¹⁹⁴¹⁹⁴ FEC Reported Disbursements to Red State Partners LLC by Save America, (last accessed on Nov. 10, 2022) available at https://www.fec.gov/data/disbursements/?data_type=processed&committee_id=C00762591&recipient_name=gabriel+strategies. For both Pericles and Gabriel Strategies, the description of the payments is always for “consulting” in political strategy or communications, and some payments are purported to include travel expenses.

¶Through October 2022, Save America has paid nearly $100,000 in “strategy consulting” payments to Herve Pierre Braillard,¹⁹⁵¹⁹⁵ FEC Reported Disbursements to Herve Pierre Braillard by Save America, (last accessed on Nov. 10, 2022) available at https://www.fec.gov/data/disbursements/?data_type=processed&committee_id=C00762591&recipient_name=Herve+Pierre+Braillard. a fashion designer who has been dressing Melania Trump for years.¹⁹⁶¹⁹⁶ Suzy Menkes, “Herve Pierre: Dressing the First Lady,” Vogue, (Apr. 12, 2017), available at https://www.vogue.pt/herve-pierre-dressing-the-first-lady; Rosemary Feitelberg, “Melania Trump’s Former Stylist Addresses $60,000 Save America Payment,” Women’s Wear Daily, (Aug. 8. 2022), available at https://wwd.com/fashion-news/designer-luxury/melania-trump-herve-pierre-60000-save-america-payment-1235294733/.Show full note

¶From January 2021 to June 2022, Save America has also reported over $2.1 million in “legal consulting.” Many firms perform different kinds of practice, but more than 67% of those funds went to law firms that are representing witnesses involved in the Select Committee’s investigation who were subpoenaed or invited to testify.

¶Additionally, Save America has reported other expenditures, like:

$1,000,000 donation to America First Policy Institute, home to several former Trump officials and witnesses subpoenaed to testify before the Committee.¹⁹⁷¹⁹⁷ Schedule B (FEC Form 3x) Itemized Disbursements by Save America, (July 31, 2021), available at https://docquery.fec.gov/cgi-bin/fecimg/?202107319465699856.
$1,000,000 donation to Conservative Partnership Institute, a conservative nonprofit organization where Mark Meadows is a senior partner.¹⁹⁸¹⁹⁸ Schedule B (FEC Form 3x) Itemized Disbursements by Save America, (May 5, 2022), available at https://docquery.fec.gov/cgi-bin/fecimg/?202205059502664847.
More than $10.6 million to Event Strategies, Inc., the preferred staging company for President Trump that staged the January 6th rally.¹⁹⁹¹⁹⁹ FEC Reported Disbursements to Event Strategies Inc by Save America, (last accessed on Nov. 10, 2022) available at https://www.fec.gov/data/disbursements/?data_type=processed&committee_id=C00762591&recipient_name=event+strategies+inc.
More than $327,000 in payments to the Trump Hotel Collection and Mar-A-Lago Club since the 2020 election.²⁰⁰²⁰⁰ FEC Reported Disbursements to Trump Hotel and Mar-A-Lago by Save America, (last accessed on Nov. 10, 2022) available at https://www.fec.gov/data/disbursements/?data_type=processed&committee_id=C00762591&recipient_name=mar-a-lago&recipient_name=trump+hotel.
An “event sponsorship fee” of $165,937.50 to American Conservative Union²⁰¹²⁰¹ Schedule B (FEC Form 3x) Itemized Disbursements by Save America, (June 15, 2022), available at https://docquery.fec.gov/cgi-bin/fecimg/?202206159514906341., the Chairman of which is Matt Schlapp. Schlapp and his wife have offered to pay the legal fees of witnesses called to testify before the January 6th Committee and have extensive ties with former President Trump.
A little over $140,000 to National Public Affairs, LLC²⁰²²⁰² FEC Reported Disbursements to National Public Affairs by Save America, (last accessed on Nov. 10, 2022) available at https://www.fec.gov/data/disbursements/?data_type=processed&committee_id=C00762591&recipient_name=National+Public+Affairs., a consulting company started by former Trump Campaign Manager Bill Stepien and Deputy Campaign Manager Justin Clark.²⁰³²⁰³ “Meet Our Team,” National Public Affairs, (last accessed on Nov. 10, 2022), available at https://natpublicaffairs.com/. Stepien testified that he knew the claims of voter fraud were false, that he didn’t think what was happening was necessarily honest, and that he was stepping away from the Trump Campaign.²⁰⁴²⁰⁴ Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of William Stepien, (Feb. 10, 2022), p. 174. However, he continues to work and receive hundreds of thousands of dollars consulting for President Trump and several other congressional candidates who continue to spread false voter fraud claims related to the 2020 election.²⁰⁵²⁰⁵ FEC disclosures show that other than Save America, National Public Affairs LLC received payments from only three other organizations since 2021. All three are campaigns for election deniers, Kelly Tshibaka (AK-Senate), Jason Smith (MO-08), and Harriett Hageman (WY-AL). See FEC Reported Disbursements to National Public Affairs LLC since 2021, (last accessed on Nov. 10, 2022), available at https://www.fec.gov/data/disbursements/?data_type=processed&recipient_name=national+public+affairs+llc&min_date=01%2F01%2F2021.Show full note

