January 22, 2021
Former President Donald Trump’s Campaign Paid Organizers Of Pre-Capitol Riot Rally $2.7 Million
Former President Donald Trump paid $2.7 million to the individuals and firms that organized the rally on Jan. 6 that led to thousands storming the Capitol.
According to the Center For Responsive Politics, the payments show an ongoing relationship between the campaign and the rally’s organizers through Trump’s reelection campaign. Bloomberg reported Friday that all the payments were made through Nov. 23, the most recent date covered by Federal Election Commission filings.
The Trump campaign named eight paid officials on the permit for the rally, including Maggie Mulvaney, the niece of Trump’s former Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney. She was paid $138,000 through Nov. 23. Megan Powers, who was listed as one of the operations managers on the permit, was paid 290,000 by the campaign between February 2019 and Nov. 23.
Event Strategies Inc. received the largest payment at more than $1.7 million by the campaign
After the rally, which opposed President Joe Biden’s final certification as the presidential election winner, thousand of pro-Trump supporters stormed the Capitol Building after Trump tweeted for the crowd to approach the building. Five people died as a result of the incident, including an Air Force veteran who was shot while trying to force her way into the building, and Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, who died from injuries he sustained while trying to protect the Capitol.
More than 100 people have since been charged, including the man who sat at Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s desk, a man who brought a Confederate flag into the Capitol, and a woman who stole Pelosi’s laptop and allegedly tried selling it to Russia.
After the riot, multiple members of Trump’s cabinet quit, and Trump was shut off from multiple social media platforms.
The Jan. 6 incident led to the government sending 25,000 National Guard members to lock down most of Washington D.C. for Biden and Kamala Harris’ inauguration, which went off without a hitch.