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C. Payments to 2M Management LLC

¶As described above, the Trump Campaign, after paying off its general election debt, raised millions of dollars that flowed into a segregated recount account (“Recount Account”) by encouraging donors to help pay for legal challenges to the election results. Pursuant to the FECA, the Trump Campaign could only spend these funds on a few limited purposes (e.g., for actual recounts and election-contest expenses or, in the case of surplus funds, donations to charitable organizations or transferring the funds to a national party committee’s separate, segregated account for election recounts).²⁰⁶²⁰⁶ Federal Election Commission, Advisory Opinion 2019-02, (Mar. 28, 2019), available at https://www.fec.gov/files/legal/aos/2019-02/2019-02.pdf.

¶Justin Clark told the Select Committee that he understood that, “[a]fter election day, . . . you can raise money for a recount and to pay off debt,”²⁰⁷²⁰⁷ Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Justin Clark, (May. 17, 2022), p. 143. and that “[t]he money going into the campaign, principal campaign committee, at that point, [after the election] was dead money. It couldn’t be spent on things.”²⁰⁸²⁰⁸ Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Justin Clark, (May. 17, 2022), p. 145. Alex Cannon agreed.²⁰⁹²⁰⁹ Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Alexander Cannon, (Apr. 13, 2022), p. 156 (“[G]enerally after an election, you can raise money for debt retirement, and you can raise money for recount.”). That’s why, after the election, the Trump Campaign set up the Recount Account—“a segregated restricted account [held] by the campaign”²¹⁰²¹⁰ Documents on file with the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol (Alexander Cannon Production), AC-0013889 (Nov. 12, 2020, emails between Alexander Cannon and Cleta Mitchell, “Re: [External]Legal defense fund”).—and raised money for the Recount Account through TMAGAC.²¹¹²¹¹ Documents on file with the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol (Alexander Cannon Production), AC-0013889 (Nov. 12, 2020, emails between Alexander Cannon and Cleta Mitchell, “Re: [External]Legal defense fund”).

¶In February 2021, the Trump Campaign was converted into MAGA PAC.²¹²²¹² Statement of Organization FEC Form 1, filed by Make America Great Again PAC, (Feb. 27, 2021), available at https://docquery.fec.gov/pdf/093/202102279429078093/202102279429078093.pdf#navpanes=0. In March 2021, MAGA PAC began disclosing on required FEC forms that it was paying millions of dollars to an eDiscovery vendor called 2M Document Management & Imaging LLC (“2M Management”) for what MAGA PAC described as “recount” and “Recount: Research Consulting.”²¹³²¹³ FEC Reported Disbursements to 2M Document Management and Imaging, LLC by Make America Great Again PAC, (last accessed on Nov. 10, 2022) available at https://www.fec.gov/data/disbursements/?data_type=processed&committee_id=C00580100&recipient_name=2m+document&two_year_transaction_period=2022.

¶Although the MAGA PAC reported that 2M Management was being paid for recount-related expenses, 2M Management was primarily processing and reviewing documents slated to be produced by the National Archives and Records Administration in response to subpoenas from (1) the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis (“Covid Subcommittee”) and (2) the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack.²¹⁴²¹⁴ Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Matthew Clarke (Aug. 4, 2022), p. 28 (agreeing that “the vast majority of the work that 2M has done to date that has been paid for by MAGA PAC relates to January 6th documents or COVID-related documents coming from NARA”); Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Alexander Cannon, (Aug. 18, 2022), p. 31 (“There was a House Oversight investigation into the administration’s COVID response, and there were a large number of documents that were coming through that needed to be processed.”).Show full note

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¶From just March 2021 to May 2021, MAGA PAC paid 2M Management almost $1 million from the Recount Account to review documents related solely to the Covid Subcommittee.²¹⁵²¹⁵ Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Matthew Clarke, (Aug. 4, 2022), pp. 31-32 (“During that time, I believe all we were doing was work related to the White House – the Trump administration’s response to COVID.”). Alex Cannon confirmed that he understood these payments to 2M Management came from the Recount Account.²¹⁶²¹⁶ Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Alexander Cannon, (Aug. 18, 2022), pp. 15-16 (noting his understanding that “if the funds were raised to DJTFP and they were not spent on debt retirement, any remaining funds that were not spent on debt retirement would have gone to this segregated, restricted account for recounts for MAGA PA?”); Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Alexander Cannon, (Aug. 18, 2022), p. 16; Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Alexander Cannon, (Aug. 18, 2022), pp. 37-38 (agreeing that if funds paid to 2M are labeled recount then he would assume they came from Recount Account).Show full note Federal campaign finance law requires committees to accurately report information related to expenditures, including the purpose of payments. FEC regulations provide that the “purpose” be described in relevant reports through a brief statement of why the disbursement was made and must be sufficiently specific to make the purpose of the disbursement clear.²¹⁷²¹⁷ See Statement of Policy: “Purpose of Disbursement” Entries for Filings with the Commission, 72 Fed. Reg. 887 (Jan. 9, 2007) (citing 11 C.F.R. § § 104.3(b)(3)(i)(b), (4)(i)(A)).